Zimbabwe's Uber-like hail-and-ride taxis may soon be off the roads.
Fuel shortages are just one part of the problem. Stiff competition among Hwindi, Vaya Lift, ZimTaxi and G-Taxi, and a new urban bus service, is another. Minibus taxi services have also cut their prices.
Patrick Manyangadze, the co-founder of the Uber-type Hwindi, said police interference, limited data coverage and minibus competition were problems for the taxis.
Since the fuel price increased by 150% a fortnight ago, most Hwindi drivers said they had had to hike fares and this slowed down business.
"As drivers we get paid on commission, so the less people use our services, the less we get paid," said Stephen Gowero, a driver with Hwindi.
ZimTaxi, a Bulawayo-based service, singled out Vaya Africa as the strongest competition. Vaya Africa is owned by telecoms giant Econet Wireless.
Tafara Makaza, the co-founder of ZimTaxi, said the major challenges were the recent petrol price increase and expensive access to the internet.
"Some of our drivers spend 50% of their time in fuel queues and that affects our business. Another challenge is that of payments. Integrating the payments application programming interface with our app is a challenge since there are third-party payment gateways that charge per transaction," he said.
With rising transport costs, the transport ministry introduced bus services run by the state-owned Zimbabwe United Passenger Company.
But the Zimbabwe Union of Drivers and Conductors said the parastatal's return was meant to push private bus drivers out of the market by offering lower fares...