Udrive - A new app in Dubai makes taxis so last year!

Let's be honest. Taxi services in Dubai can really drive you crazy some days. We #DubaiLoving no matter what of course, but now with this solution that's coming to scene we might #DubaiLoving a bit more!

There’s a new company in town called udrive that’s offering pay-per-minute cars that can be driven around Dubai at a cost of just 50 fils per minute, and then parked for free.

You download an app, pay a Dhs20 monthly membership fee and then book cars near you via the app. You can then open the cars with your phone (God Bless smartphones!). Once in the car you’ll find the key in the glove box, after you ‘unlock’ the key with a pin code sent to your app, the charge of 50 fils per minute starts. The charge stops when you’ve parked and the key is locked up again.

The fee of 50 fils per minute adds up to be Dhs30 an hour, but after four hours you’re no longer charged anything for the rest of the day, meaning you can rent the car for 24 hours for Dhs120.

The by-the-minute Dubai rental cars are all Toyota Yaris models, and while the company currently only has 50 cars (meaning they’re quite scarce on the ground), they’ve just put in an order for another 150. So there will be 200 on Dubai’s roads within weeks. The company then hopes to continue growing their car fleet “significantly”. So, hopefully, by the time the scorching summer sun is out in full force, you’ll be able to find a car very close to you whenever you need it.

There’s one catch however, there are still two places in Dubai where you can’t park the cars – Dubai Media City and Deira Fish Market. So if you work near either of these, you’ll have to go further afield to find your car, and then you’ll have to park it elsewhere before you finish your rental period.

What about other emirates? Well, you could rent the car for the whole day and drive it to any emirate, but you’d have to pay for parking while in the other emirate and continue to ‘rent’ the car, as it can’t be ‘dropped off’ until it’s in an area that udrive has an agreement to park in. Also, if you rent the car for 24 hours there’s a cap of 150km free – and you’ll then have to pay 25 fils a kilometre after that.

Also, if you often don’t have data, don’t worry, because you can buy an optional membership card for Dhs50 that can also be used to open the car. You can use this when you’ve got no 3G juice on your phone.

As you get into the car you rate its cleanliness, and check for any damage. If there’s a problem with the car, one of the 20-or-so-strong service team will come out and see to the issues.

And what about if the car’s low on petrol? There’s a VIP sticker by the petrol tank that means you can fill up at any ENOC or EPPCO station while driving the car for free. Just don’t try and do so in another brand of station, as you’ll have to pay. Because udrive know that filling up will take time, they’ll reward your account with a free 20 minute drive if you ever fill up a tank.

Here are some of the costs involved…

– Per minute charge of 50 fils (this includes fuel, and public parking charges – except for in Dubai Media City and Deira Fish Market). This means it’s Dhs30 an hour, and after four hours you’re no longer charged for that day, so a full 24 hour rental is just Dhs120.

– Dhs20 per month compulsory membership fee

– Traffic fines – you have to pay for the actual cost of the fine, plus Dhs50.

– If you get in an accident and get a white police report, you pay nothing. If you get a red police report you have to pay an excess of Dhs1,500.

What about signing up?

– Download the app from Google Play or Apple App Store, then click register now. A browser window will then pop up where you’ll need to upload your driver’s license and Emirates ID. You’ll also have to input the expiry date etc. of your Emirates ID and License (we were a bit tripped up when it asked for the issue date of our Emirates ID as it’s not written on the card, but just count back the years to figure out what it is).

– You’ll then get sent an email to put in your payment details, et voila, you’ve soon got an account and can straight away reserve a car. Once you reserve the car via the app you’ve got 15 minutes to get to it before your reservation is cancelled. If you need to reserve a car in advance call 800-837483 to book.

For more on the new car service visit udrive.ae.

#udrive #app #dubainews #dubainews