What is Didi Advance, Rewards Program that Changing the Way Driver-Partners Earn

The Chinese ridesharing giant Didi used the Low-fare rideshare tagline when it first launched in Australia in mid-2018. With 10% lower fares and an additional $20 off first ride discount for new customers made this app well accepted by Aussies in cities where they operate.

Along with riders promotions, they also offered a low commission fee for its drivers at that time. When other rideshare companies like Uber and Ola set commission fees ranging from 15% – 27.5%, Didi only deducted 5.5% of the total fare and let its drivers keep the 84.5% of the fare charged to the customer.

After more than one year of operation in Australia and having enough drivers on the platform, the company decided to introduce Didi Advance at the end of October 2019 that changing the way driver-partners earn.

What is Didi Advance

Didi Advance is the company’s new rewards model for its driver-partners that rewards the most committed drivers on the platform with lower commission fees, additional app features and incentives.

Your commitment as a Didi driver-partners is scored every week based on several factors (or they called it as Quests), including the total number of trips completed, the trip request you’ve received and the trip you’ve completed.

The company says that they launch the rewards model based on input from the driver community. Over 60% think that the most committed driver-partners should receive lower services fees. So most committed drivers will have a greater chance to be able to bring more money to home.

Where does the Didi Advanced Apply?

With the implementation of the Didi Advance, the previous Didi’s standard 5.5% commission fee will end gradually in every city or region across Australia.

Didi drivers who work at Newcastle NSW are the drivers who first experienced this program in early November, then followed by drivers in several cities and regions in Victoria (Melbourne, Geelong) and Queensland (Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast) starting in early December 2019.

As the latest city visited by Didi, until now there is still no news when the program will roll out for driver-partners in Perth. But that is only a matter of time because Didi will certainly also apply it in all cities where they operate around Australia.

How does Didi Advance Work?

To find out how this program works you need to know in advance about its Quests, program levels and how the levels are determined.

So, what are the Quests?
Didi Advance Quest are measuring instruments that determine your level in this program. Every Monday every driver-partner will receive a set of quests target to complete. Reaching and maintaining this set of quests targets until Sunday 11:59 pm will determine your level for the following week which starts on Monday.

Currently, the quests will have weekly targets for:

1. Total Trip Number
   The total number of Didi trips completed in the current week from Monday 12:00 am to Sunday 11:59 pm. Skipped and cancelled trips are not included in this quest.
2. Weekly Acceptance Rate (AR)
   The acceptance rate is the percentage of trip requests you accept from the total trips you receive. Every trips count, whether it is a completed trip, cancelled and time-out trip request. Following is the formula for calculating AR:
   AR

   Weekly AR = (Trips Accepted ÷ Total Trip Requests Received) x 100

   For example, in the current week, you’ve successfully completed 45 trip requests, but you also declined or missed 5 trip requests.

   Weekly Acceptance Rate (AR) = (45 ÷ 50 ) x 100 = 90%.

3. Weekly Completion Rate (CR)
   Completion rate is the percentage of trips completed from all the trips you have received. This quest serves to find out the percentage of your cancellation.

   Every cancellation is counted, whether it is cancelled by the driver, rider or customer support. However, if the rider cancellation is less than 10% of the total cancellation of your weekly trips, then the rider cancellation will not impact on CR.

   CR

   Weekly CR = (Trips Completed ÷ (Trips Accepted – Exempted Rider Cancellations)) x 100

   For example, in the current week, you’ve successfully completed 75 trips which include 60 completed trips, 14 trips cancelled by the driver and 1 trip cancelled by the rider (less than 10% of total cancellation).

   Weekly Completion Rate (CR) = (60 ÷ (75-1)) x 100 = 81%

Didi Advance Levels and Benefit

Didi Advance will determine its driver-partners level based on their performance in completing previous week Quests. The program level is divided into four: Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond.

Each level has its own benefits such as the percentage of commission fees and preview of the rider destination in the app before accepting a ride.

Didi Advance Level Requirements

Each program level has its own target for total trips, AR and CR value. If you are currently registered as a Didi driver then you will get information about the target for each level on Monday morning.

The target program level for each driver may be different depending on which state you are working in or other factors. We do not have complete information on how many targets for each Didi Advance level program around Australia.

At present we only have information about the total target trips for driver-partners in Victoria. However, as we mentioned before, the trip targets that we mentioned below might change as time passes. The most up to date information you can see on your Didi Driver app.