Uber leaves the market: Vietnamese businesses rush to join in
After Uber withdrew from the Vietnamese market, many domestic enterprises immediately entered the market, some even announced that they would spend more than 200 billion VND to invest in application technology and promotions. However, expressing concern that it would be difficult to manage, the Ministry of Transport did not agree and many difficult problems have arisen.
Transport "tycoon"join in
Mai Linh is a company that benefits and actively takes advantage of the opportunity when Uber stops operating from April 8. Specifically, while Grab acquired Uber but did not have a special policy to attract Uber drivers, Mai Linh offered incentive packages to attract both drivers and customers.
In particular, in the motorbike taxi service, Mailinh Bike offers lower prices than Grab and Uber, specifically, the company offers 11,000 VND for the first 2 km, 3,700 VND/km thereafter, no price increase during peak hours. Mai Linh Bike only collects 15% discount from drivers, gives 100% of uniform fees, and buys insurance for drivers operating for more than 6 months.
 |
| Domestic technology car companies have rushed to attract drivers right after Uber left the Vietnamese market. |
Ms. Nguyen Thi Kieu Nhung, Director of Mai Linh Bike, said that every day, more than 100 new Uber drivers register with Mai Linh. Mai Linh Bike is being deployed in Lam Dong, Thai Nguyen, Nha Trang, Can Tho, and Quang Ninh. In addition to regular motorbike taxis, Mai Linh will open more premium motorbike taxi services, motorbike cargo services, and school pick-up services.
Right after Uber withdrew, Phuong Trang Passenger Transport Joint Stock Company (Futabus Lines) - the company that owns the largest passenger transport system in Vietnam, has just decided to invest at least 100 million USD to develop the VATO application through the acquisition of the Vivu application.
Futabus Lines General Director Nguyen Tri Dung said Phuong Trang decided to buy Vivu and merge with VATO to create an e-commerce ecosystem. The VATO brand was originally scheduled to launch in May 2018 in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. However, with Uber's decision to withdraw, VATO will launch in April 2018.
 |
| Phuong Trang is also participating in the taxi sector. |
With the support from Phuong Trang, VATO is not only a ride-hailing application but will integrate many accompanying functions, creating an ecosystem of applications, including payment, phone calls, transportation, delivery... With this 100 million USD, in addition to application development, VATO will be used for promotional activities, for both passengers and drivers.
Will not accept more pilot vehicle businessestechnology
In addition to Mai Linh and Phuong Trang, dozens of transport companies have now used the Internet ecosystem to operate transport. However, according to Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, Chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association, currently, businesses operate individually and fragmentedly, so they are not effective. "No one installs all the applications of taxi companies on one phone. We warned very early on about this phenomenon."
According to Mr. Thanh, Uber's withdrawal from the market through Grab's acquisition can be understood as Uber and Grab concentrating their resources. Therefore, it is very necessary for traditional taxi companies to join hands, not only to file complaints against Uber and Grab but also to develop together. Mr. Thanh said that he has proposed and the Hanoi Taxi Association has included in the plan this year to build a common software for all taxi companies.
However, asVanguardReflecting, the leader of the Ministry of Transport said that they will not accept any new businesses beyond the 10 pilot technology car companies (Uber withdrew from the market, now there are 9 left). Mr. Thanh also acknowledged: the Ministry of Transport's technology car pilot program has lasted for more than 2 years, with tens of thousands of cars participating, at the time it should not be called a pilot to prevent new businesses from piloting technology cars.