Founded in 2012 by two University of Pennsylvania graduates, Zoomcar is a self-drive car rental provider based in Bengaluru. The company has over 150,000 users in India. On March 27, it made an announcement to extend a similar service to auto-rickshaws in six Indian cities.
Yes, now you can rent-and-drive auto-rickshaws in Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
People who want to avail this service need to have a two-wheeler or a four-wheeler licence. As it is launched on a trial basis only, customers will be allowed to drive the auto only for 30 minutes per session for Rs. 40. There is also a mandatory 10-minute training session before the drive. After the session, the customer will be able to drive for 20 minutes, accompanied by two professionals. A refundable security deposit of Rs. 5000 is also applicable on every booking.
According to Greg Moran, co-founder and CEO of the company, Zoomcar is the only company to provide this service in India. He told Quartz,
We expect quite an uptake for this service. Driving an auto-rickshaw in a city is quicker and convenient especially if you have to go for functions and meetings. Barring Chandigarh, we have launched the pilot project across six Indian cities. There is usually some ambiguity involved in the legal process, and we are working with all authorities to ensure a sustainable solution that could evolve over time.