Another Uber taxi torched as business rivalry escalates

Another Uber taxi torched as business rivalry escalates

A Uber taxi was on Wednesday morning torched by suspected business rivals in Nairobi’s Waithaka area.

The taxi, contracted from Yaya Centre, was taking a client to Nyakinywa road within Waithaka when the driver was accosted by four people.

The driver managed to flee the area after the assailants threatened to kill him before setting on fire his Toyota Passo vehicle.

Nairobi CID boss Ireri Kamwende said police are hunting for the attackers.

The incident comes barely a month after another Uber taxi was set ablaze by a group suspected to be taxi drivers in Nairobi’s Kilimani estate.

Early February, two people were arrested for allegedly attacking a taxi operator in Nairobi with the Interior Ministry launching investigations into attacks targeting drivers affiliated to the Uber Taxi company.

According to the police, a gang smashed the rear window of a Uber Taxi in Nairobi’s Kileleshwa area in an incident similar to several others reported in January.

In a statement, the Interior Ministry “sent a strong word of caution to those behind the attacks saying it would ensure those behind the attacks face the full wrath of the law.”

The Ministry said business rivalry should not be settled through attacks by criminal gangs.

The Kenya Association of Taxi and Cabs had raised concerns over the entry of Uber taxi, which using a mobile app, are offering fares less than half the price charged by conventional taxis, a situation that has not settled in well with traditional taxi operators.

Cab drivers then threatened to paralyze transport in the country, as they protested their saying it was robbing them of business opportunities.

The attacks have added Nairobi to the list of over 300 cities where Uber has ‘disrupted’ the taxi business with fares as low as 90 shillings a kilometer, almost less the price charged by ordinary taxis.

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kenya uber world Uber Kenya taxi cabs

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