goCatch launches Anzac Day two-up promotion as passenger numbers pass 500,000

Taxi booking app goCatch has launched an Anzac Day two-up promotion, as the number of trips booked through its app over the past 12 months pass half a million.

Visitors to the promotion webpage get to pick heads or tails, and then ‘toss’ a pair of digital coins. Users who correctly guess which way the coins land get a voucher code which entitles them to $5 off their next taxi fare.

The promotion runs until Midnight on Anzac Day, or until $80,000 worth of vouchers have been won, with credits expiring on April 30.

goCatch co-founder Andrew Campbell told StartupSmart the game follows in the spirit of Anzac Day.

“We want to encourage people to get home safely in a cab on Anzac Day, while enabling them to participate in an Anzac Day tradition,” Campbell says.

“So you can digitally toss coins and select heads or tails, and if you’re correct you get a $5 goCatch credit – but if you’re wrong we won’t take $5.”

The promotion comes as the number of taxi rides organised using the app passes 500,000 in 12 months, with the service allowing users to directly book taxi rides directly with drivers.

It follows the announcement of new legislation regulating the use of taxi booking apps in New South Wales earlier this month, a move seen as granting official legitimacy to the apps.

As StartupSmart reported, the NSW legislation follows in the footsteps of similar regulations introduced in Victoria and other states.

“It shows that goCatch is delivering a large improvement in quality and service,” Campbell says.

“Our rate of growth is rapid, with drivers across the country signing up in droves, while customers desperate for a better experience are switching right around Australia.”

Meanwhile, one of goCatch’s competitors, Uber, has caused controversy with NSW Taxi Council by announcing a new service that allows people to use their own cars as cabs without getting a state government taxi licence.

Campbell says goCatch is not following suit, and is instead focusing its attention on delivering a better service to licenced taxi drivers.

“We’re focused on taxis. There are 70,000 cab drivers around Australia and they work under very hard conditions,” he says.

“We’re focused on improving the service for taxi drivers and passengers. We think there’s a huge opportunity to improve conditions for licenced taxi drivers.”