inDriver, an international online ride-hailing service headquartered in New York and used by 26-million people across more than 200 cities, today becomes available to residents of Kampala. Unlike others services like Uber or Bolt, inDriver users can independently set the price for their trip, while drivers can choose the most profitable and convenient orders.
This means the app’s Real Time Deals model combats algorithms used by other ride-hailing companies, which rack up prices because of peak hours, traffic and request history.
inDriver app allows bargaining
inDriver allows passengers to set their own fare for their chosen route. Nearby drivers who receive notice of ride requests have three choices – accept the fare offered, ignore the offer or bargain for a higher price.
“Until today, taxi services in Uganda did not leave any choice for local residents when it came to the cost of the trip. Users were only offered to agree to the price specified in the application or on the taxi counter. inDriver came to change this situation. We want customers and drivers to independently and directly determine the fair and favorable price of each trip. Already today, residents of Kampala, using inDriver, will be able to make sure that the cost of travel can be significantly lower than the usual prices. And soon people in other big cities of Colombia will be able to see it as well,” said Egor Fedorov, Chief Marketing Officer, inDriver.
Kampala is the first city in Uganda where inDriver was launched. The service is already operating in Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania. inDriver has already connected more than 1,000 drivers in Kampala, and dozens of new drivers are being registered daily. At the initial stage after the start, inDriver will not charge drivers any commission.
Only cash payments no cards
A unique feature of inDriver is that drivers are not automatically assigned to riders. Once the counteroffers are in, passengers select the most suitable driver in line with what categories are most important to them – fare, driver rating, estimated time of arrival or vehicle model.
inDriver has the option to make the rides safer. Passengers can share their GPS location and ride details in real time from the app with trusted contacts.
Travelling with inDriver can be done throughout Kampala’s city borders. Currently, one can pay for the ride only in cash, which allows to further reduce the cost of the trip, and the ride hailing says this removed the transaction charges incurred when paying by VISA card.
In recent days inDriver has been working in Kampala in test mode to collect first feedback. This week showed that prices became more attractive for passengers. Passengers using the app pay on average 20% less than with other services. For example, for a ride from Century Cinemax Acacia Mall to Makerere University Main Gate with inDriver, users paid just UGX 4,000 UGX, from Bugolobi to Bunga Market UGX 8,500.
