Gojek, Southeast Asia's leading mobile on-demand services platform, today announced the expansion of its GoCar service for all users in Ho Chi Minh City, starting with GoCar Protect, which incorporates additional safety and hygiene features for greater protection of riders amid the pandemic.

Overview of the launch.

This follows GoCar’s initial launch in Ho Chi Minh City in August 2021 to transport frontline healthcare workers. The expansion of GoCar to the wider public demonstrates Gojek’s continued commitment to providing new options for users while supporting the City’s drive to prevent the spread of the virus.

GoCar Protect gives added protection to users by including features that prevent potential virus spread. All GoCar driver-partners are guaranteed to have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine - this information will be visible on the Gojek app when users book a trip. In addition, cars will also be equipped with sanitizers, a transparent protective shield to separate driver-partners and riders as well as a SHARP air purifier which can neutralize up to 99.4% of airborne viruses. GoCar is the only four-wheel ride-hailing service in Vietnam to provide in-car air purifiers.

To ensure that GoCar driver-partners wear a mask, Gojek has also rolled out a new feature in the driver app, which will require all driver-partners to confirm mask use by taking a selfie before they can start driving for the day. All driver-partners are required to follow Gojek’s strict health and hygiene protocols and adhere to Vietnam’s practice of 5Ks (Khau trang- wearing a face mask; Khu khuan - hand washing and disinfecting; Khoang cach - keeping distance; Khong tap trung - no mass gatherings; and Khai bao y te - filling out health declaration forms), alongside the government’s other regulations.

“When we launched GoCar in August this year to support frontline healthcare workers amidst the severe Covid-19 pandemic, we promised that we would extend the GoCar offering to the wider public when the situation became safer and restrictions were eased,” said Duc Phung, Gojek Vietnam General Manager.  

“Today’s launch of GoCar for all users in Ho Chi Minh City is, therefore, a very significant milestone. Besides being able to offer our users another high-quality transport option, we are very happy because the opening up of transportation services also means that the city is recovering,” he said.

“In general, the ride-hailing industry and public transportation services have been adhering to the 5Ks. Amid the heightened pandemic outbreak, however, Gojek users have expressed greater concerns about the risk of infection, so Gojek has taken extra steps to keep riders and driver-partners safe, with the introduction of the GoCar Protect service line. By doing so, we aim to give our users and driver-partners greater peace of mind and allow for proper hygiene and safety amid the pandemic and beyond,” Phung continued.

Gojek plans to extend its GoCar service to Hanoi soon and will add more service lines outside of GoCar Protect when the Covid-19 pandemic situation further improves.

Users can pay for the GoCar service by cash, credit card, or debit card. From now until 28 November 2021, GoCar users can enjoy a promotion of VND 100,000 (US$4.41) for their first trip, and 50% off for the following 5 trips, capped at VND 30,000 (US$1.32) per trip. In addition, new Gojek users will receive 6 vouchers giving them a 50% discount, capped at VND 50,000 ($2.21) per trip.