Taxi Pocket another on-demand service for the Baltics

    Another day, another taxi app coming out of the Baltics.

    We were just remarking with Tech.eu‘s Robin Wauters about how many taxi apps are coming out of the Baltic countries, with Estonia’s Taxify, seeing good growth, and Arctic15 semi-finalist Taxigo, who is exploring logistics through taxis. The trend makes sense – Taxis are cheap and plentiful in the Baltics and like it or not, the Baltic countries aren’t first on the expansion list of big international competitors like Uber, Lyft, or Halo meaning the market is open for innovation.

    Fighting against Taxify’s market share is a new competitor out of Riga, called Taxi Pocket, which aims to work with taxi companies for delivery rather than creating their own network. In the app you get Uber-like features of seeing where available cars are around you, allowing you to book them immediately or for a scheduled ride. Thanks to the varied tariffs between taxi drivers, customers can choose the tariff they want to pay, and additionally have the option pay though the Taxi Pocket app, or through cash or card terminals inside the taxis.

    This flexibility might make them easier for taxi companies to plug into considering they’re using the same model, and for customers it adds more convenient payments; I’ve sat down in a more than one taxi in the Baltics where the card reader was “broken”.

    “Any company or taxi driver who suits our requirements and works with a taxi license is accepted in our system. While private car hire service “Uber” is threatening to enter the Latvia’s taxi market, “Taxi Pocket” is a way for taxi companies to remain competitive in the market and bring more business to the ones who are friends with technologies”, says Tadas Jurelevičius.