Uber lowers its prices in Kenya as it feels the heat from Little Cab

Uber has significantly lowered its prices in Kenya in what seems to be a price war with new entrant Little Cab. Customers will now pay 100 (base fare) + Ksh. 35 (cost per kilometre) + Ksh. 3 (cost per minute). The minimum fee drops to ksh. 200 while the cancellation fee stays the same.

[Also read: ​Little Cab poses a real threat to Uber in Kenya]

Uber has also introduced earning guarantees for its partners in Kenya. It will guarantee earnings of Ksh. 550 per hour on peak and Ksh. 450 off peak and give partners or top up to these amounts in case they don’t earn these amounts.

Little Cab launched on July 5 2016 and hasn’t really marketed its service which took about 6 weeks to develop. However its services were lower at launch and some people started using it just based on that. Little Cab also takes a lesser percentage i.e. 15% as compared to Uber’s 25% and this has made some Uber partners to double dip and try out Little Cab as well. Little Cab’s backing by Safaricom is crucial and apparently all Safaricom staff, at least in Nairobi, will start using Little Cab for work related trips.

It will be interesting to see what Little Cab will do in response to Uber’s price drop. Here are Uber’s old prices as compared to the new ones and Little Cab’s.