Uber Technologies announced its partnership with top Singaporean taxi operator, ComfortDelGro Corp Ltd to launch a new ride hailing service in the city-state. The two companies have joined forces to face their main regional rival in the market, Grab.

UberFLASH is the first collaboration between the two firms, since an announcement was made last December stating that ComfortDelGro would purchase a 51 per cent stake in the global ride hailing giant’s Singapore-based car leasing unit, Lion City Rentals. UberFLASH will connect riders to the drivers in proximity to them – which may either a private vehicle or a taxi.

The announcement of the partnership comes when the new Asia Pacific Chief is concentrating on forging partnerships with traditional taxi companies in order to strengthen Uber’s position in its struggle for market share with Grab, which is the dominant cab-hailing player in the Southeast Asian countries. In lieu of this ongoing battle for market domination, Grab has also partnered with a number of other taxi operators in Singapore.

As of November 2017, ComfortDelGro operated around 13,700 taxis in Singapore, which is more than the combined fleet of all other taxi operators in the city, whereas Lion City Rentals has a fleet of 14,000 vehicles. “We are leveraging on each other’s strengths to improve our service which will benefit our drivers , commuters and Singapore’s economy at large,” said Ang Wei Neng, Chief Executive Officer of ComfortDelGro.

According to a joint statement released by the two companies, the newly launched service will have fares that are 5-10 per cent lower than the low-cost UberX. The UberFLASH service is currently available in Thailand and Malaysia. However, ComfortDelGro acquisition of the majority stake in Lion City Rental is still under review and pending confirmation from the Competition Commission of Singapore. The anti-trust regulator is reviewing the deal and  recently sought public feedback regarding the same.

Under the partnership agreement, Uber will only take a 10 percent commission from the ComfortDelGro drivers instead of the usual 20 per cent it charges its driver partners. Furthermore , the ComfortDelgro drivers who opt to join the Uber network will also have access to features on Uber’s app such as 24/7 phone support and a customer heat map , which indicates to drivers the areas in the city experiencing higher demand from customers. Additionally , the partnership is expected to reduce the waiting time for customers.

(Picture courtesy: businesstimes.com.sg )