Transport authorities in Dubai are drawing up regulations to govern companies such as Uber and Careem.

“The law is already there, it exists, we are looking at the implementation,” said Adel Shakeri, the Roads and Transport Authority’s director of transportation systems of the transport services.

“We want to ensure security, safety is our main concern, there have been some incidents in other parts of the world.”

He did not specify details about the regulation or when it would be enforced.

Existing regulation in the emirate does not address ­private transport services booked via smartphone apps.

The pricing structure and rapid success of companies such as Uber has caused confrontations with regulators globally, including in New York and London.

The company last year added a panic button and tracking features to its taxi-hailing app in India after rape allegations against one of its drivers in 2014.

The RTA also planned to increase the number of taxis on the road, with 3,000 extra cabs by 2020.

“We will increase the number by 200 taxis in the next quarter and we will have 400 more taxis in all before the end of the year,” Mr Shakeri said.

Payments via credit or nol card, used on the metro, bus and parking in Dubai, can be made in 8,500 cabs, he said.

As many half the taxis in the emirate must be hybrid vehicles by 2020 as part of plans to go green, save costs, improve fuel efficiency and reduce maintenance.

It will be possible to track public buses on the authority’s wojhati journey planner app from September, Mr Shakeri said.

Source: www.thenational.ae