Pathao has said it is set to relaunch its car ride-sharing service on Tuesday under a new model that will allow drivers and users to set their own fares.
“We are excited to give control back to our users and drivers,” Fahim Ahmed, managing director and CEO of Pathao, reports bdnews2.com citing a statement on Monday.
In the traditional ride-sharing model, a user’s ride request is dispatched to a single driver by the app and the pricing of the ride is set using a pre-established algorithm. This results in a lower likelihood of users and drivers being matched at mutually acceptable fares, leaving many requests unserved.
In the revamped Pathao Car model, the user can request a ride at a fare suggested by the app or can name their own fare. The request is then dispatched to multiple drivers at once.
If the user receives multiple offers, they can pick based on the driver’s counter-offer price, estimated time of arrival (ETA), vehicle model and rating, or can offer a revised fare.
Similarly, a driver can choose from among several requests, accept the request that suits them best, or suggest their own price.
“We believe that technology should be more people-centric. It’s time to change the status quo,” said Fahim.
Pathao said the new model would allow drivers to maximise earnings by reducing their idle time while users would be able to find a ride faster by negotiating fares “in a win-win solution for all”.
Founded in 2015, Pathao also offers food delivery and e-commerce logistics. According to the statement, it has more than 8.0 million users, 300,000 drivers and delivery agents, 40,000 merchants and 10,000 restaurants registered on its apps.