How To Create OTAXI Clone Taxi Booking App in Oman

Businesses revolving around the on-demand niche will use the OTAXI Clone app in Oman. Let’s learn about Oman’s OTAXI app and understand its clone’s features. With the right clone, you can launch your taxi booking business in 1-2 weeks.

Introduction

OTAXI is Oman’s licensed and official taxi app. It started by winning 2nd place in a 2014 hackathon competition. After years of hard work, OTAXI officially launched its taxi booking app in 2018. With the OTAXI app, your customers can:

  • Save favourite drivers
  • Share trip location with family and friends
  • Track the driver’s route and arrival time on a map
  • See the driver’s name, rating, and car number before booking
  • Call or message the driver through the app
  • Choose a female driver (called Ofemale)
  • Get upfront pricing before confirming ride

OTAXI offers regular economy taxis, larger van taxis for groups of up to 7, taxis driven exclusively by Omani women, and luxury high-end vehicle taxis like Lexus, Mercedes, and BMW.

Why is OTAXI popular in Oman?

OTAXI stands out because of its 24/7 availability and fast, 5-7 minute average arrival times. The app allows users to track rides safely, and OTAXI uses modern, comfortable car models with professional drivers. Moreover, OTAXI makes airport travel easier by enabling bookings to/from Muscat Airport through the app for a convenient travel experience.

Since launching from a hackathon prize, OTAXI has overcome challenges to become Oman’s top taxi app, winning awards like 2nd place in the SME Entrepreneurship Award and Most Trusted Brand in 2023.

Making travelling in Oman convenient, OTAXI is soon gaining popularity among commuters. Omani app-based cab service OTAXI registered 30,000 taxi rides in February after its first year in operation, up from just 30 in the same month a year earlier. Pumped up on bold dreams and aspirations, the taxi service provider is also gearing up to offer the best facilities to tourists in this highly technological phase.

Although OTaxi cannot take customers from Muscat’s airports, hotels, and malls, the ride-hailing app has acquired 70% of the market share. The firm plans to expand its 450-vehicle fleet by adding about 20 cars weekly and providing credit and debit card payment facilities by the end of March. 

In addition, Omani Minister of Transport and Communications Ahmed Al Futaisi stated in February that US-based Uber will be permitted to operate in Oman if it complies with the regulations governing taxis. Looking ahead, the future holds many opportunities globally, such as driverless taxis in intelligent cities like Abu Dhabi.

Understanding the OTAXI Clone App Development Business Model

App development has been the most demanding and rewarding phase of starting a taxi app business. Therefore, using appropriate monetization strategies in different parts of the service is critical to get the best returns without hassle.

To do this, you must decide what kind of taxicab app model your business should promote the most. It could be car rentals, ride-hailing, carpooling, or ridesharing. The more services you offer from a single app, the more money you will make.

Furthermore, the key to managing different services starts with one, i.e., taxi booking. Its business model involves connecting desperate passengers to nearby drivers by showing the trip amount before they book the service.

The transparent and convenient business model has made online taxi apps a global phenomenon and will continue to evolve in the coming years. Now, let’s understand each monetization strategy you can use for your taxi app development business.

Taxi App Development Cost and White-Label Firms

Apart from features, design, workflow, and overall development, multiple payment options are integral to taxi booking success. Be it cash, wallet, or card, your OTAXI Clone forms the basis of all post-maintenance and development budget allocation. These options increase the likelihood of survival in the app development phase.

However, most entrepreneurs are opting for a different approach and skipping the design and development steps. In simpler terms, the cost of an app development project, especially taxi apps, revolves around 80–90 thousand USD. Not only does it take months to design and test, but countless bugs and glitches require regular updates as the number of daily registrations increases.

Making Money With Your OTAXI Clone

There are several key ways to monetize and generate revenue from your taxi app business:

Commission Fees

This is the primary way ride-sharing apps make money. You charge the drivers/partners a commission fee (e.g. 20%) for each ride booked through your app. The commission rate can vary, but you’ll get a cut on every booking.

Advertisements

Allowing advertising within your app is another revenue stream. Ride-sharing apps are a prime space to show relevant ads to customers. You can charge advertisers a fee to display their ads in your app.

Subscription Plans

Offer weekly, monthly or yearly subscription plans that users can pay for. These provide discounts, bonus features, and the ability to pre-book rides. Subscriptions provide income upfront.

Surge Pricing

During high-demand periods, you can increase ride prices through “surge pricing” using data on ride requests in each area. This allows you to earn higher commissions from these surge-priced rides.

Premium Ride Options

Provide a range of vehicle options, from standard cars to luxury vehicles and SUVs. Some users will pay more for a premium ride experience.

Cancellation Fees

Charge a fee to users who book a ride and then cancel after the driver is already on their way. This helps cover the driver’s costs.

Implementing a mix of these monetization strategies allows you to generate revenue from your OTAXI Clone business through commissions, advertising, and subscriptions, dynamic pricing, upgraded services, and fees.

Building vs. Buying the App

Developing a taxi app from scratch is expensive, often costing $80,000–$90,000+. As usage grows, it requires months of design work, coding, testing, and ongoing updates/maintenance.

Many entrepreneurs skip custom development entirely to save money upfront. Instead, they purchase a pre-built “white-label” taxi app solution that can be rebranded. This affordable approach launches the business faster without incurring high upfront development costs. It’s an attractive option, especially for digitizing an existing taxi service.

Conclusion

Therefore, with the help of an experienced white-label firm, you can buy an OTAXI Clone app to launch your taxi booking app without hiring any designers or developers. This approach is prevalent and has been prevalent for those who are following the standard Uber model in newer fashions in different regions where Uber has been banned.