On Thursday (today), ahead of International Women’s Day, eCabs launched a new ride type category, Women+, operated by women, for women.

eCabs explained that this initiative “is geared towards supporting female drivers, promoting passenger safety, as well as contributing to women’s education and empowerment initiatives.”

The new Women+ category will give riders the option to select a female driver when hailing a ride on the eCabs app in Malta. Conversely, women drivers will also be free to cancel or refuse male riders on Women+ without being penalised.

“For riders, opting for Women+, there will be greater peace of mind, while ETAs and fares will be in line with the eCabs Go category,” the company explained.

Female drivers who opt to participate in Women+ will benefit from a zero per cent commission rate from 8th to 15th March and a discounted 10 per cent commission for the rest of the month while carrying out Women+ rides.

In line with Women’s Day happening on the 8th of March (tomorrow), eCabs has also pledge to donate 50c from each Women+ ride completed throughout March to the FIDEM Charity Foundation.  

The CEO of eCabs’s Malta Operation, Andrew Bezzina, said that the company has “always believed in the importance” of encouraging more women to enter this dynamic sector, which is still dominated by men. "It's time for women to get in the driver seat," he said.

"This is why we have decided to launch Women+ and to partner with FIDEM Foundation, an organisation that lives by the words 'give a woman a fish and you feed her for a day. Teach a woman to fish and you feed her for a lifetime,"he added.

Meanwhile, FIDEM Foundation founder Sabine Agius Cabourdin said that the foundation is honoured that eCabs chose it for thier Women's Day fundraising initiative. 

Set up in 2018, the FIDEM Foundation provides support and empowerment opportunities to vulnerable people, particularly women, adolescent girls, and children, across Malta and Gozo through life-changing access to education and well-being guidance.

So far, it has helped around 300 women and girls, and sometimes their children too, by covering educational course fees and other costs such as course materials, laptops, uniforms, and even transport. 

"It gives us tremendous satisfaction when we see one of our service users go from homelessness and domestic abuse to graduating from university and thriving in a new career that gives her financial independence. This is how we empower women holistically," she concluded.