Pathao

Pathao (); is a Bangladeshi on-demand digital platform and vehicle for hire company headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The company operates in three cities of Bangladesh: Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, and in Kathmandu, Nepal. Pathao has ride-sharing services, food delivery, courier and E-commerce services. Pathao is the first major ride-sharing company in Bangladesh to get enlistment certificate from the authorities.
Pathao is a Bengali word meaning "send". The company was founded by Fahim Saleh, Hussain Elius, and Shifat Adnan.
History.
Pathao started its journey as a delivery service back in 2015 with its fleet of motorcycles and bicycles. They acted as a delivery service for several E-Commerce Companies of Bangladesh. Later in 2016, Pathao started bike-sharing services in mid-2016 and had successfully signed up more than 100,000 drivers and around 1 million users in March 2018 across the country. In an interview with TechCrunch, Pathao CEO Hussain M Elius confirmed that Pathao currently has over 50,000 bikes registered in its platform and the company is valued over $100 million as of April 2018. In September 2018, Pathao launched its services in Nepal. Pathao is the first Bangladeshi company to offer On-demand Transport Sharing services abroad. On 3 December 2019, Pathao became the first major ride-sharing service providing company in Bangladesh to get enlistment certificate from the authorities in Bangladesh.
Operations.
Pathao follows a SuperApp model, providing all of its services through one app. They update their app frequently to make the overall app navigation more straightforward and more natural for all users.
Services.
Pathao currently provides ride-sharing, parcel, food delivery and On-demand Transport Sharing services in 3 major cities of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet and in Kathmandu of Nepal. Its food delivery services are currently available in Dhaka Metropolitan Regions and Chittagong Metro areas.
Ride-sharing.
Pathao provides on-demand ride-sharing services through motorcycles and cars. Both the driver and the passenger is required to have an Android or iOS-based, internet and GPS-enabled, smartphone to avail Pathao's service. Pathao uses a location based system to match the passenger with a driver nearby heading towards the destination. It has more than 100,000 registered vehicles across the country. Ride-sharing service is available in the following cities and suburbs:
Parcel.
Pathao Parcel is a service to send small to medium-sized packages inside Dhaka city with a minimal cost using the Pathao app. The parcel delivery is usually done through bicycles for nearby locations and motorcycles for longer distances. This service also requires the delivery person and sender to both have GPS enabled smartphones to match with a delivery person nearby.
eCommerce delivery.
Merchant Delivery was the basis of the foundation of Pathao back in 2015. Pathao delivers in 50+ cities in Bangladesh using their fleet of bicycle, motorcycle and pickup vans. Pathao accepts cash-on-delivery and returns of products on behalf of its merchants as well.
Food delivery.
Pathao launched on-demand food delivery in Dhaka and Chittagong city in January 2018 and used bicycle deliveries to avoid the traffic. It directly competes with local and international delivery companies. A report by the Daily Star claimed that Pathao Food has 80% market share in the country.
Pathao Nepal.
On 12 September 2018, Pathao announced launched their bike-sharing operation in Kathmandu. Several recruitment advertisements for hiring Operations Manager, Marketing Manager and Executives were also seen in Nepalese Job-Seeking Websites from August 2018. In May 2018 Pathao appointed Mr. Asheem Man Singh Basnyat as the Regional Director for Nepal. Pathao Nepal launched its bike services on 24 September 2018, and car services on 9 August 2019.
Issues.
Pathao Pay.
On 24 May 2018, Pathao launched its Mobile Wallet service termed as Pathao Pay, through which customers could pay the riders through the app without using cash.
A report published by a local news agency claimed that Bangladesh Bank denied Pathao to launch a Closed Payment Service. In a statement, Pathao CEO Hussain M. Elius said that "We had faced a problem as we started the service as a closed wallet. We will turn the service into an open wallet in the future by fulfilling all the [regulations] and conditions."
Data Handling.
On 5 November 2018, A video published in both Facebook and YouTube showed the Pathao android app deliberately copies sensitive information, including SMS and contact lists. Pathao released a statement claiming the information collected from users are kept safe and hidden from their employees, and they use the best practices similar to every other company in the industry as per all terms and conditions. Pathao released a new update on 8 November 2018, without sensitive features.
Restructuring.
On 26 June 2019, Pathao management terminated 300 employees. Pathao has said it introduced changes leading to cost optimization.
Regulations.
Upon Uber launching in Dhaka on 22 November 2016, Bangladesh Road & Transport Authority (BRTA) declared Ride Sharing Services illegal in Bangladesh due to conflicts with Bangladesh Motor Vehicles Act. Pathao along with several local Ride-sharing services like Amar Ride, Uber and Bahon petitioned against the rule and later lobbied the government to formulate a draft bill to allow operations of Ride-sharing services. The services remained open to the public and on 3 December 2017, the BRTA formulated a guideline for Ride-sharing services. Most of the Ride-sharing services including Pathao was given Operation License in February 2018. On December 3, Pathao became the first major ride-sharing service in Bangladesh to get enlistment certificate from Bangladesh Road & Transport Authority (BRTA).