U.S. ride-hailing company Uber Technologies [UBER.UL] is in talks to resume services in Abu Dhabi after a nearly two-year suspension, a transport official said on Tuesday.
Services of Uber and Middle East rival Careem were suspended in Abu Dhabi in August 2016 after some drivers were detained over regulation violations, an Abu Dhabi source familiar with the situation said at the time.
“We are in talks, things are progressing,” Mohamed Darwish al-Qamzi, general manager of The Centre for Regulation of Transport by Hire Cars (Transad), told reporters in Abu Dhabi.
He said he was confident that Uber would resume services, but did not say when that might happen.
An Uber source told Reuters the company was in “positive conversation” but that it had not decided whether it would resume services.
The U.S. firm first launched services in Abu Dhabi in 2013. It has continued to operate in neighbouring Dubai.
Careem said it resumed services in Abu Dhabi in December 2016.
Careem launched a new, lower fare option for Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, starting from 19 dirhams ($5.20) per trip, which it said was 50 percent cheaper than its existing base fare there.
The company also reduced its other car type fares by 30 percent, Reuters reports.
