Yango (ride sharing)

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Yango
Private
IndustryRide hailing services
Founded2011; 13 years ago (2011)
ProductsRide sharing service
Websiteyango.yandex.com

Yango (an abbreviation of Yandex Go) is a ride-hailing service operating in Europe, Africa and Middle East and available via a mobile app. Yango was developed by Yandex.Taxi and launched in October 2018. Yango is part of Yandex Group, which has been called “the Google of Russia” and is also leading developer of self-driving technology.[1][2] As of 2020,Yango operated in the Ivory Coast, Finland, Romania, Ghana and Israel, in addition to 13 countries where other Yandex.Taxi ride-hailing apps operate.[3]

In 2018, Yandex.Taxi and Uber merged their ride-sharing businesses in Russia and several CIS countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgysztan).[4] Yango is outside of this agreement and remains a competitor to Uber and other ride-hailing services in the countries where it curently operates.[5][6]

History

Yango is the new brand of Yandex.Taxi, which was launched in 2011 and had more than 700,000 participating drivers in 18 countries by 2019.[7] According to Yandex, the Yango brand was developed to be more flexible and universal than that of Yandex.Taxi, with an eye towards offering other services besides ride hailing in the future.[8]

Yango's Software release life cycle#Beta|beta app was launched on October 4, 2018, at Abidjan (Ivory Coast) in French.[9] On November 9, 2018, Yango was launched in Finland.[10]

Yango was officially launched in Israel on December 10, 2018, competing with the Israel-based taxi app Gett.[11][12][13][14] The Yango app was installed by 100,000 people in Israel after its local launch in just two weeks.[15] Yango introduced a controversial new business model in the local taxi sector that offered passengers the exact price of rides known in advance (based on an algorithm that uses the length of the current fastest route, the estimated trip duration, and current traffic congestion to calculate the price).[16][17] Yango's fixed-price feature has drawn scrutiny from the Israeli Ministry of Transportation on the grounds that it may violate Israeli law, which mandates that cab drivers can only charge the price indicated by the meter.[18]

In June 2019, Yango launched its services in Bucharest, Romania.[19] In January 2020, Yango obtained a two-year technical permit to operate in Romania in order to comply with new government regulations on ride-hailing in the country, after failing to meet an earlier deadline.[20][21]

Yango launched in Accra, Ghana in June 2019 with plans to expand to other parts of the country.[22][23] Yango representatives met with the President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo during the inaugural Russia-Africa Summit in October 2019.[24]

Special features

Yango uses its own mapping, routing, and navigation technologies, as well as a machine learning-based order distribution system. According to the company, these features reduce the time drivers spend looking for passengers, as well as the overall cost of rides.[25]

Yango does not have its own cars or drivers, partnering instead with local transport companies and drivers to deliver its services. In countries where the company operates, Yango partners have opened dedicated driver’s centers where drivers can learn about the app, participate in training sessions, get answers to their questions or relax.[26][27]

Permissions controversy

Yango asks for permission to access certain phone features in order to tailor the user experience. In November 2018, Finland’s largest national newspaper Helsingin Sanomat recommended not to download the app due to alleged security risks from data collection.[28] Acording to the Yango website, the app requires that users provide a valid phone number, while other information is voluntary and can be withheld.[29] The page also offers a step-by-step explanation of how to switch off permission to access various phone features (such as camera, location, microphone and data storage). Following an investigation, the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority found that Yango's terms of service were essentially the same as Uber's.[30] Soon after, Helsingin Sanomat published a follow-up article where it compared permission rights requested by various taxi applications and placed Yango second after Uber.[31]

References

  1. Jones, Terry (2019-12-17). "IBD 50 Stocks To Watch: Yandex, 'Russia's Google,' Becomes A Hot Growth Stock In A Risky Market". Investor's Business Daily. Retrieved 2020-01-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. "Russia's Yandex looks at ten-fold increase in driverless car fleet to speed up testing". Reuters. 2019-08-19. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  3. "About Company | Yandex.Taxi". About Company | Yandex.Taxi. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  4. "Uber, Yandex complete ride services merger". Reuters. 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  5. "Russia's Yandex ride-hailing service enters Romanian market". Romania Insider. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  6. "Trouble: New Taxi Operator, Yango Aims To Collapse Uber In Ghana". Ghanacrusader. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  7. "Subscribe to read | Financial Times". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2020-01-13. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  8. "Yango: наш новый международный бренд". taxi.yandex.ru (in русский). Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  9. "Publi-reportage/ Côte d'Ivoire : Lancement à Abidjan d'un service international de commande de taxi via l'application mobile Yango". Abidjan.net. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  10. "Yandex.Taxi enters Finland launching services in Helsinki on November 9". TASS. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  11. "Russia's Yandex launches Yango taxi app in Israel". en.globes.co.il (in עברית). 2018-12-10. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  12. "Yandex.Taxi service begins operating in Israel under Yango brand". TASS. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  13. Sadan, Nitsan (2018-12-05). "Yandex's Yango Taxi Hits Israel's Roads". CTECH - www.calcalistech.com. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  14. "Yango challenging Gett in Israel's taxi app market". en.globes.co.il (in עברית). 2019-11-14. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  15. Orbach, Meir (2019-03-06). "Gett CEO Preparing Employees For IPO". CTECH - www.calcalistech.com. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  16. כפיר, -דפנה הראל (2019-05-22). "אפליקציית המוניות יאנגו השיקה שירות חדשני: הנוסע יודע את מחיר הנסיעה מראש [Taxi app Yango has launched innovative service: the traveler knows the fare in advance]". פואנטה (in עברית). Retrieved 2020-01-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. "Yango challenging Gett in Israel's taxi app market". en.globes.co.il (in עברית). 2019-11-14. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  18. Hadar, Udi Etsion and Tomer (2019-07-04). "Israel's Transportation Ministry Goes After Taxi-Hailing Company Yango". CTECH - www.calcalistech.com. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  19. "Ride-hailing app Yango launches in Bucharest". Business Review (in română). 2019-06-27. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  20. "Yango receives the two-year technical permit for operating as a digital platform in Romania". Business Review (in română). 2020-01-16. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  21. "Uber drivers in Romania get three more months to comply with new regulations". Romania Insider. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  22. "Yandex launches Yango taxi app in Ghana". BusinessGhana. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  23. "Yandex launch Yango Taxi App in Ghana". ANONYMOUS GHANA. 2019-06-07. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  24. Dzokpo, Ike. "Yango Met with His Excellency President of Ghana During Russia-Africa Summit". Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  25. "About us | Yango". yango.yandex.com. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  26. "Ride-hailing app Yango launches in Bucharest". Business Review (in română). 2019-06-27. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  27. כפיר, -דפנה הראל (2019-05-22). "אפליקציית המוניות יאנגו השיקה שירות חדשני: הנוסע יודע את מחיר הנסיעה מראש [Taxi app Yango has launched innovative service: the traveler knows the fare in advance]". פואנטה (in עברית). Retrieved 2020-01-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  28. "Helsingissä toimintansa aloittanut venäläinen taksipalvelu voi saada kuvasi ja tietoja SIM-kortistasi [A Russian taxi service, which started operations in Helsinki, can get your pictures and information on your SIM card]". Helsingin Sanomat (in suomi). 2018-11-11. Retrieved 2020-01-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  29. "App Permissions | Yango". App Permissions | Yango. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  30. "Finns Discouraged From Using Russian App Amid Data Collection Scare". sputniknews.com. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  31. "Taksi Helsinki haluaa oikeuden käyttäjänsä kalenteriin ja lähettää sähköpostia – HS vertaili eri taksisovellusten tietoturvaa, tämä kannattaa tietää ennen kuin annat sovelluksille luvan [Taxi in Helsinki wants the right to the user's calendar and email - HS compares the security of different taxi applications, this is worth knowing before allowing your apps]". Helsingin Sanomat (in suomi). 2018-11-22. Retrieved 2020-01-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links

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