The Taxi Companies Still Don't Get It

I walked past a taxi this evening and noticed a sign on their car that said "Free Booking App". Thats great, but everyone knows that nothing in life is free, someone has to pay. In almost in every case the consumer picks up the tab. So, slightly amused that maybe they had fooled some of the people some of the time, I let it slip. But I could not help draw the comparisons with Uber. I don't use Uber because the App is free (I have never paid for an App on the Google Play Store yet). I use Uber for their entire range of features. This includes the ability to pay with credit card, tracking your Uber's location and the ratings feature.  It puzzles me as to why you would build an App whos main feature is 'free' when this is not the reason why the Taxi industry is so afraid of the Uber business model. I understand the need to be different, but simply offering a 'free booking app' will not cut it. They are making the necessarily steps, but they are still at least five moves behind their competition.