A profile of inDriver, a ride-hailing app developed in Siberia in 2012, which lets riders and drivers haggle over prices and is now available in 42 countries
Rest of WorldLeonid Ragozin
Context & Ripple Effects
inDriver started in Siberia in 2012 with a simple inversion of the standard ride-hailing script: instead of an algorithm setting the fare, riders propose a price and drivers bid to accept it. That bargaining mechanic has carried the app into 42 countries, and the profile lands at a moment when the incumbent playbook is under strain — Uber spent years customizing for local markets, from auto-rickshaws in India to designated-driver services in Colombia, but kept centralized pricing throughout.
The competitive stakes are already visible in the corpus: by late 2022, experts and employees describe Uber discontinuing service in five Pakistani cities while cutting spending, with inDrive named as the competitor gaining ground. A Siberian upstart out-localizing the global leader on its own turf is the story's real tension.
First-order effects
Riders and drivers on inDriver's 42-country footprint get direct price-setting power — fares become a negotiation between the two parties rather than a number imposed by the platform.
Uber and other fixed-fare operators now compete against a rival whose core feature undercuts their pricing authority in exactly the price-sensitive markets where they had localized everything else.
Second-order effects
Uber's retreat from Pakistani cities shows the knock-on pattern: when a haggle-first rival wins on price flexibility, incumbents respond by shrinking their footprint rather than matching the mechanic, ceding entire markets.
If bidding-style fares keep winning share, other regional apps face pressure to add negotiation features of their own, turning fare-setting from a backend algorithm into a visible product differentiator.
Third-order effects
The longer arc points toward ride-hailing splitting into two pricing philosophies — centralized algorithmic surge pricing versus open rider-driver bargaining — with emerging markets becoming the proving ground for which model retains drivers and riders.
A bargaining-native marketplace also rebalances platform power: if drivers can decline or counter-offer, the gig-work debate over who controls earnings terms moves inside the product itself rather than staying in regulatory arenas.
The trend: Ride-hailing pricing is fragmenting from universal algorithmic fares toward negotiated, market-by-market models, with inDriver's haggling mechanic as the leading alternative in emerging markets.
inDriver got its start in one of the most remote parts of Russia as a list of drivers who you could call and ask for a ride. It's turned into a $1.2 billion company with 1.5 million drivers in 42 countries https://restofworld.org/...
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I contributed reporting from Mexico to this fantastic feature from @leonidragozin about InDriver, a Siberian rideshare company originally designed to survive its frozen tundra that has spread across the globe. For @restofworld: https://restofworld.org/...
inDriver is like Uber, but for everywhere else. Conceived on the ice roads of Siberia, it's now in 42 countries, from Brazil to Botswana https://restofworld.org/...
First-time passengers immediately react to the fact that it is them who are offering the price. It immediately creates a Wow effect, Prokopy Fedorov at InDriver sounds off on our signature feature. Learn more about our story on @restofworld https://restofworld.org/...
Finding a ride in remote Siberia is a whole different challenge. Excellent feature from @leonidragozin, who went on the (ice) road with inDriver, a global ridesharing company founded in the coldest place on Earth. https://restofworld.org/... https://twitter.com/...
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Sometimes a story changes mid-reporting. For this feature, @leonidragozin went to Siberia to meet inDriver, the ‘Uber for the rest of the world’. The company was proud of its local roots - but then the news broke that Russia had invaded Ukraine https://restofworld.org/...