Careem’s announcement of ending its services across Pakistan from July 18, 2025 has sparked new concerns among the public, as even the presence of dozens of transport services in various cities seems inadequate for the population. Many believe this will worsen transportation problems.
According to reports emerging as of yesterday, Careem cited economic challenges, increasing competition, and lack of investment as the reasons behind its decision to shut down its ride-hailing services in Pakistan from July 18, 2025.
Careem’s co-founder and CEO, Mudassir Sheikha, wrote in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday: “This decision was extremely difficult. It became hard to justify the investment required to provide a safe and reliable service in the country, as the economic conditions were challenging, competition had intensified, and global investment trends were also shifting.”
Looking closely at this statement, the “intensified competition” suggests that services like Dejango, Bykea, and other transport providers posed challenges for Careem, especially in terms of pricing, as these competitors offered cheaper options, making it difficult for a premium service like Careem to attract cost-sensitive customers.
Moreover, according to market experts, Yango (backed by Russia), inDrive (from Latin America), and the Pakistani platform Bykea have expanded their services in major Pakistani cities, offering low-cost models that subjected Careem to severe competitive pressure. Unable to cope, Careem decided to shut down its services in the South Asian country. This decision comes at a time when Uber had already exited Pakistan in 2022.
inDrive, in particular, intensified the competition for Careem when it allowed users to negotiate fares directly with drivers — a feature that gained significant popularity among price-sensitive Pakistani customers.
Although Careem also tried to introduce similar features and bring back discounted fares, by then, a substantial number of users had already shifted to rival platforms. The fare differences and limited driver availability in certain areas made it hard for Careem to regain its market position.
However, a large segment of the public believes that even with the presence of other services, Careem could have maintained its place if the management had tried harder — especially in cities like Karachi, where transport issues have worsened to the extent that people prefer to pay higher fares just to get home on time.
