Uber Shuts Down Service in Major Cities Including Karachi and Islamabad

Uber however is still operating in Lahore, which is the largest city in the province of Punjab

One of Pakistan’s most popular ride hailing services, Uber announced a shut down in major cities. According to the company’s announcements, it will no longer be operating in five cities including Islamabad, Karachi, Multan, Faisalabad, and Peshawar. The discontinuation will be in effect from today.

But isn’t this a total shutdown from Pakistan? Well no, the company in its announcement has also revealed that it will continue operating in Lahore. The Uber application will still be available to people living in the five cities but they will be greeted with a message.

The message will inform them about the unavailability of Uber in their city. Apart from that, the message will also recommend using Careem, which is another ride hailing app instead. But why an endorsement to Careem? Well, Careem which is another major ride hailing application is actually owned by Uber.

Uber acquired Careem back in 2020 for $3.1 billion and it has proven to be a wise investment for Uber. Careem apart from the ride hailing company also expanded into food delivery and payments.

While announcing the discontinuation, Careem said that users in the mentioned areas may or may not get the Careem message. What they will get in all cases is a notification of unavailability in their city.

“For the past five years, we are grateful to have been part of your everyday life to help you move around those five cities using the Uber app. See you in Lahore!” said Careem thus reminding users that the service is still available in Lahore.

Uber said that the company is not discontinuing and that there will be new product launches soon. This sudden discontinuation has affected Uber drivers the most therefore the company has decided to compensate them.

“As a goodwill gesture, we have waived all driver partner arrears owing to Uber and are offering a one-time goodwill payment to eligible drivers. Eligible drivers have received all information related to this gesture.” said Uber.