Quietly, Uber has launched its service in the city of Johor Bahru. The stealth establishment is because Uber’s operation is currently still in testing phase, so the company is quick to highlight that only limited services will be available for now, focusing around the city area of Johor Bahru and its surrounding suburbs.
As a gesture to get folks excited to try out its cars for hire service, Uber is offering 10 free UBER rides per account until the end of August 2014. Here are the details:
- From August 20th till 31st (11:59pm), 2014
- 10 free rides per account
- No promo code necessary
- Up to RM25 per ride
Unfortunately, a credit or debit card is still required during account registration, but once done, the same account can be used in any cities where the Uber service is available, including Kuala Lumpur. Here are the download links; apparently it’s available for older BlackBerry OS too, but not on BlackBerry 10:
This marks the second city in Malaysia to have its Uber ride service introduced. UberBLACK was soft-launched in KL back in October 2013, and went live for the general public last January. Its cheaper, yet more ambitious uberX rides were just being launched last month, offering rides as cheap as regular taxi cabs, while providing a better service. This eventually sparked taxi unions like ‘Gabungan Persatuan dan Syarikat-Syarikat Teksi Semenanjung Malaysia’ (GABUNGAN) to call upon our Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD), to “take action against Uber”.
No surprises there, considering how cheap the rates are. The new UBER service in JB is not quite the premium UberBLACK, though the cars might suggest otherwise. In fact, its per kilometer rate is only 5 sens more than uberX. Also, apparently UBER in Johor Bahru also uses rides like Toyota Camry, the same car only UberBLACK riders in KL can enjoy.
Base fare
UberBLACK: RM3.00
uberX: RM1.50
UBER (JB): RM1.50
Per km
UberBLACK: RM1.15
uberX: RM0.55
UBER (JB): RM0.60
Per minute
UberBLACK: RM0.35
uberX: RM0.20
UBER (JB): RM0.20
Minimum fare
UberBLACK: RM5.00
uberX: RM2.50
UBER (JB): RM2.50
Cancellation fee
UberBLACK: RM5.00
uberX: RM5.00
UBER (JB): RM5.00
Flat rates
UberBLACK (KL–Putrajaya): RM68
UberBLACK (KL–KLIA): RM270
UberBLACK (KL–Genting Highlands): RM150
uberX: (KL–KLIA): RM80
UBER (JB City–Senai Airport): RM50
For more information on UBER Johor Bahru’s soft-launch, visit its city blog here. The rates for Johor Bahru here, while the rates for Kuala Lumpur here. Also, you do not want to miss our exclusive interview with Michael Brown, Uber Technologies’ Regional General Manager. There were a lot of insights gained from the one hour Vinot and I spent talking to Mr. Brown. The team actually hinted that they are going to establish in Penang very soon, therefore we were actually very surprised to find out that this Johor Bahru launch happened first.
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