Johannesburg – Amid growing concerns around e-hailing driver and passenger safety in South Africa, inDrive has launched a new in-app audio recording feature.
The app is designed to improve safety, support fair dispute resolution and encourage respectful interaction between drivers and passengers during trips.
The feature, now available within the inDrive Safety Centre in the app, allows either a driver or a passenger to manually activate audio recording during a ride.
Once switched on, it securely captures in-trip audio that can be used as supporting evidence in the event of a complaint or dispute.
Users are notified of its availability via in-app prompts and can access it by tapping the Safety Centre icon and selecting the recording option.
Ashif Black, Country Representative for South Africa at inDrive, said the rollout reflects the platform’s ongoing focus on building practical, user-led safety tools.
“This audio recording tool gives both drivers and passengers an additional layer of clarity in situations where misunderstandings might arise,” said Black.
“It is designed to support fairness, not surveillance, and it sits alongside our existing safety features, including in-trip monitoring, ride sharing and 24/7 in-app support.”
The feature also reflects inDrive’s mission to challenge injustice by creating fairer and more transparent experiences for both riders and drivers.
By providing additional context during disputes, audio recording helps support more balanced and informed resolutions.
The feature is intended primarily as a preventative and de-escalation tool. Black notes that most ride-related issues are not serious incidents but everyday misunderstandings, from pickup confusion to disagreements over wait times or routes.
In creating an additional record of interaction, the platform aims to reduce uncertainty in these situations and encourage more mindful engagement between users.
“Even before it is used in a complaint, the presence of a recording option can shift behaviour in a positive way,” Black added.
“It reinforces mutual respect and helps both parties feel more secure throughout the journey.”
Data security
Privacy remains central to the feature’s design.
All audio recordings are end-to-end encrypted and cannot be accessed, downloaded or shared by either party.
inDrive also confirmed that it does not share recordings with third parties.
The encryption key is held exclusively by inDrive’s security team and is only used in the event of an official complaint requiring investigation.
Users must also give explicit consent for any recording to be shared with inDrive Support in the event of a dispute resolution process.
Black further emphasised that the feature cannot be activated covertly.
It requires manual activation by either the driver or passenger, and cannot run in the background without user action.
“Our support teams do not rely on a single data point,” said Black. “Audio is one element in a broader review process.
This helps ensure that any attempt to manipulate a situation by any party involved is identified through context and pattern analysis.”
inDrive noted that these features form part of its wider commitment to making ride-hailing more transparent and community-driven, particularly in markets where safety expectations and regulatory frameworks continue to evolve.
The initiative also supports the company’s ambition to positively impact one billion people by 2030 by using technology to create safer and more accessible mobility experiences.
The audio feature is now live for users across South Africa via the latest version of the inDrive app.
