Domestic taxi firms unite to compete with Grab

 Six leading taxi companies in Hanoi joined the alliance including Thanh Nga, Van Xuan, Thang Long, Sao Mai, Long Bien and Que Lua.

As planned, two taxi companies, namely VIC and Open99 will join the alliance, raising the car fleet of the alliance in Hanoi to 4,000. Currently, the alliance has 12,000 vehicles in operation.

To compete with Grab in terms of technology, the alliance said it would operate on the ride-hailing EMDDI platform.

EMDDI, "made-in-Vietnam” application, has been licensed by the Ministry of Transport (MoT) to pilot the provision of scientific and technological apps in the passenger transportation business under contract.

Like other ride-hailing apps, EMDDI allows customers to pay cash, or in the future, it will cooperate with VnPay to integrate electronic payment functions in the system, called EMDDI Pay.

In addition to EMDDI Pay, customers can use mobile banking for payment via QR Pay - QR code scan on the driver's app.

The alliance’s vice president Le Vinh Quang said that it would take customers only 1-2 minutes to book the ride through the app, promising that there would be no fee hikes in rush hours.

The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)’s Chairman Vu Tien Loc emphasized that the alliance must apply advanced technologies and improve service quality to better serve passengers.

Viet Nam Taxi Alliance sets the target of being present in all 63 cities and provinces, hoping to increase the number of vehicles to reach 20,000 next year.

Previously, three Hanoi’s taxi companies, including Thanh Cong, Ba Sao and Sao Hanoi, established a taxi company under the name of G7 in face of the stiff competition posted by Grab. The number of vehicles of the G7 taxi is estimated at 3,000 vehicles, operating across 12 districts in Hanoi.