Yango (ride sharing)

Yango (an abbreviation of Yandex Go) is a ride-hailing and delivery service operating in Europe, Africa and the 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 is also a developer of self-driving technology.[1][2] As of 2020, Yango operated in the Ivory Coast, Finland, 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 Kyrgyzstan).[4] Yango is outside of this agreement and remains a competitor to Uber and other ride-hailing services in the countries where it currently 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]

A Yango car in Helsinki, Finland (2020).

Yango's beta app was launched on October 4, 2018, at Abidjan (Ivory Coast) in French.[8] On November 9, 2018, it was launched in Finland.[9] In addition to Helsinki, as of December 2020 Yango operates in Tampere and Turku.[10]

Yango was officially launched in Israel on December 10, 2018.[11][12][13][14] The app was installed by 100,000 users there in the first two weeks.[15] The firm introduced a controversial new business model in the local taxi sector that offered passengers the exact price of rides known in advance.[16][17] This fixed-price feature has drawn scrutiny from the Israeli Ministry of Transportation because it may violate Israeli law, which mandates that cab drivers can only charge the price indicated by the meter.[18]

In March 2020, Yango announced that it would offer the option of working directly with the company to independent licensed taxi drivers, after previously working with drivers only through taxi companies.[19] In November 2020, Yandex announced the launch of an online grocery delivery service in Israel under a new brand called Deli by Yango.[20]

A courier for Yango's online grocery delivery service, Deli, in Tel Aviv (2020).

In June 2019, Yango launched its services in Bucharest, Romania.[21] In January 2020, it 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.[22][23] In October 2020, Yandex announced that it was halting its taxi operations in Romania due to unfavorable local regulations.[24]

Yango launched in Accra, Ghana in June 2019 with plans to expand to other parts of the country.[25][26]

Special features

Yango does not have its own cars or drivers, partnering instead with local transport companies and drivers. In countries where the company operates, its partners have opened dedicated driver’s centers.[27][28]

In 2020, Yango's parent company was reportedly developing AI-infused proprietary hardware and software for its vehicles that monitors drivers’ attention levels, as well as a facial recognition system to determine the identity of the person behind the wheel.[29]

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 security risks from data collection.[30] Following an investigation, the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority found that Yango's terms of service were essentially the same as Uber's. Soon after, Helsingin Sanomat published a follow-up article comparing permission rights requested by various taxi applications; it 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.
  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 uses generic title (help)
  8. "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.
  9. "Yandex.Taxi enters Finland launching services in Helsinki on November 9". TASS. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  10. "Talous | Venäläisen Yandexin kyytipalvelu Yango laajentaa toimintaansa Suomessa Tampereelle ja Turkuun". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 2020-12-17. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  11. "Russia's Yandex launches Yango taxi app in Israel". en.globes.co.il (in Hebrew). 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 Hebrew). 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 Hebrew). Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  17. "Yango challenging Gett in Israel's taxi app market". en.globes.co.il (in Hebrew). 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. Orbach, Meir (2020-03-12). "Yandex's Yango Now Welcomes Independent Taxi Drivers". CTECH - www.calcalistech.com. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  20. "Russia's Yandex launches e-grocery delivery in Israel under new Deli brand". Yahoo Finance. 2020-11-23. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  21. "Ride-hailing app Yango launches in Bucharest". Business Review (in Romanian). 2019-06-27. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  22. "Yango receives the two-year technical permit for operating as a digital platform in Romania". Business Review (in Romanian). 2020-01-16. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  23. "Uber drivers in Romania get three more months to comply with new regulations". Romania Insider. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  24. "Russia's Yandex.Taxi halts its operations in Romania due to local regulation". Nasdaq. 2020-10-14. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  25. "Yandex launches Yango taxi app in Ghana". BusinessGhana. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  26. "Yandex launch Yango Taxi App in Ghana". ANONYMOUS GHANA. 2019-06-07. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  27. "Ride-hailing app Yango launches in Bucharest". Business Review (in Romanian). 2019-06-27. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  28. 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 Hebrew). Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  29. "How Yandex.Taxi is using automation to detect drowsy and dangerous drivers". VentureBeat. 2020-02-14. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  30. "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 Finnish). 2018-11-11. 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 Finnish). 2018-11-22. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
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