It was early 2023 when Jayarathne realized that his grocery shop in Galle, a windswept beach town about two hours south of Colombo, was not profitable. As the sole breadwinner in his family, with two school-going sons, Jayarathne decided to sell his business and sign up to work as a tuk-tuk driver for PickMe, a homegrown company that has become Sri Lanka’s largest ride-hailing and food delivery platform.
Every day, on his motorized three-wheeler, Jayarathne would ferry the hordes of tourists who flocked to the town. “Fuel was expensive but some days I would earn 5,000 rupees [$16],” he told Rest of World, requesting to be identified only by his last name as he feared repercussions for participating in the story. “It was okay for a while.”
Sri Lanka, a tourism-dependent island nation, has dealt with multiple crises over the past five years — from the 2019 terrorist attacks to the Covid-19 pandemic to the economic and political crisis in 2022. During this time, the local startup PickMe, which allows people to work as gig drivers using their private vehicles, has emerged as a source of additional income for more than 100,000 Sri Lankans. The company also played an important role during the pandemic by launching several welfare initiatives, including helping with the delivery of essential goods and transporting hospital staff during curfews.
In a country with the highest road density in South Asia, PickMe “disrupted the last-mile transport ecosystem,” Dhananath Fernando, CEO of Sri Lankan economic policy think tank, Advocata Institute, told Rest of World. PickMe “increased labor productivity,” he said, referring to how its courier service, PickMe Flash, allowed small and medium-sized businesses to transport goods across the island. “[PickMe] became the circular system for a lot of goods and services and industries, including courier services [and transportation],” Fernando said.
Several PickMe drivers told Rest of World they were able to weather tough economic conditions after joining the company. “I joined PickMe for an additional income because this is a 24-hour app. I can use it whenever I have free time,” Rohan Raj, a part-time plumber and electrician from Jaffna, told Rest of World. “It’s also good for both sides — customers and drivers. Like how customers complain, if I also face some problem, I can complain to PickMe.”
The company, founded by Sri Lankan entrepreneur Jiffry Zulfer and backed by the International Finance Corporation, launched in 2015. It operates ride-hailing services across the island — from prominent tourist hubs like Colombo, Galle, and Kandy to far-flung districts like Trincomalee and Polonnaruwa. PickMe’s fleet comprises more than 100,000 active drivers, around 20,000 of whom joined the platform in just the last year, Mohan Gamage, chief marketing officer, told Rest of World. Its closest rival, Uber, operates across five districts in the country — Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Kandy, and Galle — connecting 40 cities, a company spokesperson told Rest of World. The company declined to disclose the size of its Sri Lanka fleet to Rest of World.
PickMe gained in popularity during the pandemic by focusing on the delivery of essential goods throughout Sri Lanka’s Western Province and the central city of Kandy: Customers used its on-demand delivery service, PickMe Flash, to buy gas cylinders and groceries. The company organized government passes for its drivers so they could freely move around the country during lockdowns, and partnered with private banks to deliver cash to customers as they could not leave their homes. “This was made possible through … collaboration with a broad network of stakeholders including the Government of Sri Lanka and public administration services,” Gamage said.
At the time, Uber had given its drivers free PPE kits, distributed free ration packs to driver communities in partnership with the Red Cross, and offered limited free rides to transport citizens and front-line workers to vaccination centers, the company spokesperson said.
PickMe has set itself apart in Sri Lanka by engaging not only with its drivers but also their families, and offering perks that global platforms like Uber don’t. The company offers insurance programs that extend to off-duty drivers and their families; though Uber offers drivers in Sri Lanka accidental insurance while “they are online and on the road providing delivery services,” it does not extend to their families. PickMe’s highest-rated drivers get discounts at retail stores and fuel stations. The company’s annual initiative, Nena Pahana, recognizes drivers for their behavior and performance, and provides their children with school supplies. Drivers with high ratings can also earn more through PickMe’s incentive plans.
“[PickMe] drivers are guaranteed a certain level of respect and esteem,” Chandi Karunarathne, a lecturer in the Department of Tourism Studies at Uva Wellassa University, told Rest of World. “[The company has] created a minimum industry standard with ethics [which] strengthened customer trust for the service, particularly among female passengers.” PickMe charges tuk-tuk drivers a commission of 12% per ride — reduced to 7% if a driver earns more than 8,000 Sri Lankan rupees ($26) a day.
Thanks to these initiatives, working for PickMe is now aspirational for many Sri Lankan drivers — particularly those from smaller towns. For some, it is a way to earn money in a “dignified” way, PickMe driver Keerthi Liyanage told Rest of World.
“Because [tuk-tuks] are registered under a company, PickMe is much more reliable, safe, and convenient for travelers.”
As tourism continues to grow in Sri Lanka, with over 200,000 arrivals in January alone — the highest number in the last four years — PickMe is viewed as a reliable transport option for tourists, especially in regions that are otherwise unserviced, Sureshini Ellepola Pilapitiya, local media assistant director at the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, told Rest of World.
“Because [tuk-tuks] are registered under a company, PickMe is much more reliable, safe, and convenient for travelers,” she said. Non-platform tuk-tuk drivers often overcharge tourists, and flagging down a tuk-tuk at night could be unsafe — especially for women travelers, said Pilapitiya.
In June 2023, Sri Lanka’s aviation ministry allowed PickMe and Uber to operate at the international airport near Colombo after tourists complained about taxi drivers overcharging and harassing them. “Consumers who were not used to using tuk-tuks due to security or any other concerns are also making a demand for the service,” said Karunarathne, the university lecturer. Due to this rise in demand, part-timers are also flocking to ride-hailing jobs, she said.
As the Sri Lankan economy stabilizes and tourism recovers, PickMe and its drivers face a unique challenge: A growing tuk-tuk “mafia,” known as sangam in Tamil. This group of old-school tuk-tuk drivers has been fighting for the right to control public transport in Sri Lanka’s tourism hot spots.
PickMe drivers have been harassed in a number of ways — some have even ended up in hospital after physical altercations with non-platform drivers, Gamage, the company’s chief marketing officer, said. In February last year, a video of a PickMe driver being accosted by two men went viral on X.
“I can’t go to those areas because of other tuk-tuk drivers,” Liyanage said, referring to parts of touristy Galle, such as the UNESCO-listed Galle Fort, the bus stand, and beaches. His earnings have dipped due to this backlash. Some days, he earns only 1,000 rupees ($3.2) after a full day of work, which is forcing him to consider quitting gig work, he said.
PickMe drivers in Galle, Jaffna, and Kalutara told Rest of World they were increasingly worried about their safety while on the job.
Raj, the driver from Jaffna, said he is constantly pulled into conflicts with non-platform tuk-tuk drivers at the railway station, where long-distance trains from Colombo bring crowds in hundreds. “They have a mutual understanding. Let’s say there are five tuk-tuks. When a passenger comes, the first driver takes that passenger. The second driver takes the next passenger, then the third. They take turns [doing that],” Raj said. “They are very united, and won’t let anyone else come in their circle or take their rides.”
According to Jayarathne in Galle, once a driver starts losing rides in touristy areas, their earnings start to dip.
PickMe has been undertaking initiatives and working with the government to persuade non-platform drivers to sign up. “PickMe always considers non-app-based [ride-]hailing drivers also as potential future driver partners,” Gamage said.
But drivers like Liyanage told Rest of World this shift is unlikely as platforms take commissions, and non-platform drivers often charge double the fare, if not more. After paying PickMe its 12% commission and spending 40% of the fare on fuel, Liyanage said he is left with less than half the amount the customer pays. “That’s not nearly enough to survive today. Everything is very expensive now,” he said. “The [non-platform] drivers ask me, why do you ride PickMe?”
