All Dubai taxi bookings will soon be done only via the Hala app

Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) announced the transfer of its taxi booking and dispatch services to car-hailing app Careem’s Hala platform.

The Hala e-hailing system, a joint venture between RTA and Careem, will host the taxi booking system from December 7, RTA announced on Monday.

The move of migrating the service from an interactive voice response system to Hala on the Careem app is to improve the quality of customers’ experiences while booking taxis, a statement said.

“This step marks a paradigm shift of Dubai Taxi booking process from the call centre to Hala,” said Ahmed Bahrozyan, CEO, RTA’s public transport agency.

“Among the additional benefits that customers will enjoy from this innovative way of booking a Dubai taxi, is the ability to raise any questions or concerns directly via the Careem in-app chat. Safety and lost & found issues will remain to be handled by RTA’s Call Centre (8009090). Customers will also be able to book taxis from all over Dubai with a shorter estimated time of arrival (ETA),” he added.

Variable	Call Center	Using Hala
Booking Confirmation	2-3 minutes (average)	10 seconds (average)
Waiting Time	11 minutes (average)	3.5 minutes (average)
Fare	Identical

“Hala customers will get a booking confirmation in less than 10 seconds and get a taxi in an average of 3.5 minutes,” said Clemence Dutertre, CEO, Hala.

Added Benefits of Using Hala
Fare Estimate	Visible in the Careem app before confirming the booking
Driver’s Details	Visible before the car arrives
Arrival Time	Live tracker and notification upon arrival
Rating	Customer can rate the ride after the trip ends
Payment	Customers can link their credit card to the Careem application for hassle-free payment or pay by cash
Rewards	Earn and burn points on more Hala rides, or redeem other Careem loyalty programme partners’ offers