Uber, Careem suspend Abu Dhabi services

Taxi service apps Uber and Careem suspended their services in Abu Dhabi on Saturday and are yet to restart operations.

They have so far not given any clear reason as to why their services were halted.

Christian Eid, VP of Marketing at Careem said: “A few of our cars have been stopped by authorities in the capital. Until we have further clarification on the situation, Careem has decided to temporarily limit services in Abu Dhabi to avoid any inconvenience this may cause both our customers and captains.”

In a message to its users on Saturday, Uber said: “Due to unforeseen circumstances, we will suspend operations in Abu Dhabi effective immediately till further notice.

“In the meantime we will keep you informed when operations resume.

“Thanks for your understanding and apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.”

This morning, the company clarified said in a statement: “This a temporary suspension and we will let you know of any further updates. Our goal is to resume operations as soon as possible.”

Customers took to social media to voice their concerns.

@LailaMousa We're doing our best to get you an update on this very soon 🙂

— Careem UAE (@CareemUAE) August 28, 2016

Both the companies clarified that services in Dubai were proceeding as usual.

Local transport authorities have been looking to better regulate the taxi service market in the UAE.

In July, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority said it will launch a common booking and payment app to integrate private methods of transport with its own services.

The Integrated Mobility Platform (IMP) will allow users to pay for e-hail services such as Uber and Careem, the Monorail in Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Trolley in Downtown Dubai and private limousine services alongside the RTA’s own services.

Read more: RTA to launch own payment app with Uber and Careem