EASY Taxi, the largest taxi-booking app in the world, will introduce in the country a business-to-business platform to serve transportation needs of companies in the latter part of the year.
In a recent media roundtable, Gustavo Vaz, co-founder and global COO of Easy Taxi, said their latest service called Easy Taxi Corporate will be introduced in the Philippines before the year ends.
“We are bullish on Easy Taxi Corporate because it can provide efficient service to employees and employers, as well, during their travels,” he said.
Under the scheme, Easy Taxi Corporate will be the taxi provider for a company. The service would provide a lot of convenience because you can call a taxi by using the app.
Easy Taxi allows users to book a cab using their mobile phones.
The app also allows users to live-track their cab’s whereabouts from the convenience of their home or office. Vaz said companies will pay a monthly fee to Easy Taxi for the services it provided.
Taxi fares will be recorded in the Easy Taxi app, which serves as the bases for payments to the company.
To avail themselves of the service, employees to need to enable the app to book the service.
“You don’t need to pay the fare because our taxi drivers will not charge you,” Vaz said.
He said the launch of the Easy Taxi Corporate service would be done in batches.
“The service was initially introduced in the United Arab Emirates. Afterward, we will be introducing it to Malaysia and Singapore,” he said.
Aside from the Philippines, Easy Taxi also has presence in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Pakistan and Thailand.
It is currently expanding and assessing the markets.
“We are also giving a focus on all investing countries to determine if their markets are mature,” Vaz said.
In terms of growth, Vaz said the Philippines has one of the biggest potentials for Easy Taxi as many Filipinos have a stronger purchasing power brought by the economic boom enjoyed by the country in the recent years.
To solidify their presence in the Philippine market, Vaz said the Easy Taxi Philippines team, led by CEO Danilo Torres is currently building their networking relationships with local taxi operators.
“Easy Taxi will go and dig deep into the taxi community to basically understand how the system works,” Vaz said.
“Easy Taxi has to take different approaches because the market conditions in the countries where it operates are different,” he said.
In Brazil, social media, such as Facebook and Twitter are being used by Easy Taxi. Meanwhile, marketing and promotions are done through the malls, printed media and public relations.
Despite the presence of Uber and Grab Taxi, Vaz said the Philippine market is not yet saturated. I believe that the market is not yet saturated,” he said.
“In fact, I think competition is better because it makes things cheaper and better. As taxi companies, we want to introduce innovations and services for the benefit of the consumer,” he said.
As far as Easy Taxi is concerned, Vaz said the goal is to make the company the first option in transportation. Founded in April 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Easy Taxi became the pioneer in online taxi service in Latin America.
Currently available in 27 countries and more than 120 cities, the app has globally redefined taxi booking.
Rizal Raoul Reyes / Correspondent