inDrive APAC Director Mark Tolley: Swastima Khadka Embodies Our Values of Freedom and Equality

In a move that underscores its dedication to fairness, transparency, and individual choice, inDrive has officially named Nepali actress Swastima Khadka as its new Brand Ambassador for Nepal. Alongside this, the global mobility and urban services platform has launched a 360° campaign titled “Your Journey Begins With Your Choice”. Mark Tolley, Regional Director for APAC at inDrive, has emphasized that this collaboration is intended to reflect and reinforce the company’s core values of freedom, equality, and community empowerment. m.globalpana.com+3Fiscal Nepal+3Meroauto+3

Campaign Highlights

• Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Fare Setting & Choice:
  The campaign revolves around the P2P model inDrive offers in Nepal, where passengers can propose a fare and drivers can accept, decline, or negotiate. Users also have the option to choose among driver offers based on various criteria such as vehicle model, driver rating, and arrival time. This gives both sides drivers and passengers more control, fairness, and transparency. Meroauto+2Fiscal Nepal+2
  
• “Your Journey Begins With Your Choice”:
  The slogan captures inDrive’s ethos: that every journey should start with a person’s freedom to choose. Whether it’s fare, driver, or other service parameters, the idea is to put decision-making back in the hands of users. B360 Nepal+2Fiscal Nepal+2
  
• Integrated Campaign Execution:
  The rollout will include digital media, outdoor ads, and on-ground activations all designed to engage a broad audience, especially Nepal’s youth, who often value independence, fairness, and being in control. Meroauto+1
  

Mark Tolley’s Statement & Why Swastima is a Good Fit

Mark Tolley, in his role as APAC Director, made a pointed remark that Swastima Khadka was chosen because “her spirit, authenticity and values align perfectly with what inDrive stands for.” B360 Nepal+2m.globalpana.com+2

• Authenticity: Swastima is one of Nepal’s most respected public figures. Her reputation for being genuine in her public persona and her career choices resonates with inDrive’s message of transparency and mutual respect.
  
• Independent Spirit: Her career trajectory shows that she takes on roles and projects that reflect personal agency. This mirrors inDrive’s model where users (drivers and passengers alike) are given choices and autonomy.
  
• Values of Fairness & Empowerment: The campaign highlights fairness and equality things Swastima has spoken about previously in interviews and through her roles. She is seen as someone who can credibly represent a brand that wants to empower its users and ensure respect and choice in every interaction.
  

Tolley’s note that Swastima embodies inDrive’s values isn’t mere PR speak it aligns with how the campaign is structured around giving users real choice, transparency, and mutual respect. Meroauto+2B360 Nepal+2

Broader Implications

• For Users & Drivers: This campaign underlines that inDrive isn’t trying to be just another ride-hailing service. By focusing on fairness and giving power back to the users (drivers and passengers), inDrive is distinguishing itself in the Nepali mobility market.
  
• For Brand Trust: Having a public figure like Swastima, whose image is linked with integrity, helps reinforce trust. If people feel the ambassador genuinely represents the values, it boosts credibility.
  
• For Youth & Social Discourse: In a time when many young Nepalis value voice, choice, and fairness, the messaging is likely to resonate. It taps into wider conversations about empowerment, equal opportunity, and transparency in public and private services.
  
• Setting Standards: It may push competitors or other service providers to up their games in terms of fare transparency, user fairness, and respect.
  

Challenges and What to Watch

Of course, translating values into experience will involve some important operational considerations:

1. Consistency in Practice: It’s one thing to promise freedom of choice; it’s another to ensure that in practice, drivers aren’t rejecting fares unfairly, or that negotiation processes don’t become opaque.
   
2. User Education: Passengers and drivers will need to understand how to use features (suggesting fares, negotiating, choosing offers). Misunderstanding can lead to dissatisfaction.
   
3. Balancing Flexibility and Fairness: While flexibility is great, there is also risk of fare manipulation, or scenarios where negotiation leads to unfair situations. inDrive will likely need checks and balance mechanisms.
   
4. Safety & Trust: Transparency and fairness must be accompanied by strong safety measures, especially for women and other vulnerable users. The campaign must align with safety upgrades, feature reliability, and customer support.
   
5. Scalability: As inDrive expands, ensuring these values aren’t diluted with scale, or in less-urban areas where infrastructure or awareness might be weak, will be key.
   

Conclusion

In appointing Swastima Khadka and launching “Your Journey Begins With Your Choice,” inDrive APAC under Mark Tolley is sending a clear message: the company is serious about embedding freedom, equality, and user empowerment into its brand DNA not just as slogans, but as lived experience for both passengers and drivers.

If inDrive can deliver on these promises in terms of transparency, fairness, user control, and safety it stands to not only strengthen its market position in Nepal but also set new expectations for mobility platforms in similar markets.