GLOBAL ride-hailing service inDrive, in hitting out against what it says are “false accusations” about its operations in recent days, has assured that 99.9 per cent of inDrive trips in Jamaica are incident-free, thanks to real time, AI-powered, facial recognition and other safety features.

In a statement to the Jamaica Observer in response to questions asked by the newshouse, Yusuf Laroussi, senior vice-president of global communications consultancy another, which is inDrive’s agency of record for the region, said inDrive, “has deemed it important to address these events with facts rather than pure speculation”.

In addressing safety concerns and its method of recruiting drivers inDrive said, “one of our safety features [which] includes enhanced user verification during registration — where drivers are not allowed to join the platform without all of the requested paperwork approved — has already reduced the incident rate by 50 per cent”.

“With regard to safety, our mission couldn’t be clearer: We want to get to zero incidents and continue to work tirelessly towards this goal with both platform features, partnering with third-party institutions and liaising with authorities to stamp out this issue that affects our entire industry,” the ride-hailing outfit said further.

InDrive’s defence comes after days of speculation that a driver linked to its platform is the suspect now in police custody in connection with the murder and abduction of St Catherine educator Danielle Anglin, who had been missing since Monday, May 13. Anglin, the police have said, left her Hellshire Park home in St Catherine for work at St Peter Claver Primary and Infant School in St Andrew, but never arrived. Skeletal remains believed to be hers were found on Monday, June 3 in Salt River, Clarendon, just over 23 miles from Anglin’s home. According to the police, the suspect, a convicted sex offender, has admitted to his involvement in her disappearance. They further said cyber forensics and intelligence from national closed-circuit television surveillance programme JamaicaEye helped them zone in on the man who is yet to be named.

On Friday Transport Minister Daryl Vaz indicated that the telecoms companies had refused to impose the suggested ban on ride-share apps..

On Tuesday, June 4, Transport Minister Daryl Vaz, triggered by the situation, announced that he had recommended to the island’s telecommunications outfits that they ban all ride-sharing apps operating here until a regulatory framework is in place.

“I would like to state that this matter is not because of the incident. My recommendation as of today, which will obviously have to be vetted for legal purposes, is a ban with immediate effect on all those ride-sharing apps with immediate effect, until such time as we can come to the table and work out properly how these apps can be regulated in terms of making sure that safety [and] background checks of the drivers are done not only by the apps but by the Jamaican authorities — and I make no apologies,” he said at the time.

Vaz, who said the Government has sought to engage the ride-hailing (RH) providers — both the operators internationally and locally — to streamline their operations within the regulatory regime, also at the time singled out inDrive as being the only ride-sharing entity that had not come to the table for talks, despite being invited by the Government.

“InDrive remains outstanding. I would like to point out that in addition to the Government’s concerns about safety and security in this environment there are issues relating to undercutting the market where lower fares are charged — and that impacts on tourism, the economy in general, and the threat of other issues such as money laundering and terrorism,” Vaz told the House of Representatives.

Deputy commissioner of police in charge of crime Fitz Bailey, in later describing ride-share entities as a thorn in the side of investigators because of their dependence on in-app communications and the absence of physical bases, said cops received no input whatsoever from the ride-share outfit in solving the teacher’s disappearance.

But inDrive, rising to its own defence in relation to those statements, and “with the view of providing complete transparency”, told the Observer that, “as soon as [it] became aware of the case, [its] support team initiated the internal protocol of immediate response and provided an official response to the authorities’ request within 24 hours”.

In reference to Anglin, it said she last used inDrive on May 11, 2024, two days before her disappearance.

“The relevant authorities have been in touch and have provided us with the name of the main suspect that is currently being investigated,” inDrive said. “We can confirm that we have no user registered on the platform coinciding with the name, phone number or e-mail account associated with the main suspect, which authorities shared with us. We are currently collaborating with the authorities to investigate this matter and at this time we can confirm the incident did not occur on our platform. We will continue to closely cooperate with the authorities to ensure that justice is served in this case and any [more] potentially [in the] future,” it told the Observer.

InDrive further said, in extending condolence to the friends and relatives of Anglin, it is “already in touch with them to provide any necessary assistance”.

It, in the meantime, extended an olive branch to the Jamaican authorities.

“We understand that this incident has stirred considerable debate with the Government around ride-hailing platforms and at inDrive we take our responsibility seriously. We have been in dialogue with the relevant authorities over recent weeks to co-create initiatives that stamp out assault and violence for both drivers and passengers on any form of transportation,” it said.

“We believe the RH-apps ban initiative to be counterproductive and deeply alarming as it undermines the rights of thousands of Jamaicans who rely on digital mobility alternatives, and exposes them to unnecessary risks. Not only would this ban be extremely detrimental to passengers, it would also destroy the economies of families who depend on these platforms for their livelihoods,” the outfit stated further.

“We urge the Jamaican authorities to join us and other industry players at the table where we can all engage in constructive dialogue that is united under one main goal — to ensure that Jamaicans have safe, reliable transportation options at their disposal while not jeopardising sources of income for thousands of families across the country,” inDrive added.

The ride-hailing outfit’s handlers, in a subsequent response to the Observer, said it will also be giving its opinion on Friday’s development where Vaz indicated that the telecoms companies had refused to impose the suggested ban on the ride-share apps.

InDrive has been operating in Jamaica since 2022.