GYRE Ride-Sharing App Launched in Nepal with Women's Safety Features

A new Nepali ride-sharing app named GYRE launched in Nepal on March 8, 2022, International Women’s Day, to rival the existing market dominance of Pathao.

The word “GYRE,” whose literal meaning is a spiral or vortex, stands for “Get Your Ride Easily”. It is a Nepali-developed ride-hailing app in partnership with SunBi, a Nepali technology company. It is available for download via the Google Play Store for Android devices and the App Store for iOS devices.

The app provides two-wheeler and four-wheeler ride-hailing services with new and interesting features. The company announced during the app’s launch event at Marriott Hotel in Kathmandu that the app will slowly roll out the features and aims to be the first Nepali ride-sharing app to grow internationally.

Along with ride-hailing, the app offers automobile services called “GYRE Assistance,” which include vehicle servicing, repairs, and maintenance.

Gyre has announced that for the first few months, the app will charge riders 0% commission.

GYRE Pink

The other major feature is the GYRE Pink. It’s a feature introduced by the app that addresses a common issue with existing ride-hailing apps about women’s sexual harassment.

The feature ensures that female customers exclusively receive female riders, making the experience more comfortable for female users and lowering the likelihood of female users being harassed by men.

GYRE’s Chief Technology Officer, Bijay Barakoti, stated during the event that the “call masking” feature will also be available soon. He noted that the feature, which is focused on women, protects users from receiving unwanted calls and messages.

Other Features

Additionally, the event also mentioned “offline service,” which lets users use the app even when the internet is not available. However, the details of how it will work were not discussed.

The app also has a points system, something new for a ride-hailing app. The app lets GYRE users earn points by participating in various quizzes and using certain services.

The points can then be redeemed to gain access to all of the app’s built-in features. It can also be transferred to assist others using points transfer system. If you don’t have money, you can also borrow points with the “GYRE SAPATI” option.

GYRE is also set to launch its delivery service.

The launch event featured Devendra Paudel, Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology; Ramhari Acharya, Assistant General Manager, Jyoti Bikash Bank Ltd., financing partner of GYRE; Paras Khadka, former captain of the Nepali cricket team, brand ambassador of GYRE; Keki Adhikari, Nepali film actress, brand ambassador of GYRE Pink, and Pradip Bhattarai, Nepali film director.

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