Tourists in Bali now have more choice than ever before in terms of navigating between the island’s biggest attractions.
Over the last few years, tensions have been rising between local taxi drivers and online taxi app providers.
As new policies are introduced to help level the playing field in the taxi driving marketplace, a new provider has just launched on the island, offering tourists low-cost fares and transparency for drivers.
inDrive, a global ride-hailing service provider, has just expanded its services in Bali Province. The new kid on the block is set to offer passengers, both local and foreign, exceptional service and great rates. Offering passengers an alternative to local drivers, local brands like Bluebird, as well as ride hailing giants like Grab and GoJek, tourists would be wise to download the inDrive app as soon as possible.
Ryan Rwanda, a representative of inDrive, formally launched the service in the province on Monday 3rd February. He explained how inDrive is the only ride-hailing platform where every request is based on an agreement between the passenger and the driver.
He shared “Here, the price and pick-up location are agreed upon by both parties, creating a trip that everyone agrees on. There is great potential here, and since 2019 we have seen this potential proven by the excellent market in five cities in Indonesia.”
Rwanda noted “Bali is a challenging area in terms of characteristics, but it also has great potential for the development of our services.”
One of the big draws to inDrive, for Bali based taxi drivers, is the ease of the registration process. Many Grab and GoJek drivers are already registered with both platforms and take bookings on either platform as the notifications appear.
With inDrive the driver registration process has been designed to be one of the simplest, making it easy for thousands of drivers, both two-wheeled and four-wheeled, to join.
Leaders at inDrive explained that the business model has great potential to provide a more equitable transportation alternative, where users can negotiate directly with drivers without algorithms that determine prices unilaterally.
inDrive also has a lower commission rate than other ride-hailing platforms, meaning drivers take home more of the money they make from each ride.
For passenger safety, inDrive has a photo and video-based registration system to facilitate the driver verification process.
Rwanda also noted that the platform’s sign-up process supports provincial legislation that is designed to help ensure local Bali-based drivers are prioritized in the marketplace.
He shared “For cars with DK plates [Denpasar], there are separate license or monitoring card requirements, but we provide additional options for those who want to join.”
Speaking to the press, Afanasy Petrov from inDrive, explained that the freedom and transparency for both drivers and passengers is a top priority.
He confirmed, “Unlike other ride-hailing platforms, inDrive does not set prices unilaterally and has the lowest commission in the ride-hailing market, so drivers can enjoy more optimal income. In addition, inDrive gives drivers full flexibility to choose trips that suit their preferences.”
inDrive has currently been downloaded over 200 million times and is available in 700 cities across 45 countries. It is the second largest ridesharing app service in the world, based on downloads, and in September 2024 the service clocked 5 billion rides.
Founded in Yakutsk in Russia in 2013 inDrive is now headquartered in Mountain View, California in the United States. The app is available for download in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store and is available for iPhone and Android devices.
It has been a turbulent few years for the taxi industry in Bali, and at the beginning of January 2025, hundreds of members of the Bali Tourism Driver Struggle Forum (FPDP) marched to the Regional People’s Representative Council of Bali (Bali DPRD) to demand that existing legislation be implemented fully and more policies be introduced to help improve passenger safety, and ensure local taxi drivers were not pushed out of the marketplace by online taxi service providers.
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