Uber Technologies, the renowned American ride hailing company, has reportedly suspended the option of booking regular taxi services in Saudi Arabia.

Due to the outbreak of coronavirus the region is in virtual lockdown and has further suspended accredited taxi services as a precautionary measure in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. It has reported nearly 344 cases of the virus till now.

As per reports, the company stated that according to the measures unveiled by the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Interior, Uber is suspending Uber Taxi services in the country until further notice. However, the ride-hailing services of Uber that are being carried out by individual drives using their personal vehicles are not affected. Additionally, services like food delivery also remain unaffected.

The new measures of the Saudi government exclude flights which are related to medical evacuation, humanitarian assistance, and private aviation. Buses belonging to private or public health facilities, government agencies, and commercial establishments ferrying employees are also exempted from restrictions. Like many other countries, Saudi Arabia too has taken stringent steps to control the coronavirus spread in the country.

The Kingdom had also postponed sports competition, imposed travel restrictions, and closed universities and schools, at the beginning of the month. It has further closed restaurants, public parks, and shopping malls, only supermarkets and pharmacies are to remain open.

Ride-hailing service providers have also taken a hit across the globe both because of home quarantine imposed by government or social distancing measures imposed by individuals.

Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber chief executive, stated that the total number of rides has dropped down by approximately 60% to 70% across major virus-hit areas in the U.S.

The company along with competitors like Lyft have completely suspended shared rides from their respective platforms in Canada and the U.S. and have also stopped hiring new drivers due to the dwindling demand.

Source credit: https://www.hindustantimes.com/tech/uber-suspends-taxi-booking-services-in-saudi-arabia/story-6usURTuoRcD12M4K3yV8TM.html