1 month ago
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Elijah Felice Rosales - The Philippine Star
February 11, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — In-city courier Lalamove has entered the ride-hailing market by introducing its own four-seater and six-seater services, providing commuters with another mobility option.
Lalamove is hopping on the ride-hailing segment with Lalamove Ride, promising customers the same budget-friendly model from its door-to-door delivery.
Lalamove Ride, now available on the Lalamove app, offers two kinds of services: Car, a four-seater sedan and Car XL, a six-seater SUV.
Lalamove Ride expands the courier’s existing portfolio of logistics products in Metro Manila and Pampanga, marking the first time, however, that Lalamove will be transporting people. Prior to this, Lalamove is limited to the delivery of goods.
Lalamove’s ride-hailing version features a 24 hours a day, seven days a week chat function with customer service. Likewise, the courier committed to tighten up its driver registration process to ensure passenger safety and security.
Lalamove Ride also allows users to share their real-time location while taking a trip, and they are also guaranteed with accident insurance by casualty insurer Chubb.
Lalamove also equipped the service with an SOS button that connects passengers to authorities in case of an emergency.
Passengers may pay for their trip in cash or via e-wallet, and Lalamove commits upfront pricing with no hidden charges.
Still on the ride-hailing market, The STAR learned that new entrant inDrive has started collecting a 9.99-percent commission per trip. In spite of this, drivers who spoke to The STAR said the platform still charges the industry’s lowest fee.
Drivers said ride-hailing leader Grab Philippines and industry alternatives, including JoyRide PH and PeekUp, slap a commission of at least 20 percent. inDrive last year enticed drivers to join the app by waiving them of any fee, allowing them to take home all of their earnings.
The incentive boosted inDrive’s reputation among transport network vehicle service drivers, and the company assembled a fleet of 13,000 by the end of 2024.
For 2025, inDrive aims to expand its fleet by as much as 40 percent to onboard more than 18,000 drivers across the areas it serves, primarily in Metro Manila.
