Careems just got a touch more expensive in Dubai, and it looks like Uber will be next…

It’s just been announced that from today onwards, you’ll now automatically pay an extra Dhs3 fee when riding a Careem in Dubai.

Why? Well Careem says the RTA “are now applying a fee on all rides taken with app-based ride-hailing platforms”.

Uber has made an official announcement about the regulation, but it’s a little vague. Basically, it looks like they’re implement a fee in three months. We do imagine they will be required to follow the new regulation too as they are definitely an “app-based ride-hailing platform”. Here’s what Uber is saying: 

“We recently signed an agreement with the RTA and part of this partnership is a three-month study, exclusive to Uber, that will look at launching an economy solution. Fees are a necessary part of the new regulations, and the exact pricing will be determined during the study – our goal is to make the Uber product accessible to everyone from a both a rider and driver standpoint.”

Sure, Dhs3 doesn’t sound like a lot per trip, but if you catch an Uber or Careem to and from work daily that will be Dhs6 extra a day, Dhs30 extra a week and Dhs120 extra a month.

But remember, if you want to drive yourself you can now rent a car for between 40 or 50 fils per minute all around Dubai (this works out to around Dhs24 to Dhs30 per hour). There are now 200 by-the-minute rental cars on the Dubai roads, you can read more about how that works here.

IT’S ALL GOING TO CHANGE SOON ANYWAY…

Remember, there is a solid plan to make 25 per cent of Dubai’s transport network smart and driverless by 2030.

And, according to the RTA driverless cabs are set to arrive on Dubai roads in the near future, and not only do they sound super convenient, they’re also environmentally friendly.

App-based booking service Careem has teamed up with NEXT Future Transportation to launch the battery-powered electric pods in the Middle East, and hope they should help solve congestion and pollution woes.

When? We don’t yet know.

But the pods, which look a little like something straight out of The Jetsons, can drive individually or attach themselves together to create a bus-like structure, so passengers can move between pods.

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They’ll pick up passengers on demand, and deliver them door to door using the most efficient route possible.

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Photo: Careem/Facebook.