The world is watching as the world’s largest ride-hailing company, Uber, acquires the largest taxi booking platform in the UK, Autocab. Deals like this aren’t closed everyday, and it will surely send a ripple effect across the taxi and ride-hail industry, for suppliers and users alike. A deal of this scale shouldn’t just be watched; we need to talk about it and its implications.
When Uber acquired Autocab.
In August 2020, Uber released its big news that it will acquire the UK company, Autocab.
In addition to providing the UK’s largest cloud-based taxi booking platform in the UK, called iGo, Autocab is also widely used for its referral network for taxi and private hire operators and its GPS fleet management system. Enabling digitalisation for over 1,500 taxi companies, Autocab became the largest supplier of booking & dispatch systems in the world.
Upon the acquisition, Uber stated the acquisition should influence neither the way the iGo platform works nor the apps of Autocab’s customers, local taxi operators across the UK, built with Autocab technology.
However, in smaller UK cities the Uber app now connects customers with local drivers. So, for example, if you open the Uber app in Oxford, Exeter or Plymouth, the ‘Local cab’ option will connect you with the local taxi companies.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK watchdog organisation, has launched an investigation of the aquistion’s effects on competition, as the deal raises many concerns, despite Uber’s promise to stay away from Autocab’s business.
The problem is the what if scenario.
Although the CMA only found indirect competition between Uber and local dispatchers, there continues to be under further assessment since Uber is a rather complicated platform to compare to other competitors.
The CMA report addresses the fact that Uber can use Autocab’s data for its own benefit, like for spotting trends and market opportunities. Such insight gives this massive ride-hail company a further leg up above the competition.
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