You have perhaps seen the attention-grabbing ads of inDrive, hailed as the second most downloaded ridesharing app after Uber. inDrive is inDrive, and this company, headed by an Asia, is having no holds barred when it comes to expansion. Take a look.
Second most downloaded after Uber, but second to none
inDrive, present across several countries globally, is your ride-hailing and urban services platform through which you can directly negotiate fares with drivers, making them better than Uber or Lyft, and better than taxis.
With inDrive, passengers and drivers are not matched. Instead, the app enables you to suggest a price for a ride, which drivers can either accept or counteroffer. Declines are minimal. So, it’s like applying for a freelance job on websites like Upwork, except the chances of rejection are small.
Its founder and chief executive, Arsen Tomsky, recently sat down with the media for an interview, sharing the plans of the company for the future.
It wants to go bigger.
Founded in Siberia
Since its establishments in Siberia (yes, Siberia, believe it or not), over a decade ago, the app has succeeded in establishing its presence in almost 900 cities in Central Asia, Latin America, Africa, and beyond.
The chief executive stated he has plans to turning inDrive like a super-app, similar to others, also offering multiple services like food delivery, groceries, and even financial assistance.
The way inDrive works is said to be fairer and more transparent, allowing passengers and drivers to agree on a price fair to each of them, yet Tomsky admitted to Ridesharing Forum that some drivers are forced to agree to lower fares, since there is no choice but to take the job or they won’t have lots of earnings for the day.
This model, with people setting the prices, is fairer and more transparent, and gives passengers and drivers more freedom than prices set solely by algorithms, Tomsky believes. Some drivers, though, have complained that they are often forced to agree to lower fares.
“It is a fair and transparent model, while our competitors have artificially low fares by giving heavy bonuses and incentives to drivers, and a lot of free rides and discounts to passengers. But they have high commissions or they sometimes increase fares — surge pricing, when the fares go up two or three times even. The algorithms are not transparent,” Tomsky stated.
He added that inDrive, if they take commissions, only gets 12 percent, since the app does not set prices, but you do.
“In our system, drivers and passengers see the full information. The drivers see what price is proposed, and they can skip it if they don’t like it,” the CEO added. “They have full freedom of choice. And they will not have any negative consequences from skipping. It’s a very different feeling, like being small entrepreneurs.”
What’s wrong? Why is inDrive not too loud like the others?
Drive outside your villages and you’ll see billboards with ads for the biggest ridesharing apps, but not much from inDrive. The reason could probably be due to their expansion efforts, which it is trying to mend today.
First, inDrive recently inaugurated its financial services and also entered the grocery business in Pakistan. Nice move if they don’t want too much competition.
Plus, there’s also Ayta AI, a technology that helps people communicate on video calls without the stutter. How creative.
This technology is also being used for its other features.
“Of course, we are also using AI,” Tomsky shared. “Within our app, the algorithm works to determine recommended pricing. Our drivers and passengers have the final say on prices they agree on, with each having the freedom to accept or reject. In some cities, we offer the alternative of not having to negotiate, letting the algorithm decide on a fare. It is a second option, not the main option. We are just testing it, and we will slowly introduce it in some cities.”
Tomsky also emphasized they are building their very own super-app, intending to impact at least a billion individuals by 2030.
“We are entering new segments because we see a lot of injustice from large companies and monopolies in too many fields. We are beginning to enter the dark store [a shop that exists only to fulfill online orders]. We are testing it in Kazakhstan, where we invested in a dark-store player called Ryadom. We will then go to other countries,” he told the media. “We want to be across the last mile of delivery, and also in the fields of education and health care. I don’t know now how health care and education will fit into this super-app.”
Tomsky also spoke about becoming profitable and market adjustments, such as that they got in Miami.