Uber Eats to quit Hong Kong, focus turns to Uber Taxi

Food delivery platform Uber Eats will stop service in Hong Kong on December 31, as Uber shifts its focus to taxi hailing service. 

Uber made the announcement on Tuesday to end the five-year-old takeaway delivery platform, saying it is a difficult decision and that it will help employees, restaurant partners, delivery people, and consumers in the transition.   

“Whilst we wind down our delivery platform operations in Hong Kong, we are more committed than ever to growing our mobility platform in the city, which is home to our largest Uber Taxi business globally,” it stated. 

The company said it will keep investing and serve more riders and drivers in the coming years.   

There are three takeaway delivery platforms in Hong Kong: Deliveroo, Food Panda, and Uber Eats.   

According to App Annie, there were 1.27 million, 625,300, and 289,400 active users on Food Panda, Deliveroo, and Uber Eats, respectively, as of April this year.   

Francis Fong Po-kiu, honorary president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, said Uber Eats has a smaller market share.   

As Uber bought taxi-hailing platform HKTaxi earlier, he said the company may see more significant potential in advancing its taxi-related business.   

Catering veteran Simon Wong Ka-wo said that the earlier Food Panda delivery people strike revealed the hidden workforce problems in the sector. It added pressure to operators, he said.   

Uber launched the Uber Taxi service in 2020, which allows users to hail taxis using its app.  

Apart from the HKTaxi acquisition, Uber is investing HK$3.6 million in a taxi driving license rebate scheme to help new drivers join the taxi industry. The initiative will offer taxi drivers a HK$1,000 rebate after enrolling in taxi driving courses, passing a written exam, and obtaining their taxi license.   

Currently, Hong Kong’s Uber Taxi business is ranked No.1 globally and contributes to over 25 percent of the global Uber Taxi business.