Gett, the Israeli transportation company that is known for providing on-demand transportation services to corporate customers, last week abruptly announced closure of its New York City ride-hailing business Juno because of the city’s regulations formed earlier this year to combat congestion issues in the city, citing them as “misguided regulations”.
On last Monday, Juno unexpectedly told its users that the company would cease to be operating that evening and direct it users towards former competitor Lyft Inc, as Juno went into a strategic partnership deal with Lyft, which will allow Gett’s taxi app users to request rides operated by Lyft in beginning of 2020.
Neither Gett nor Lyft had disclosed the financial details of their strategic partnership, but Gett only shared its intentions of focusing more on the corporate transportation sector.
Juno remained under increasing pressure with the new regulations came into effect that, for Juno, resulted in lower ride volumes and made it difficult for the company to make profits.
New York is not only the largest city in North America but is also among the biggest markets for transportation industry, and last year Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) of the New York City came implementing several rules that came challenging for ride-sharing companies to continue their operations in the city.
As per the new law, enforced since January, there is a tax of $2.75 for private ride-hailing services on their trip below Manhattan’s 96th Street while shared rides are taxed at the rate of 75 cents per trip, and these charges should be passed on to passengers and cannot be charged to drivers.
The new regulations also limited the number of app-based, for-hire cars and set up minimum pay policy for 80,000 ride-share drivers in the city that would be based on amount of time they would spend transporting passengers, while there should also be limitation for cruising time in those areas.
Juno started operating ride-hailing service in NYC in 2016, while Gett acquired it in 2017 in deal worth $200 million.
