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SafeBoda ends promotion; customers react; what other apps are offering

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SafeBoda Opay Nigeria Oride Nigeria

SafeBoda posted their banner on Twitter on Thursday, with a message reflecting how they’ve grown over the last four years, with now more than 5000 riders registered to their service.

While some tweeps retweeted the post congratulating the startup upon the milestone, some had complaints.

Joseph Kabenge, in the reply section of the post, asked: “So u decided to celebrate yo journey by increasing prices of trips?”

Another tweep who goes by the name Claudia Lo accused SafeBoda of raising the fares without notifying the customers.

 

SafeBoda replied: “Hi Claudia. Sorry about that. Please note that the change in price is because the 50% discount promotion ended. However, you can enjoy our 25% discount on all credit trips.”

At the beginning of June, SafeBoda introduced 50% discount offers on all riders and added another 25% for passengers using the credit payment option. This was after what many realized was pressure from Taxify which had recently rolled out their boda-boda hailing service, offering the same prices.

What motivated SafeBoda then, could be what informed their decision to change their prices to the current position. When we spoke to an official from Taxify, which is observably the biggest rival to SafeBoda, he said they are also no longer giving the 50% discount.

Must read: Exclusive: Why SafeBoda is setting up engineering hub in Barcelona

At the moment, SafeBoda offers discounts of 25% to passengers that pay by way of credit.

The SafeBoda spokesperson couldn’t be reached for comment on the latest developments as her phone was busy and Alastair Sussock, a co-founder of SafeBoda told us “Prices are still very attractive for customers” without giving much details.

While Sussock says SafeBoda prices are attractive, when you hail using both SafeBoda and Taxify for the same distance, Taxify is slightly cheaper. The rates are, however, still lower than those of ordinary bodas. But, of course, in some situations, you’ll find that when you factor in the time spent waiting for a rider, if you were on a rush, there’sn’t any significant difference.

Riders complaints

Of recent, most riders have been complaining that the companies were hugely reducing fares and this was affecting their commissions. Faced with these multiple complaints, these companies could have decided to adjust the prices to cater for both riders and passengers while being able to stay in the market.

Meanwhile, DailJack has adjusted in price offerings; they now only give a discount of 50% to passengers who schedule rides and — for instant hailing — just as SafeBoda, they offer a discount of 25%. The only difference is that with DialJack, the offer is on all rides. But again, SafeBoda is easily accessible than DialJack, which puts the former at an advantage.

Aaron Tindiseega, the country leader for Uber told us this morning that they are currently offering 50% discounts for boda boda rides and 25% for those traveling by car. The latter applies to selected drivers. They are also running a 2-week promotion where passengers are given special discounts.

Uber also has another promotion where people are rewarded for referring drivers and riders to the company.

Related:

Safe Boda vs Taxify Boda: Who offers the best service?

New boda boda hailing app wants to dominate sector with futuristic planning

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