Update: Uber and Careem suspend services in Abu Dhabi
If you’ve ever had to fight for a cab in the capital, this isn’t good news.
Private taxi services Uber and Careem have been stopped in Abu Dhabi, with the companies halting operations on Saturday.
A spokesperson for Uber has released the following statement, “As you may know, Uber and Careem decided to suspend their operations due to unforeseen circumstances, yesterday. We want to let you know that this was a decision taken by both companies, and our goal is to resume operations in Abu Dhabi as soon as possible. Please note that Uber’s services in Dubai are running as usual, we will have more information on Abu Dhabi in the next two days.”
The statement comes as new reports suggest that drivers had been detained earlier.
Uber explains that the issue is due to “a temporary suspension.”
The company added: “we will let you know of any further updates.”
Despite stopping services in Abu Dhabi, Uber is still up-and-running in Dubai. They tweeted, “Operations in Dubai continue as usual & we will keep you posted when we resume the Abu Dhabi Operations.”
Careem has also tweeted: “we are doing our best to back online in Abu Dhabi as soon as possible.”
@LailaMousa We’re doing our best to get you an update on this very soon 🙂
— Careem UAE (@CareemUAE) August 28, 2016
The news comes as transport authorities recently announced they were looking to better regulate taxi services for safety purposes.