Breaking: Uber is Launching in Pakistan Within Days

Uber — the on-demand taxi service which has fast become a household name across the globe — is launching in Pakistan within days, we have heard.

Based on early information Uber operations will start from Lahore initially and will expand soon to other cities.

However, Uber will face competition from the likes of Careem, who have been aggressively expanding to grab as much market share as they can, and A-Taxi, who are backed by Turkish investors and the Government of Punjab.

For those who don’t know Uber offers a smartphone app to consumers through which they can request taxi-like pickup and drop service. Customers, after placing a request for service, can view the time a car might take to reach him/her.

According to information disclosed by sources, Uber will be more expensive than Rickshaws but cheaper than any other taxi service (including A-Taxi). This shouldn’t come as a surprise since Uber is known to swallow significant losses in early stages of a new operation to scale faster.

While we don’t have confirmed prices just yet, as Uber is still in process of determining a per KM rate, it is estimated that Uber will charge around Rs. 15 to Rs. 20 per KM (with a variance of Rs. 2) on top of ride setup charges that would be somewhere around Rs. 100 to Rs. 150

Ride setup charges or fixed initial charge will offer 2-3 KM for free, after which roughly Rs. 15 would be charged per KM.

Uber, according to well placed sources, will operate on cash for those who are without credit or debit cards. And those with credit and debit cards will be able to attach their accounts to get auto deductions after completing their rides.

Uber drivers in Pakistan are going to go through rigorous tests and verification procedures before they will be taken on-board. On top of in-house professional and behavioral trainings, Uber will require all drivers to pass verification through multiple stages to get on-board.

Once approved, drivers will be able to serve consumers and earn good cash.

It’s too early to guess at how much impact Uber will have in Pakistan but with attractive rates and a very well established brand, it’s not hard to imagine Uber expanding just as fast as it has in other countries.

Tech and telecom reporter for over 15 years


  • jab express highway aur lhr bhaati ke rush mei phanso to pta chale ga Rs.12/km kese lete hen… 1-2 hours kuch km cross krne mei guzr jate hen baaz oqaat

  • Good to know but I have couple of confusions, first why all uber like startups are focused to Lahore & initiate from Lahore :) Secondly, what’s about preferring pakistani uber like startups?
    I’ve experienced many flaws & immaturity in Pakistani such startups so the good news is that hopefully they will cover ISB quickly than savaree & careem. Also their system including their web, app, support etc will be more mature

    • Because PML N Zindabad.
      All the latest technologies are now available in Pakistan, some are in pipeline…..

  • Good news indeed! I tried a taxi last week from Walton to daewoo terminal, the driver took me via Ferozepur road the fair was over 400. Back home I checked routes from Walton to daewoo on Google maps and found that the driver took the longest route almost double of the alternate route which is via Ali zaib road. Overall the service was very good one just have to know which the shorter route to the destination. I am going to try the service again from Daewoo to Walton and see if the driver follows my instructions for shortest route.

  • Careem is already charging too much. their rates are 25 Per Kilometer. and setup cost is 150.

  • What sort of cars will be provided by uber ??
    As careem is providing new model GLI and good condition cars
    Whats will uber provide us ?

  • When I ready the headline, I was like very excited, but without reading the whole article. I could bet that it would be for Lahore :-) Just like all others…

    Karachi…. Karachi…. Karachi…. huh.. :s

  • An average Rickshaw ride to my university costs me Rs. 150 and it’s 5KM away from my place so this is actually cheaper.

  • It will begin with Lahore……

    Phr bolte hain k punjab hukumat karachi k sath koi tassub nhn nikal rahi.

      • you do realize that companies has to ask for license to operate in the country? and the government can force them for some stuff?

  • I don’t know what to say when I see a jobless PHD guy delivering Uber services, should I be happy that he’s earning….yes….but thinking that PHD’s are driving makes me sick :(
    Well anyway, its a good service..

    • janab, if a phd has to chauffeur, he did not deserve the degree. Moreover, no one can be assumed a doctor just because he told you so. People tell their sorry tale to ask for more money or loan.
      I know not everyone is intelligent, but what the f stops our whiners from working hard/harder? All these mfs shirkers seek riches without making an effort for it.

      • The Pakistani job market isn’t very large. What do you expect someone to do when they have PhD but can’t find work in their field?

        According to the HEC, Pakistan has produced 5,381 PhDs from 2010 to 2014 (not counting the ones who returned from abroad). In 2013, there were 34,444 faculty positions in HEC-approved universities. Do you honestly believe the local universities can absorb even a tenth of the produced PhDs into their staff? How many PhDs can a university hire every year?

        If not academia, then there’s the corporate sector — but there are even FEWER positions for PhDs in that area. How many local companies do actual R & D and can absorb even 10 PhDs a year?

        Your attitude stinks. Who are you to say they don’t deserve the degree? How much harder do they have to work when there are simply no jobs for them?

        • You amaze me. You are talking about quantity, and I am talking about quality. Every random idiot is getting a PHD (no only locally but also from countries like Germany, China etc) these days. They should not whine when they are not inducted for a dream job. You obviously have no idea how foolish is it to produce squat PHD doctors in droves. Even MS is fubar. People are getting graduate degrees without writing/publishing a single paper. They get the job they deserve i.e. primary school teacher. Remember, IF you worked hard (you do not need to be intelligent), you shall NEVER fail. If someone says otherwise, only people like you would believe him.
          I have had the excruciating experience to sit through PHD dissertation defenses numerous times. All I saw was copied/rephrased papers, cluelessness like yours, unimaginable ignorance of basic subject matter, and what not. I came to a point of slapping one defendant who used Wikipedia as his reference. People like him deserve what they get.
          Regardless, I said ” IFFFFFFF a phd has to chauffeur, he did not deserve the degree”. You have to be nuts to counter THAT.

          • Please do not accuse me of “cluelessness” when you don’t know anything about MY experiences. I am not relying on anecdotes, but simple math (which, I’ll note, you have failed to refute). I have no quibble with your anecdotes, but they’re meaningless when it comes to a discussion of numbers.

            If there are not enough jobs for PhDs, then some simply won’t get jobs as faculty or researchers. Even if you assume that only 5% of all the PhDs in Pakistan are “worthy of their degrees”, that’s still almost 54 PhDs every year on average for the period 2010-2014 (again, not counting those who studied abroad). There is simply no way all of them can find employment in their respective fields. Not everyone is willing to move to a remote rural university, or leave their elderly parents and go abroad. I suppose you’d consider them losers for some reason or other, but that says something about you, not them. And, in the private sector at least, many companies will not hire people that they consider overqualified. Lots of PhDs fall into that bucket.

            I bring up quantity because that’s the issue here. For a related example, if there are 100 seats for freshmen at a university, and 250 applicants (out of 10,000) who all ace the entrance exams, 150 won’t get in. They’re not failures, there’s simply nothing they could’ve done to get in.

            If you consider failure to mean “driving a taxi”, then I all I can say is I hope you never end up in that situation. Tens of thousands of doctors, professors, engineers, lawyers have to drive taxis worldwide — all because they can’t find the right jobs.

      • aged we think you have aged enough. what a shallow comment. “he didnt deserve a degree” and may we know your credentials.

    • U can also look for into USA and Canada where engineers and doctors from Asia drive taxi till they get right job..

  • AAMIR ATTAA, can you please tell us which cars are they going to launch Uber with in the initial phase?

  • You all know, what Uber is for right? The whole purpose of Uber is to provide a ride to home when you are out late night hammered.

    • So, you’re saying that there were over a hundred years of taxi services in cities worldwide, and it wasn’t until Uber came along to provide rides late at night to drunk people?

      • I am saying that this is the major reason why people use UBer here in the west for. Uber has certainly made it easier. Because I don’t think Uber is going to make a lot of money by being cheaper than taxis in Pakistan.

  • PML N Zindabad.

    All the latest technologies are now available in Pakistan, some are in pipeline…..


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