Ride-hailing application Uber announced on Tuesday the launch of a new line of luxury black cabs in Istanbul that will be available on the company's app to provide both local and foreign users easy access.
Uber Turkey's General Manager Neyran Bahadırlı expressed his excitement about the commencement of the black cab service in Turkey. "The service will be offered for operating luxury vehicles that have a commercial taxi plate as per the regulations of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) Transportation Coordination Center (UKOME)," she said.
"Pricing will be made according to the black cab taximeter fees, which will be also determined by the UKOME. We foresee high demand from both local and foreign Uber users," Bahadırlı added.
According to the announcement made by Uber, those who wish to convert their yellow cabs into black will be offered special vehicle purchase advantages thanks to the vehicle finance support and purchase program provided exclusively for "Uber black cab owners" by Ford.
"Within the framework of the cooperation, yellow taxis can be switched to Ford Custom Tourneo, which fulfills the requirements for black cabs determined by the UKOME," Bahadırlı said.
Reportedly, black cabs will be accessible via the Uber application with a limited number of vehicles as of Tuesday and offer an eight-passenger capacity.
In October 2019, an Istanbul court had banned access to Uber's mobile application after Turkey’s United Taxi Drivers Association pursued a lawsuit for unfair competition. The ban was lifted a year later.
The company aims to increase the number of registered black cabs in the Turkish market.
