KOLKATA :
With Uber announcing a fare hike of 12-15% keeping the fuel price rise in mind, California headquartered ride-hailing platform has come much to the rescue of passengers. The company launched a new ride hailing app in Kolkata on Monday which allows passengers and cab drivers to negotiate fare online before finalising the trip for city or outstation trips.Â
inDriver announced the start of its services in Kolkata with more than 4000 drivers, a senior official of the company said.Â
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.Â
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.Â
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.Â
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.Â
“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.Â
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%, it will be nearly 20% lower than the existing cab aggregators Uber and Ola who charge close to 30%, app cab drivers claimed.Â
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.Â
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.Â
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.Â
