Uber's Ride-Hailing App Now Integrated With 12,000 Taxi Drivers In Italy

JAKARTA - Uber Technologies Inc. has reached an agreement to integrate a ride-hailing app with Italy's largest taxi operator to increase its presence in the eurozone's third-largest economy, on Tuesday, May 24.

The move is part of Uber's strategy to work with established taxi operators to take advantage of the recovery in demand after the downturn caused by the pandemic.

Under the agreement with IT Taxi, more than 12,000 taxi drivers in Italy will have access to the Uber platform. This will make the app available in more than 80 new cities and expand Uber's existing business in major cities such as Rome, Milan, Turin, and Bologna.

The partnership, which will kick off in June, follows similar deals in Spain, Germany, Austria, Turkey, South Korea, Hong Kong as well as in New York and San Francisco. The company wants every taxi to be available on its app by 2025.

"This is a truly historic deal in one of our most strategically important markets globally," said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.

"We firmly believe that taxis and Uber are better together, and we are committed to making this partnership of trust and cooperation far into the future," he added.

Like other countries in Europe, Italy in 2015 blocked the use of Uber's service which relies on drivers without a commercial license following legal challenges by taxi associations.

In Italy, Uber currently operates in eight cities, including Rome and Milan, where Uber offers a service called Uber Black, providing professional drivers with luxury sedans.