Careem Pakistan to Exit Ride-Hailing by July 2025
By Salman Khan
After around a decade of reshaping urban mobility, Careem Pakistan has announced to suspend all ride-hailing services in Pakistan effective July 18, 2025.
Careem has been one of the most recognized names in transport start-up up which has marked the end oaf an era.
Mudassir Sheikha, Careem’s CEO and co-founder, in a LinkedIn post has confirmed that they were going to end ride-hailing services in Pakistan from mid-July.a
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Sheikha has termed it “an incredibly difficult decision” by attributing it to macroeconomic instability, rising operational costs, and intensified market competition.
Sheikha said that the challenging macroeconomic reality, intensifying competition, and global capital allocation had made it hard to justify the investment levels to deliver a safe and dependable service in the country.
The move has followed Uber’s exit from Pakistan in April 2024, at a time when the global parent company had shifted its ride-hailing operations in Pakistan solely to Careem. That shift is now also going to come to an end.
Why Careem Is Exiting Ride-Hailing in Pakistan
The Pakistani ride-hailing market, which investors had once seen as a promising frontier it has now faced mounting economic and competition pressures now.
Economic volatility has led to declining investor confidence and fuel price hikes, as well as rupee depreciation, which has resulted in rising driver and rider costs.
Careem has been facing competition from local apps like InDrive and Bykea, which have squeezed profit margins. Regulatory uncertainty and compliance issues across major cities have been other issues bottlenecks as well.
These dynamics had made it increasingly difficult for international players to sustain operations profitably, and Careem had to announce to exit from operations in Pakistan.
A Legacy of Digital Transformation
Since launching in October 2015, Careem has been a key player in digitizing transport and creating income opportunities for thousands of “captains” (drivers) across Pakistan.
Over the years, it has introduced safe ride-sharing, particularly for women passengers, and helped normalize app-based commuting in cities like Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad.
According to Sheikha, Careem had delivered more than just rides to Pakistani people.
“They have delivered significant public goods: digital infrastructure, trust, regulation, capability, confidence. All of them paved the way for countless local and global digital ventures to take root in Pakistan.”
