If
you want the convenience of a personal vehicle but don't want to buy a
car, or hire a taxi every time you need to get around, then renting a
car can make sense. This is particularly true if you're travelling to a
new city and just need a car for a couple of days. Car rental services
have been around in India for a while now but they are starting to go
online and adding more affordable options too.
This month,
Carzonrent, one of the popular car rental companies, added the Tata Nano
Twist as its most affordable rental option - you can rent it now for
Rs. 99 per hour, Rs. 399 per day, and Rs. 6,999 for a month. According
to Rajiv Vij, the Delhi-based CEO and Managing Director, Carzonrent,
renting makes better sense than buying cars outright.
"We have made it so economical," said Vij. "It works out to around Rs. 230 per day [if you rent the car for a month]."
Carzonrent's
self-drive rental car option is available across 16 regions now - this
includes cities like Bangalore, Chandigarh and Mumbai, Delhi NCR, and
the state of Goa. While Vij wouldn't comment on the number of bookings
the company receives every day, he does mention that "99 percent of
bookings are made online."
Bangalore-based Zoomcar is a newer
entrant in this field, and its cars are available in Bangalore and Pune
as of now. You can only book Zoomcar vehicles online. By getting the
whole process online, renting a car becomes easier than ever, although
Carzonrent's bookings are still finalised offline.
How does it work?Carzonrent
blocks Rs. 5,000 on customers' credit or debit cards at the time of
booking the Nano Twist and refunds the amount after the car is returned.
That security goes up as the value of the car rises - to book a Maruti
Swift, you have to block Rs. 30,000, and Rs. 70,000 for a Mercedes E
Class. To book a car, you just need to go to
this website and fill in the requirements.
When
you rent a car for the first time from Carzonrent, you have to visit
its nearest office to submit an ID proof, a driver's licence and to
swipe the card to block the refundable security money. The next time you
book a car from the company, you don't have to submit your ID documents
but you'll still have to go to the company's office just to block money
from your card, which is quite inconvenient.
That's
where Zoomcar comes in. This Bangalore-based startup has expanded from 7
cars in 2013 to 250 now, and last month it expanded its service to
Pune. Co-founder David Back told NDTV Gadgets that the demand has been
"overwhelming" and for "90 weeks straight, we have had to turn away
customers". Customers in these two cities can also book the cars using
apps on
iOS and
Android.
Unlike Carzonrent,
Zoomcar
lets you rent all cars in its fleet for a refundable deposit of Rs.
5,000 - and the entire process is carried out online. Back says Zoomcar
has focused on making the booking process smooth.
"There are no forms to fill out. The entire booking process takes place online," he says.
The
company requires your driving licence, the booking amount and the
security deposit in advance, but you can scan the documents and send
them via the Internet, and pay the money online.
With both the
companies, once your paperwork is completed, all you have to do is pick
up the car and you can drive off. You'll have to return the car at the
same place and in the same condition you collected.
A cool - and useful - feature Zoomcar offers is letting you unlock your door with your phone.
"You
can use your phone to unlock the car," says Back. "You can use a
smartphone or a feature phone to unlock the car as long as you use the
number submitted while booking." You can use the app, or send an SMS,
when near the car to automatically unlock the doors. This has allowed
the company to have cars available at multiple locations, without the
overhead of having to maintain a small office everywhere. Customers too
benefit from a hassle-free experience.
The demand for basic cars
is - not surprisingly - higher than expensive models. "A lot of people
want a basic car. They don't want to pay a premium for a bigger car,"
says Vij.
The pricing for renting a Nano Twist seems to be attracting a lot of interest from Carzonrent's customers.
Vij
says, "We have got many inquiries about the Nano Twist. Some people
have called us asking if this pricing is real [and if there are any
hidden charges]. Some people have booked it for six months."
Zoomcar also has a low cost option in the electric car Mahindra E2O, which people can rent for Rs. 5,000 per week, or 1,300kms.
The back of the envelopeBoth
companies talk up the economical nature of their services, but does it
actually work out? Zoomcar and Carzonrent have different tariffs, and
with Carzonrent you also have to pay for fuel, while Zoomcar will
reimburse you for this, as long as you can provide the bills. You are
instead billed for a minimum of four hours, and have a certain number of
"free kilometres" in the package. If you drive more than that, you will
have to pay a fee, starting at Rs. 12/km for a Figo, up to Rs. 15/km
for a Mercedes.
Is this value for money? A Maruti Swift Vdi or
Ford Figo 1.4 Exi costs around Rs. 6.5 lakh (on-road, may vary depending
on the city). At the current rates renting them from Carzonrent will
cost you Rs. 40,921 as rent per month excluding fuel, as you can see on
this page. You'll have to rent the car for 16 months before you've reached the cost of owning one.
According
to Zoomcar's tariff calculator, the price of renting a Figo for a month
is Rs. 51,429 including fuel charge assuming you don't exceed the
1,300-km per week limit. If you're using the car for work/ business
commuting, then you're likely to reach that distance in a month and not a
week, so Zoomcar actually works out to be a little more expensive. In
just a little over one year, the cost of renting a car from Zoomcar is
higher than buying a car outright.
For
a short business trip, or a weekend road trip, renting becomes a much
more economical option than hiring a car with a driver. With Zoomcar,
you can rent a Figo for 48 hours, with a range of 400kms, for Rs. 4,000 -
this includes the cost of fuel for the trip as well.
Clearly,
despite what the companies say, in the long term, buying makes more
sense than renting, but if you only need a car for a short stretch of
time, then renting can be good value.
Hassle free?But
is renting a car as hassle-free an experience as driving your own car?
Renting a car is indeed a lot like booking a hotel room. When you book
hotels online, you'll be shown pictures of spacious, clean rooms with
all essential facilities, but the reality may not match what is
advertised. You should check the car for paperwork like the
registration, note down the odometer reading, check if the tank is full
and if there are any signs of damage on the vehicle - including tiny
scratches - and point it out to the company. You're responsible for any
damage to the car, so make sure that any existing problems are
documented.
A quick Web search throws up common complaints such as
dirty cars and last-minute booking cancellations by the company. These
complaints don't paint the full picture, but serve as a good marker for
what can go wrong.
To prevent theft, both companies have
installed remote immobilisers and GPS tracking for their cars, which
could be a concern if you're worried about protecting your privacy. Both
Vij and Back say theft hasn't been an issue though.
"We believe
customers no longer want to buy a car," says Vij. "They want mobility
solutions without worrying about parking, insurance, registration, etc."
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Taxi Car Rentals(CR) provide the wide range of vehicles on rent for tourists,
common people and also in various other tour and travel related
industries. Car rentals become modern means of tourism for visit the
places which are located at close to each other in these days. Car
rentals are the economical and also time saving means of tourism. Some
time common peoples also hire vehicles on rent for their needs. Various
other related tour and travel industries also hire the car rental
companies in their needs for offering tour services or in carrier
transport services. 
