[RahulNagaraj]

A new ride hailing app was launched in Kolkata which allows passengers and cab drivers to negotiate fare online before finalising the trip for city or outstation trips.

inDriver, a California headquartered ride-hailing platform, announced the start of its services in the city with more than 4000 drivers, a senior official of the company said.

Kolkata is the first metropolis where the new app cab service has been launched and in the next few months other metros will be covered, Nanda said.

It promises zero surge and very low service charge for the drivers.

Unlike typical ride hailing apps, inDriver aims to offer passengers and drivers to negotiate the fare of a ride.

If a passenger receives multiple offers at the same price, the person can make his/her choice based on the driver's estimated time of arrival, the price, the vehicle model and the driver's rating, the company's south Asia PR manager Pavit Nanda said.

"inDriver is a service that allows drivers and passengers to find each other and to independently agree on all the terms of each trip. A passenger can use our app to find offers and get counter offers directly from nearby drivers. In turn a driver has the right to decide for himself which ride request suits him and suggest its own prices," she said.

With zero surge, zero payment for service for the first three months, inDriver aims to make its business model a transparent one for both passengers and drivers, Nanda said.

"It is the only app that allows users to negotiate their cab fare before booking the ride in real time. After three months our commission will be between five and 10 per cent," she said.

The inDriver fares are expected to be lower at any point of time as commission burden on the drivers will be less. At five to 10 per cent, it will be nearly 20 per cent lower than the existing cab aggregators Uber and Ola who charge close to 30 per cent, app cab drivers claimed.

App cab associations have been demanding for long that Uber and Ola reduce the commission to a maximum of 15-20 per cent including all taxes.

Nanda said that to book a ride one has to enter the place of start of journey and destination in the app. A suggestive fare will be shown and the passenger will be able to offer his own fare.

The app will show drivers an offer price and if the nearby drivers of the service wish to charge more, it can be accepted or declined depending on the customer's preference.

inDriver said all its drivers are verified. The app has already launched its service in Chandigarh, Bhopal, Ludhiana, Lucknow and Jaipur.

Source: TOI

[MotoBlip]

Have used their services a couple of times for intercity and intracity travel, my experience has been moderate so far, also they now call themselves inDrive. For intracity travel, fares are relatively cheaper than the veterans, Ola and Uber but not significantly, and the probability the driver accepts your first bid is lean, you do have to go a bit back and forth but it's fine once the fare is accepted. Driver are generally polite and well mannered.

Now here comes the kicker, intercity travel. App calculated fare at times does not include the correct toll amount(as conveyed to me by their drivers). For folks in Delhi NCR, this can quickly become a menace assuming a person travel from Gurgaon to Noida via Delhi or any such combination. The T&Cs put the burden of payment of this entry tax on the passenger, and although their is a Ride+Toll option in the app itself, the driver almost never accepts this and you ultimately have to pay from your pocket(another ₹100/120 depending on border entry). The relative saving(if any) too are minimal compared to Ola-Uber in such cases and I'd rather use the latter, just for peace of mind.

Sometimes so much time is wasted to book a cab/auto, because you are constantly jumping between 3 or more apps, that I just give up and take the metro instead. Additionally, and to exacerbate my experience further, I have never once been able to successfully book an Auto from inDrive. So yeah, it is what it is, and right now I find it hard to recommend it to people.

[Thebibendum]

I have used it few times in Delhi-NCR especially when Ola/Uber doesn't allocate rides (after 15-20 min. of trying)

Positives:
1. Definitely cheaper than Ola/Uber (sometimes 40%). On toll, have a conversation with the driver before he starts for your pickup for clarity.
2. Drivers are generally available atleast in the area I have tried booking.

Negatives:
1. App tracking is not great, and sometimes drivers would accept your ride while they are already in active duty on Ola/Uber so this can get frustrating as they would be delayed in reaching the pickup.
2. Not sure how safe it is.

Good to have another option in the market.

[GTO]

Mod Note: Thread moved to the Street Experiences section!

[rikhav]

My experience has been not so good with indrive.

Three to four times drivers have cancelled my ride after accepting my offer.

Secondly the app recomended fare is always higher then what uber ola shows & drivers always demand more then that.

In the end i felt i was wasting more of my time and in end most of the time rides were getting cancelled.

Also when it comes to booking a cab for my parents i feel more safe with uber

[skillaft]

Have been using inDriver almost two times a week for the past year in Bhopal and my experience in general has been good. The prices are generally negotiated at 10-15% lower than Ola/Uber and a good number of drivers also use it. Furthermore, the drivers do not cancel at the last moment and the ride is completed without any issues.

Now, coming to the safety, I think inDriver is at par with Ola/Uber. Never felt unsafe even late at night but maybe depends on the city.

In conclusion, the experience was exactly how a cab ride experience should be. Not complaints with inDriver at all.

[dilipkgr]

Hi folks,

This is my first try on inDrive app. Have scheduled a inter city ride to Pune from Navi Mumbai for upcoming Friday. I had quoted Rs1500/- plus toll for a distance of 100km to be travelled. Got quotes varying from 1500 to 3k. Some quotes were not reasonable to be frank and few drivers shared quotes including the toll charges. Finally narrowed to one quote of Rs1750 plus toll for a ride in Hyundai xcent.
The driver had 3 decent reviews. Once the quote is accepted by us we can contact the driver. Exchange location detail on whats app and ready to Go....!

[achyutaghosh]

I have been using InDrive quite regularly in NCR nowadays, and it has become my preferred option. Points to note-

1. Way cheaper than Uber/Ola- anything between 20-40%
2. Entry into Delhi costs 100 bucks extra- you need to add on to the fare. Still works out to be cheaper than Uber/Ola
3. Prices are low because as of now InDrive does not charge anything to the driver. In future they will charge, so fares will increase
4. Car conditions are not always great. Need to deal with it. Drivers are genrally punctual and polite.
5. One key feature they have is the option of ride without AC, which is cheaper than one with AC. This was very useful in saving a few extra bucks in winter
6. At present they take payment only through UPI or cash. No card integration on the platform.

[drsachin]

The app is great in Delhi NCR if it's long distance ride (>25kms) and you are not in a hurry. it's cheaper by atleast 25 to 30% and there is no surge pricing. For long distance rides specially in peak hours when OLA Uber apply surge pricing makes them too expensive.
For short distance rides, fares are almost same as OLA/Uber but yes, there is less chances of cancellations.
I have also seen fares of OLA/Uber reducing by around 10-15% since the time Indrive have become popular in Delhi

The tracking is not good specially if you are booking for someone else.
In last 1month almost 70-80% of my rides have been through Indrive only.
You also have option of choosing better cab , among the options available if the price offered by drivers are similar.

[J2022]

I tried and gave up using this service.

In theory it sounds good and avoids several issues that have made Uber troublesome. It also promises good price discovery against the ridiculous surge pricing I sometimes see on Uber.

In practice the price negotiation takes a lot of time and is simply not possible in the middle of a busy day.

The service is not centralized and drivers have no incentive to comply with anything simply because they are not dependent on Indriver for anything.

The price discovery never works in practice because drivers simply check the Uber fares and for the most part do not budge from that. Cancellations were common.

In the end it feels like a lite version of Uber with an extra 5-10 minutes wasted on price negotiation. Better than haggling on the street but not better than Uber.

[barcalad]

Been using inDrive since the start of the year. Here are my thoughts -

1. Definitely cheaper than the competition. But that's about it. That's the only positive.

2. Unprofessional drivers. Almost every time. Some will refuse to come inside the complex/society (exact pickup marker). Some won't switch on the AC even though you've chosen that option while booking. Some will ask for extra cash in the guise of "toll" although your booking is via the Ride + Toll option. For those unfamiliar with toll charges in NCR and their applicability, this is a one way ticket to being ripped off.

3. No call masking. A big security issue for solo travellers, especially women.

4. The UI is bizarre. The live location tracker is not as refined as Ola/Uber and has a minute or two lag to it. This makes finding the car in crowded areas difficult.

5. The customer care is invisible. Tickets about unprofessional drivers and overcharging are never replied to.

I suppose I will be uninstalling it from my phone soon.