Given the Fuel Shortage in Mexico, Cabify and EasyTaxi Partner Up

Our goal is to be a more inclusive platform, able to provide users with more options that fit their mobility needs, especially at times as crucial as those we are living right now.

Jaime Aparicio, Cabify Mexico’s General Manager

Contxto – Desperate times call for desperate measures.

If you live in Mexico, you’ve probably noticed the 8-block lineups for pumping gas. It’s hard not to.

The shortage is a well-known strategy from Mexico’s current President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in order to fight fuel thieves. Pemex – the Mexican state-run oil company – shut down several ducts and pipelines in order to identify leaks and perpetrators.

As a result, people across many states have been struggling to find fuel to move around. Not only regular citizens but taxi drivers, buses, food suppliers and basically, everyone that requires a car to commute have seen their daily activities affected by the initiative.

Startups To The Rescue!

The Spanish app Cabify and Brazilian, EasyTaxi have partnered up to help people during these times.

While Cabify, following Uber’s car-sharing model, matches people with private drivers, EasyTaxi invites regular cab drivers to join their platform in order to increase their customer base.

The new partnership consists of a new category within Cabify’s app. It will make EasyTaxi vehicles available to the users, so they can request less expensive car sharing services.

Economy, the on-demand transport startups newest category differs from Cabify’s existing category Lite in different ways.

The Lite modality allows users to request private drivers in newer vehicle models, as well as paying in different ways – be it cash, Paypal, or card -. The Economy modality will allow users to access a cash-only, more affordable service.

The startup will launch this feature in Mexico City, Puebla, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Querétaro, and Mérida, as of this week.

– VC