Careem to halt Pakistan ride-hailing operations from July 18

After more than a decade in operation, Careem is set to shut down its ride-hailing operations in Pakistan from July 18, the company's CEO Mudassir Sheikha announced on LinkedIn.

Market observers were of the opinion that the closure might be due to stiff competition from Yango and Indrive. Careem's market share had rapidly shrunk over the last few years.

In his message, Sheikha acknowledged the competition and cited it as one of the reasons for the closure. "The challenging macroeconomic reality, intensifying competition, and global capital allocation made it hard to justify the investment levels required to deliver a safe and dependable service in the country. In the end, the Careem Rides team had to make this tough call," he said.

However, Careem Technologies — the spinout building the Everything App — will continue to build from Pakistan for the region, the CEO shared.

"Nearly 400 colleagues across all functions (including engineering) are building the Everything App and its ecosystem of verticals (food/grocery delivery, payments, and more). This presence is only set to grow, with over 100 open roles and the expansion of our Falcon / NextGen program that brings in top graduates from Pakistani universities and gives them hands-on training on building highly scalable systems," he added.

Careem launched its ride-hailing services in Pakistan in 2015. It was one of the first ride-hailing platforms in the country, entering the market a year before its competitor Uber. It was spread across 13 cities, including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Multan, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Abbottabad, Sargodha and Mardan.