Several vehicles contracted by mobile taxi hailing firm Uber are up for sale after the owners failed to service bank loans.
In a notice published yesterday, Stanbic Bank has put on auction 13 Suzuki Altos to recover loans advanced to the owners.
Stanbic Bank recovery officer Lillian Wangechi confirmed that the vehicles belonged to Uber drivers who were unable to service their loans.
She said the cars with manufacture years of 2017 and 2018 were purchased late last year and others early this year.
“The bank is only trying to recover its money. The bank has set a committee to discuss on car prices after closing offer date on April 4th,” Wangechi said.
This will be a blow to a partnership made early in 2018 between Uber Kenya and local CMC Motors, which was the sole distributor of the models to import the small, low fuel consumption vehicles for the cheaper Uber Chap Chap service.
The cars were to be sold at a subsidized cost of Sh835,000.
By September 2018, the bank confirmed to have advanced loans to 350 taxi drivers to operate Uber services.
Sidian Bank also financed the purchase of over 150 Suzuki Alto cars. The loan attracted 14 per cent per annum within a period of three years.
The vehicles on auction are to be viewed at CMC Motors and sold in “as-is, where-is” basis, that is, in whatever condition it is.
Uber Chap Chap was introduced in February 2018 to add into existing offers UberX and UberSelect which chargers higher rates.
A ride under the Uber chap chap starts at Sh16 per Kilometre, Sh4 per minute with a minimum fare of Sh100.
The digital taxi market has been faced with high competition and characterized by price wars, strikes by drivers and resistance from independent cab drivers.
