Ingogo delivers more than 1.5 million taxi trips

Australian taxi app Ingogo recorded more than 1.5 million taxi trips in the past 12 months.

In addition, the company is forecasting in excess of $100 million in payments in the coming year.

StartupSmart requested Ingogo provide the total number of trips booked through the Ingogo app but was told by a spokesperson the company isn’t providing a breakdown of the figure at this stage.

Ingogo provides wireless payment technology to existing taxi drivers and allows users to offer physical card payments as well as payments through the app.

Founder and managing director Hamish Petrie says Ingogo was challenging Cabcharge and “significantly outperforming” competitors in Sydney and Melbourne.

Ingogo launched in Melbourne last week while also announcing a new feature which allows passengers to book trips up to 48 hours in advance, with a $10 credit guarantee if an advanced booking is cancelled and a replacement taxi cannot be found.

“The past 12 months have been a huge period of growth for Ingogo with bookings up around 60% on month in March and April we look set to continue,’’ Petrie says.

“Quality drivers and regular cab customers are progressively switching to Ingogo as safer, faster, more reliable services. We will continue to rollout our services in other states and are scheduled to take advantage of offshore markets in 2015.”

Last month competitor goCatch announced the number of trips booked through its app over the past 12 months had surpassed 500,000 and co-founder Andrew Campbell disputes Petrie’s claim that Ingogo is “significantly outperforming” competitors.

Last week goCatch announced it reduced its customer credit card surcharge across the country.

“They’re being very cute with the numbers,’’ Campbell says.

“We’re the only app to operate Australia wide, we are the market leader and we’re the clear choices for people who want to book a taxi.

“We are not too concerned about looking over our shoulder at the competition.”