Taxi businesses fighting Uber operators should adapt or die

Over the past few weeks, there have been reports on attacks on Uber drivers in Kenya by independent taxi operators, whether they are members of the Kenya Taxi Cab Association is yet to be established.

The method largely deployed, as evidenced by communication shared widely on social channels, has been to lure the Uber service operators with a faux pickup request from the customer app and to then proceed to carry out their premeditated crime.

These independent operatives and also those under associations must wake up to the reality of disruption. Their current actions have them blind to the reality on the ground and they do not see what it is about these on-demand services that makes them appealing.

It is not just that technology that makes them leaner and more efficient operations but the whole process of service delivery from selection, training, rating, customer and driver incentives, and customer service which are “offline” things.

The standardisation of expectation and service, especially so for Uber has gone a long way in building customer confidence and driving uptake.

How should they really look at this?

The tech that powers the on-demand economy is readily available and there are a number of companies that provide a blueprint, off which one can easily customise their own experience.

The key areas covered by these blueprints are: resource allocation, matching, tracking, scheduling, notifications, payments, incentives and ratings, which are best build off a micro services architecture for seamless scale. For their numbers, incumbents should unlock a lower total cost of ownership that then deals with their technology crutch.

Who said that only people need to be moved from point A to point B?

There are so many other segments that can be opened up by leveraging technology and on ground numbers that would make good use of all the inventory available on their networks.

Better negotiating power is a no brainer! Instead of crying foul that their current vehicles do not make the cut for a third party service, how about getting a deal with a local vehicle assembler and financier to ensure members access new cars under lease or purchase schemes?

Payments could be deducted from the driver’s collections daily.

Easy Taxi locked down a Sh4 discount on petrol pump price per litre for its members and access to other services such as lubricants, car wash and maintenance from all Total stations.

MaraMoja, a local player in the same space has shown that there is more than one way to play this game, leveraging trusted social networks to position driver recommendations. This means other towns are open for business too! The model publicised by Uber and Easy Taxi are not cast in stone and can be evolved to market fit and ecosystem balance.

At its most basic, it is idle time and not taxes that drives up their unit cost and at the end of the day, the customer makes the choice. Incumbent taxi associations and indie drivers are best advised to adapt or die.

Mr Njihia is CEO of Symbiotic

Twitter: @mbuguanjihia.