For months now, Yassir has faced a number of accusations in Tunisia. The latest is the unfair competition accusations leveled against its cab services.

Last Monday, Algerian transportation startup Yassir received a warning from the Tunisian Ministries of Transport and Technology. In a joint statement, the two ministries accused Yassir of violating the law by calling out to individuals to earn money by transporting passengers.

"This type of irregular cab service is exercised outside the legal framework. It is a dangerous innovation because such types of transport services are subject to authorization. It is an infringement of the rules of fair competition. The competent ministries will end this phenomenon to protect the public," reads the statement.

The warning comes after several complaints by the Tunisian individual cab drivers' Union. Last Monday,  Fouzi Khabouchi, the union's chairman, said he filed two complaints against Yassir. One of the complaints was filed with the Public Prosecutor's Office and another to the Financial Analysis Commission of the Central Bank of Tunisia to warn against multiple offenses including money laundering.

 Following those accusations, the start-up that provides cab and food delivery services declared that only official Tunisian institutions could request explanations about its activities or mediate to resolve any dispute that may arise between the start-up and other professional or private bodies.

Let's note that in November 2022, Yassir became the most-valued North African startup after raising US$150 million, an incredible amount for its development stage.

Samira Njoya