Careem, a vehicle for hire company owned by Uber Technologies Inc., has reportedly announced that it is expecting the ride-hailing demand to recover to its pre-pandemic levels in the upcoming year. Sources claim that this announcement has been made due to a better-than-expected pickup as nations across the world have begun to ease their COVID-19 related restrictions.

For the uninitiated, Careem was founded in 2012 by Mudassir Sheikha, Abdulla Elyas, and Magnus Olsson. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the company carries out its business operations primarily in the Middle East followed by Africa and South Asia.

According to Mudassir Sheikha, the Chief Executive of Careem, the past couple of months have been tough for the company and, therefore, it has planned to opt for a ride-hailing recovery program that has been already proceeding faster than the company’s initial projections.

As per sources, Careem is also planning to fast-track the addition of more features to its Super App that has been further developed to offer payment services. The company has also signed a multi-year agreement with Visa that will further add Visa push payment services to the app.

Over the past two months, Careem has witnessed a week-on-week double-digit recovery rate on its overall business including its delivery services such as take-away food as countries have started easing COVID-19 related restrictions, explained Sheikha, adding that the company is bullish on the rest of the year and the upcoming few years due to some restrictions on its movement and the resultant subsequent growth in the adoption of digital platforms.

For the record, Careem had been acquired by Uber for $3.1 billion in the previous year and has shed around 536 employees in the pandemic situation. Over the past three months, the company has altered a lot of things in its business that now position it well for any future disruptions, added Sheikha.

Source Credits:

https://in.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-uber-careem/ubers-middle-east-business-careem-sees-ride-hailing-recovery-next-year-idINKBN23Z0DC