The Siberian transport app InDrive arrived in Brazil in 2018, but began to gain space in the competition in 2022, with an unusual proposal: the passenger and the driver negotiate the price between themselves until consensus.
This market is dominated in the country by Uber and 99, each with more than 1 million registered drivers. InDrive, which became the third most downloaded app in the country on the Play Store and App Store (according to monitoring platform Sensor Tower), does not say how many workers it registered. The company only discloses that the number grew by 50% between January 2022 and January 2023.
In addition to the different formula for pricing the ride, InDrive adopts a fixed rule for paying drivers: the app takes 10% of the fare charged. In 99 and Uber, this percentage varies based on calculations made by the applications. 99 has a compensation program to keep the rate at a maximum average of 19.99%. Uber says the driver gets “the biggest slice”, without specifying a percentage.
On its website, InDrive states that the rides it intermediates are on average 20% cheaper, due to the lower rate. The company’s chief executive, Arsen Tomsky, claims that the lower price is possible because the company invests less in advertising.
Uber and 99, however, also charged lower fees at the beginning of their operation in the country.
Although the model offered by InDrive pays better proportionally and is transparent, app drivers interviewed by the report say that the difficulty of negotiating with people in the middle of traffic discourages the adoption of the Siberian app.
It is also impossible to check the total earnings of registered drivers on the platform.
The average income of transport app drivers working 40 hours a week ranged from BRL 2,925 to BRL 4,756, according to a survey by Cebrap (Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning) commissioned by Amobitec (Brazilian Association for Mobility and Technology) .
A Sheet compared the three transport applications most downloaded on iPhone and Android phones, in relation to passenger transport (the three applications also deliver cargo, but the service was not the object of this purchase).
Among iPhone users, Uber leads. The 99 is at the forefront of Android phones. InDrive ranks third in both cases.
The scenario can change from city to city, due to the availability of drivers and demand for users, depending on preference.
The report also compared the criteria payment, passenger safety, driver safety, resources in case of an accident.
In general, Indrive also offers fewer services: for example, it doesn’t have the option to recover lost objects.
passenger safety
All three apps show driver ratings, defined by passenger votes. They also reserve the right to block drivers who violate the application’s terms of use.
The 99 offers free rides to women’s police stations. The company also has artificial intelligence that tracks and identifies words and contexts left in comments at the end of races that may be related to cases of harassment. “In this way, the aggressors are identified and have their profiles banned from the platform, while the victims are directed to humanized care.”
In addition, the company checks the criminal background of drivers registered on the platform.
Uber centralizes the app’s prevention and alert functions under the “Safety Features” button. The feature allows users to share location and time of arrival in real time with whoever they want and offers the option to call the police in risky situations directly from the app. By pressing this button, the user is still informed of his current location and vehicle information on the trip.
InDrive maintains a list of dangerous people. People who enter that frame are blocked and reported to local authorities, says Tomsky.
InDrive is, however, the only application in which trips cannot be paid for by credit or debit card digitally. You need to pay cash, transfer or use some instant payment modality like Pix. Tomsky claims that 99.986% of trips made in Brazil end up without problems.
driver safety
On InDrive, it is mandatory that the passenger publish a photo in the profile. The feature allows the driver to identify the passenger more quickly and avoid putting strangers in the car, according to Chief Executive Arsen Tomsky.
99 tests the passenger identification measure and claims that a third of the people registered in the application already adhere to it.
Uber is testing a feature that prompts riders who choose to pay in cash for selfies.
99 claims it has more than 50 safety features for the driver, including: collaborative mapping of risk zones, insurance, artificial intelligence that analyzes potential risks and adds layers of protection, audio recording, race tracking via GPS, route sharing with trusted contacts, a button to call the police directly and a 24-hour call center.
Female drivers still have the option to receive rides only from female passengers.
At Uber, just like the passenger, the driver has access to the “Safety Features” button. The application also requires the user who does not add a digital payment method to enter CPF and date of birth, for verification in the Serasa database.
The company also uses machine learning to prevent potentially risky trips from happening. Just like on 99, some neighborhoods are outside the coverage of the application.
Resources in case of accident or item loss
InDrive is not supported if an item is lost in the driver’s car. Uber and 99 mediate contact with the driver. Also allow reward payment.
99 sells insurance for app drivers against personal accidents, which covers death and hospital expenses.
in-app management
All three apps can block drivers without warning.
InDrive, however, says it does not sanction registered drivers for canceling rides. Uber and 99 charge drivers to have a minimum acceptance rate to keep their registration active.
When it comes to deleting an account, the operation is more difficult with InDrive. To request deletion, it is necessary to send an email with a screen shot showing the application’s account. Uber and 99 allow you to delete data within the application itself.
