LAHORE — After cars and bikes, ride-hailing app company Careem is nowoffering boats to sail through the streets of Punjab capital city whichremain flooded by rainwater.
The heaviest rains in 38 years have turned roads into virtual rivers in theeastern city of Lahore, stranding motorists and leaving at least six peopledead since Monday night.
“All aboard Careem Boat! Book a Careem Boat now & anchor through the rain!”reads a message received by the app users on Tuesday, explaining Go+ ratesare applied to this service.
It is, however, unclear whether Careem has collaborated with professionalsor it is using its existing networks of Captains to sail through the cityalong with rain-hit passengers.
The company, which competes against Uber Technologies Inc. offering car,motorcycle and rickshaw rides in South Asia’s second-largest economy,already operates the ‘Water-Taxi’ service in Middle Eastern and Africancountries including Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Established in 2012, Careem now operates in more than 90 cities across morethan 13 countries, and boasts over 15 million users and 500,000 Captains(drivers) in the broader Middle East, Turkey and Pakistan region.
The Dubai-based company operates in 13 Pakistani cities including Karachi,Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Multan, Gujranwala,Sialkot, Abbottabad, Sargodha, Mardan and Quetta.