Self-drive car rental agencies in Kerala
Are you looking for licensed, self-drive car rental agencies in Kerala? Even though there are plenty of car rental agencies in Kerala, only a handful of them is licensed and authorised for the rental car business. Here is a list of top car rental agencies in Kerala.
Kerala, God's Own Country, attracts millions of tourists every year from other states of India and foreign countries. This number is increasing every year. According to the statistics, about 14.67 million domestic tourists and 1.09 million foreign tourists visited Kerala in 2017.
A big majority of the domestic and foreign tourists to Kerala depend on Taxi and cab services for their travel to the tourist destinations in Kerala. In many cases, the hotels or their travel agencies would book the cabs or the hotel itself provide cabs to the tourists. This works perfectly fine for most tourists and is a very convenient option. Authorised, self-drive rental car agencies in Kerala
Do a Google search and you will find several car rental agencies in Kerala. Or, ask your hotel and they will give a list of rental car agencies around the hotel. But most of them do not have the legal license to operate a rental car service. In order to get a license to run a car rental service, a rental car company should have its own minimum of 50 cars and at least half of them should be air-conditioned. The branch offices should have facilities like a cloakroom, locker, reception, toilet, garage and workshop. And most importantly, the hirer-driven taxi cars should have special tourist-taxi registration plates (black plates with yellow letters)
Below is the list of government-approved, licensed self-drive rental car agencies in Kerala:1. IndusGo
IndusGo is a subsidiary company of Indus Motors, a leading automobile group in Kerala. They own a large fleet of cars in Kerala and you will have a lot of choices to pick from. They do have a lot of special offers running most of the time. If you are travelling within Kerala, IndusGo is an excellent option. Read more at https://www.indusgo.in2. EVM Wheels Car rentals
EVM Wheels is part of EVM group, a company that claims 70 years of legacy. The company has a fleet of cars operating in Kerala in all price ranges, starting from budget cars to premium cars. The company has 14 pick-up and drop locations in Kerala, which includes Trivandrum, Kollam, Thiruvalla, Alleppey, Kottayam, Perumbavoor, Muvattupuzha, Cochin (Kalamassery Nissan & BMW), Cochin (VW Cheranallor), Cochin (VW Maradu),Trichur, Calicut and Malappuram. Read more at https://www.evmwheels.com/3. Zoomcar
Having offices in several cities in India, Zoomcar is one of the leading self-drive rental car operators in the country. They recently started their operations in Kerala and quickly became one of the most popular choices for those who are looking for rental cars in the state.
Read more about Zoomcar at https://www.zoomcar.com4. Jiffy Cars
JIffy is another car rental agency in Kerala but with limited options. They don't allow dropping off the car in a location other than the place where you picked it up. According to their website, they do charge surcharges up to 75% for the rent for extension of the booking without advance notice. They do allow driving their cars anywhere in India but interstate taxes and charges are the responsibility of the hirer.
Read more at https://www.jiffycars.inSelf-drive rental cars in Kerala
While taxis and chauffeur-driven cars work fine for most travellers in Kerala, many travellers, especially, solo travellers prefer to rent a car and drive it themselves. Self-driven cars give a lot of conveniences and also works out more cost-effective since they don't have to pay for the driver and his expenses. If you hire a self-drive car, you can go when and where you want without having to wait for the convenience of the driver. While most of the taxi operators and drivers are flexible on their timings, you may still feel awkward calling the driver and asking him to drive you to the beach early morning at 4am.
Self-drive cars come very convenient. You pick up the car from a convenient location (like airport, hotel, railway station etc), drive it anywhere in Kerala as per your need, and drop it off at another convenient place like the airport or a petrol pump.
Read this article to know the things before taking a car for rent
7 things you must know before taking a self-drive car for rent
How about other car rental companies like Uber and OLA? Don't they give self-drive rental cars? I think there are plenty of other travel agencies and rental companies which give cars without driver. When I visited Munnar last time, I rented an Innova without a driver. I drove the Innova myself for 4 to 5 days and it worked out a lot cheaper than hiring a taxi.
I am sure there are many other rental car companies in Kerala which give cars on daily rent. But I am not sure if they are really licensed. But do we really need to worry about the license? What I am concerned about is the cost and I will prefer to go for the cheaper option. In case we are stopped by police, I don't think we will be at fault. It will be the rental car company which is responsible for giving cars on rent without rental car license.