# 2. Problem Statement

Despite the ubiquity of ride-hailing services, significant gaps exist in the current gig mobility landscape. DRIFE specifically addresses three core problems that drivers and riders face today:

* **Driver Data Ownership & Portability:** In today’s platforms, drivers do not own or control their performance data or ratings – these remain siloed within each company’s database . A driver with thousands of trips and a 5-star rating on Uber cannot port that reputation to another service or use it outside the app. This lack of data ownership means drivers are effectively “tenants” of their work history, unable to leverage their hard-earned track record for better opportunities or benefits.
* **Fragmented Ride History and Reputation:** Many gig drivers use multiple apps (Uber, Ola, Lyft, etc.) to maximize income, resulting in a fragmented work history. Their trips and earnings are spread across disparate platforms with no unified profile. There is **no single source of truth for a driver’s total experience or reliability**. Similarly, a rider’s frequent travel on one app isn’t recognized on another. This fragmentation prevents drivers and riders from having a comprehensive, portable identity. Traditional ride-hailing companies sit on _terabytes of data_ but keep it locked away in centralized silos , rather than empowering users. The absence of an aggregated mobility identity means drivers often start from scratch when switching platforms
* **Limited Financial Inclusion for Gig Workers:** Gig drivers commonly struggle to access financial services like loans, insurance, and savings products. With no formal employment or single steady income record, they appear risky to traditional lenders. The lack of a verified income/reputation profile means **millions of drivers operate in cash-based or informal economies with little access to credit**. Their financial exclusion is exacerbated by high platform commissions and income volatility. In short, drivers who power the ride-hailing industry often cannot get fair financing or insurance, despite their significant earnings and work ethic. There is a need to convert their work history into a form of “creditworthiness.” _Ride data isn’t just about logistics , it’s about credit_ .

Without a mechanism to consolidate and prove their earnings and reliability, drivers remain underserved by mainstream finance.

These issues result in a power imbalance: large Web2 platforms control the data and the terms, while drivers bear the expenses and risk without accruing long-term benefits. Riders and drivers are essentially stuck in closed ecosystems with **little transparency, no portability, and few paths to improve their economic well-being**. The status quo leaves value on the table – both in terms of unrealized financial opportunities for participants and untapped efficiency/insights for the broader mobility market.

