Moove may let drivers use non-Uber competitors to boost earnings

After four years of operating exclusively on the Uber app, Moove may be considering allowing drivers to get riders from non-Uber competitors. This was hinted at in a chat with Technext by the Managing Director of Moove in South Africa, Maja Smith.

Moove drivers are generally mandated to operate exclusively on the Uber app. But this may change.

Responding to a question on the possibility of removing the restriction to allow drivers the freedom to expand their earning options, Mrs Smith, while acknowledging that Uber remains Moove’s largest investor and their collaboration on different levels necessitated the exclusivity clause, said the company is exploring non-Uber competitors.

“It is probably too soon for me to go into that amount of detail, but we are looking at non-Uber competitors to expand drivers’ earning potential. We are doing that because it’s been four years, you know, at some point you’ve got to be like, ‘I still love you, but we need to expand our love a little’,” Mrs Smith said.

She went on to explain the relationship with Uber, describing the global ride-hailing giant as their first big investor and “a lot of the reason that Moove exists in the first place.” Moove is also Uber’s largest fleet partner across Africa, and in that regard, there’s a lot of collaboration and work that goes on between them.

“They were the first big investor. So that is why we are tied into an exclusivity agreement. But that is not to say that we are not looking at other partnerships that are not competitors to Uber, but still on the e-hailing side of things,” she said.

The plight of Moove drivers

Moove, a vehicle financing company operating in several countries across Africa and the Americas, launched its services in 2020, targeting e-hailing operators. However, unlike other e-hailing drivers, the company’s model does not allow its drivers operate on other platforms aside from Uber.

To many drivers, this limitation also means a limitation to their earning opportunities. This limitation is even more severe seeing as they also need to pay off their car loans.

See also: Moove reprimands driver for accepting rides on inDrive, amid ride shortage on Uber

In a market like Nigeria where Uber isn’t as popular as its competitors, Bolt and inDrive, the situation is even more dire. Moove drivers have severally protested what they described as inhumane treatment by the company. They have also been known to surreptitiously operate on other platforms, prompting the company to at one time issue warnings, describing the act as criminal.

For Maja Smith, the solution lies in expanding the earning potential of drivers in ways that are not in direct competition with Uber.

“Rather than maybe asking why do we not separate ourselves from Uber it’s like how can we make sure that the drivers earn more while still using uber as the main platform,” she said.

She also said the company is beginning to pay drivers to brand their cars as a form of advertisement. This gives the drivers additional income every week. She noted that in South Africa, 300 drivers have already been onboarded at the moment.

“They just had an Uber sticker on their car and for that they get 500 additional rand a month,” she said.

She also noted that the company is looking to onboard another set of drivers to this branding opportunity to use their cars as advertisement. She explained that when they finally own the cars they can take the branding off without damaging the car.

See also: Is the car financing model of Moove and Lag Ride killing the gig in cab-hailing for drivers?

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