Chinese-owned tech company Didi Chuxing will launch its new e-hailing service in Cape Town tomorrow. The company, however, has not yet revealed their pricing structure for the new service.
Following the successful introduction of the DiDi app in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) in March, the ride service soon after made plans to expand to Cape Town, bringing competition to established apps like Uber and Bolt.
Founded in 2012 by Cheng Wei, the company has spent the last nine years growing their corporation that now offers transport services used by more than 600 million people across the globe. The Chinese company already operates in Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, Panama and Russia, among others.
First-time users of the DiDi app in Cape Town will receive ten coupons which will automatically be credited to their accounts. The value of each coupon will vary and clients can expect a discount of up to 50% per trip.
To launch the service in Cape Town, riders will be able to benefit from four surprise “DiDi days” featuring additional discounts during May and June.
The app will contain three services: DiDi Go is a low-cost alternative to their Express service, which is the company’s standard service. DiDi XL is an option available for bigger groups, with a capacity of up to 7 seats.
Current popular e-hailing services Uber and Bolt can cost the average user anywhere between R5.50 - R20 per kilometre. The low-cost alternative option, Uber Go and Bolt Go are both billed at R5.50 per km. The standard option for Uber has a base fare of R7.50 per km while Bolt charges R7 per km. Uber black, the luxury alternative is billed at R12 per km while Bolt Premium and Business is R13 per km.
When asked for comment on their pricing, DiDi declined to share the information. The company also declined requests for interviews this week.
The company has promised that drivers who register on the DiDi app in the first four weeks will take all of their profits with no service fee charged. Thereafter, the service fee will be 13%. All discounts and promotions for riders will not affect the driver’s total earnings as DiDi said they would cover the cost of those initiatives. Additionally, a referral bonus of R300 per successful driver referral will be made available.
In a statement, DiDi’s Ken Liu said he believes that now is the ideal time to launch their service in Cape Town. “The pandemic has posed a huge challenge on users who need to get around, on entrepreneurs, and even on the government. We firmly believe that our service will make a difference”.
“We’ve also learnt valuable lessons from our very successful pilot launch in Gqeberha, which we used to improve our proposal for Cape Town users and drivers. Choices and flexibility are very important in South Africa, as well as affordability and safety for users and driving partners,” Liu added.
Uber spokesperson Samantha Fuller said: “We do not focus on competitors but rather spend our time thinking about how we can better the experience for riders and driver-partners. Uber values competition as it offers more choice to customers and means we all have to up our game, and constantly innovate to improve our service and quality.”
“Uber believes that riders should be allowed more choice in the way that they travel, and more ways that are affordable,” Fuller added.
Attempts to reach Bolt for comment were unsuccessful.
Byron, who asked to be identified by his first name only, has been a driver with Uber for the last three years. Although lockdown has negatively affected his direct income, he believes that Uber is still the best employment option for him as a driver. “To me, Uber is reliable and safe. Although the pandemic has caused me to live from hand-to-mouth at times, I am still making money for myself,” he said.
Byron does not believe that a new e-hailing service will pose a threat to his job. “Regardless of which company joins this market, the demand for Uber is always greater. I do, however, feel that there is a possibility that the DiDi app will do great if their prices are going to be significantly cheaper,” he added.
Zabo, who also asked to be identified by his first name, has been a driver with Bolt for the last four years and has not felt the need to be a driver for any other company. “It scares me when a new service is being introduced because they could be taking all my business. At present, I am only just starting to pick up business after the hard lockdown and I would not want that taken away.”