Car rentals & transfers
The bill is
never just
the car.
Almost every dispute over a car rental in India comes from the same place: the quote was for a package, and the trip went outside it. We explain the package before you book, and put the likely total in the quote.
Cars for every journey
From an airport pickup to a week-long chauffeur-driven tour — commercial-registered vehicles, verified drivers, package limits stated upfront.
How Indian car hire is priced
What 8/80
actually means
Indian ground transport is sold in packages, written as hours over kilometres. Nobody explains them at the point of booking, which is why the bill so often arrives as a surprise. Here they are.
| Package | Name | What you get | Where it catches people |
|---|---|---|---|
| TRF | Airport transfer | Point to point, one pickup and one drop. Includes a defined waiting period after landing. | Waiting beyond the free period is chargeable. Tell us the flight number and the clock starts at actual landing, not scheduled. |
| 4/40 | Half day, at disposal | Four hours and forty kilometres within the city, whichever finishes first. | Both limits run at once. Three hours and fifty-five kilometres is already over. |
| 8/80 | Full day, at disposal | Eight hours and eighty kilometres. The standard corporate local-use package. | The clock starts when the car reports, not when you get in. |
| 12/120 | Extended day | Twelve hours and one hundred and twenty kilometres, for multi-meeting days and long sightseeing. | Usually cheaper than an 8/80 that overruns by four hours. |
| OUT | Outstation, per km | Intercity travel billed per kilometre, with a minimum distance charged per day regardless of use — typically in the 250 to 300 km range. | Round-trip distance is charged even on a one-way drop, because the car must return empty. |
| MTH | Monthly attachment | A vehicle and driver dedicated to your office or a visiting team, billed monthly. | Almost always cheaper than daily hire past roughly fifteen days in a month. |
The rule that catches almost everyone: hours and kilometres run in parallel, not in sequence. Whichever limit you cross first ends the package, and the other one does not carry over.
On top of the package
Six things that
aren't in
the base rate
All of these are legitimate. All of them are standard. The only real question is whether someone told you about them before the trip or after it.
Extra hours & kilometres
Charged separately once either limit is passed, at rates that should be stated on your quote before you travel. If a rate card does not show both, it is not a complete quote.
Driver allowance
Known in the trade as bata. A daily allowance for the driver's food and rest on outstation trips, charged per day including the return day. Legitimate, standard, and frequently omitted from a headline rate.
Night charges
Applied for driving between roughly 10pm and 6am, and for a night halt on outstation runs. Two different charges that are often confused with each other.
Tolls, parking & state permits
Passed through at actuals. Interstate travel needs a permit for the destination state, and some states levy entry tax on commercial vehicles. On a Delhi–Jaipur–Agra loop this is not a rounding error.
Fuel policy
Chauffeur-driven rates normally include fuel. Self-drive normally does not — you collect and return at the same level. Confirm which applies, in writing.
GST on the ride
Charged on passenger transport and shown separately, with your GSTIN on the invoice so the credit is claimable. A driver collecting cash and handing over a handwritten slip is not a claimable expense.
The compliance question nobody asks
Look at
the number
plate
A cheaper quote for the same car usually means one thing: a private vehicle being used commercially. It is common, it is cheaper, and if there is an accident it is your problem — because the insurance was never written for a fare-paying passenger.
White plate
Private registration — not licensed to carry you for hire- Registered for personal use, not commercial passenger transport
- Insurance may not cover a fare-paying passenger in an accident
- No commercial fitness certificate, no route or state permits
- Driver holds an ordinary licence, not a commercial one
- Cheaper to hire, and the saving is entirely at your risk
- Your company's duty-of-care obligation is not met by it
Yellow plate
Commercial registration — what we put you in- Registered as a contract carriage for passenger transport
- Commercial insurance that covers the passengers it carries
- Fitness certificate and permits current, checked before allocation
- Driver holds a commercial licence with a public service badge
- Traceable vehicle and driver on every trip we book
- A defensible answer if your insurer or your board asks
Ask any ground transport supplier for the registration number before the car is dispatched. If the answer is vague, you have learnt what you needed to know.
The fleet
Six classes,
matched to
the day
Hatchback
City runs and single travellers with one cabin bag. Economical, and honest about its boot space.
Sedan
The default airport transfer. Two passengers with checked baggage, comfortably.
SUV
Families, hill routes and rough roads. Higher ground clearance where it actually matters.
Innova / Crysta
The workhorse of Indian corporate travel. Six adults with luggage, or four in real comfort on a long run.
Tempo traveller
Twelve to twenty-six seats for group movements, offsites and pilgrimage circuits.
Luxury & coach
Executive sedans for visiting clients and directors; full coaches for conference movements.
Duty of care
The driver is
part of the
safety case
One driver has limits
A single driver cannot safely run 600 km, wait all day and drive back. On long routes we plan a halt or a second driver. A tired driver at 11pm is the most under-priced risk in Indian ground travel.
Verified, not just available
Licence, badge, police verification and vehicle papers checked before allocation, not after an incident. Driver name and number reach your traveller before pickup.
Traceable trips
Vehicle and driver logged against the booking, so you can answer where a traveller is without ringing round. This is the whole basis of a corporate duty-of-care record.
Women travelling alone
Driver details shared in advance, trip tracked, and a desk number that answers at night. For late arrivals we will say when we think a transfer should be rescheduled rather than run.
Corporate ground programmes
Cars on
a contract
Employee transport
Rostered pickups and drops for shift teams, with route planning and attendance against each trip rather than a WhatsApp group.
Visiting client cars
Dedicated vehicles for inbound delegations, briefed on the itinerary, so your guest is not explaining the schedule to the driver.
Event & MICE ground
Airport shuttles, venue loops and departure waves for conferences, run against a manifest.
One monthly invoice
Consolidated billing with GSTIN, cost centre and project code per trip. No cash to drivers, no handwritten slips in an expense claim.
Policy caps
Vehicle class by grade and trip type, applied when the request is raised rather than argued about at reimbursement.
Quarterly review
Spend by route and vehicle class, package overruns, and where a monthly attachment would beat daily hire.
Self-drive
Driving
it yourself
Available, and genuinely better for leisure trips where you want to stop when you feel like it. Six things to settle before you take the keys.
- A valid Indian driving licence, or an International Driving Permit alongside your home licence
- Refundable security deposit blocked on a credit card at handover
- Fuel collected and returned at the same level — fuel is not included
- Damage excess applies unless a waiver is bought; read what the waiver excludes
- Interstate travel needs the paperwork carried in the car, not photographed on a phone
- Challans reaching the owner after your rental are recovered from the deposit
Get a quote
Tell us the day, not just the pickup.
Where you are going and roughly when tells us which package fits. You get the likely total, not a base rate that grows.