Cebu-based app lets riders book cabs without additional fees

Cebuanos now have an option to book taxis through a mobile phone without additional booking fees or surge pricing.

Developed by Eddie Ybañez, the Cebu-based app micab was recently accredited by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) as a transport network company (TNC) last April 30.

“Eighty percent of the taxis in Cebu are with micab. We have around 3,000 taxi units in Cebu that are already using micab,” he told reporters in a press briefing.

The app was developed by Ybañez and Kenneth Baylosis during the Startup Weekend Cebu in 2012, long before other similar applications were in place. But it was only this year that micab has aggressively expanded.

Aside from Cebu, they are also operating in Manila and in Baguio.

Ybañez, micab CEO and founder, said what makes them different from other TNCs is that they do not charge passengers any additional fees. This means whatever is reflected in the taxi’s meter will be paid by them.

Instead, the company earns from advertisements which are shown in the tablets that are provided in each micab taxi. At the same time, they also charge P600 per month per taxi unit that are with micab. This covers the provision of a tablet and 2 GB of mobile data a month.

The company recently aggressively advertised their operations in Manila where they now serve up to 10,000 passengers a day.

In Cebu, they only cater to less than 1,000 passengers a day.

Ybañez said they hope to encourage more Cebuanos to patronize the homegrown application as an option and competition to other existing TNCs like Grab.

The application can be downloaded in the Playstore for Android phones and the App Store for iOS phones.