Ahmed Alqurashi, a barista in Makkah, said that his family used the app often due its fast delivery, “but there are many other apps that deliver food, so it’s not a big deal.” The suspension came as a shock to app users, who considered it the fastest delivery app among its competitors in Saudi Arabia.Ībdullah Altayyari a web and mobile designer from Riyadh, tweeted: “What a loss! Honestly speaking it was the best delivery app in my opinion.”Īnother user Jawahir said that the app had some issues despite its swiftness: “It was a decent app but browsing through it was terrible and it had no variety when it came to restaurants, but their delivery was swift and their pricing was impeccable.” “Our number one priority now is to minimize the impact on the valued employees, restaurant partners, delivery partners and consumers who have supported us,” the statement said. The company said that it was sad to be leaving its Saudi customers, but would continue to serve them through Uber Rides. “After years of partnering with local restaurants to offer convenient, reliable food delivery, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue Uber Eats in Saudi Arabia at the end of Monday, 4 May,” the statement said. The decision came after several studies of the business metrics of delivery services in the competitive market: Uber then chose to concentrate on other areas where Uber Eats is growing.įrequent users of the app heard the news through an email announcement. Looking ahead, we remain committed to growing and investing in Uber’s mobility platform in the Middle East,” an Uber Eats’ spokesperson told Arab News. This will also allow us to commit further energy and resources on our top Eats markets around the world.
“We have made the decision to discontinue Uber Eats in Saudi Arabia. The food app first launched in Saudi Arabia’s capital in February 2018, followed by a service expansion into Jeddah almost a year later, before it phased into the Eastern Province throughout 2019. The issue burst into public view this month, when a top investor in Dubai courier app Fetchr - once among the Middle East’s most promising startups - said the company was considering filing for liquidation after becoming “insolvent” because of a disputed $100 million tax bill in Saudi Arabia.īut the issue is broader than Fetchr and is affecting other tech companies operating in the kingdom, the people said.JEDDAH: Uber Eats announced the suspension of its services on Monday, considering it their last working day before removing its service completely from the Kingdom. But the unexpected costs could spook investors at a time when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Saudi officials are trying to attract multinational firms to the kingdom and boost foreign investment. has also looked at toughening up tax rules on activities in the sharing economy.
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The disputes draw Saudi Arabia into a global debate over how to tax the activities of gig or “sharing economy” platforms like Uber, Airbnb and TaskRabbit, which rely on individual drivers, couriers or hosts that often fall below taxation thresholds. Uber and Careem both declined to comment. The tax authority didn’t respond to a request for comment. Several of the companies are trying to negotiate with the kingdom’s Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority, they said. The claims are related to a dispute over how to calculate the value-added tax owed over the past few years by gig economy firms versus their individual contractors - and include hefty penalties for late payment, the people said. Uber and Careem face a combined bill worth around $100 million, two of the people said. Saudi Arabia has slapped several technology firms, including Uber Technologies Inc. and its Dubai-based subsidiary Careem, with tax bills worth tens of millions of dollars, according to people with knowledge the matter.
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