It is a crime to expect good vehicles from them and if you get a bad one, guess what, it is your responsibility to fix it.

BHPian Pam81 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I have had terrible experiences with ZoomCar and Revv. Not using them for 9 months now and will never use them. Scam and really stupid business model where zero respect for customers.

Zoom is the most horrible one!

First

No real customer service. Amazon's business model inspired them and so, they never own any cars now but tweak the legal system's loophole and generate a contract of lease between the rental customer & participating private car owner. So, very lean customer care (less expense for Zoom) and no real spend on car's health.

Second

Since they don't own the car, you are in luck & GOD's mercy in finding a car that is clean, well-maintained and devoid of problems. It all depends on the private car owner's behavior. Most of these car owners (not all but the majority of them) like to provide continuous availability to Zoom car since they do not schedule but Zoom car does (just like OLA / Uber to the drivers). They (private car owners) need to take a firm decision to pull the car out of the schedule to inspect & determine if it needs service.

In reality, they do not even take a look until there's a need to use the car for themselves. So, 90% of the time, expect the car interiors to be dirty or at the mercy of the previous renter. If the previous renter found the car dirty beyond his / her tolerance, why would they bother to clean it up before they return it, plus that is like extra on their part within the rental time for which they are paying the money.

Third

If you experience issues with the car, during the time of your rental, expect no help from anyone but all by yourself. It is tough to catch either Zoomcar customer care or the owner of the car. Even if you are successful in contacting either of them, expect a cool answer of, "Sir, please take the car to a nearby workshop and fix it at your expense and Zoom will reimburse you against the bill". This is the funniest part. The car owner rents out without worrying about the car and Zoom never bothers anyway if it happens to be a bad day for you, please fix the car as if you would do for your own car.

With all these, Zoom put all the risk on you because you wanted the car. So, it is a crime to expect good cars from Zoom and if you get a bad one, guess what, it is your responsibility to fix it because when you are in the middle of your rental time, there's nothing else you could do. They won't cancel your booking for such reasons. As soon as you agree to take the car, there's no cancellation of booking is possible. Thank GOD, they are in India where customers are a joke.

Now Revv:

They have staff and try to do their bit to keep the cars on their own but sadly their execution is a hit or a miss. I booked them for 4, ended up using them 2 times and cancelled 2 times due to their issue of not being able to give me the booked car. For both cancellations, they gave me a full refund.

My only saving grace is Orix-backed My Choize. Lengthy procedures, lots of paperwork but cars are reasonably well maintained and you get good customer support. Used them 3 times now and all along no troubles at all.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Valdez later realised that the body shop does have a tesla & exotic car parts website.

Frank Valdez, a Tesla Model 3 owner, recently rented out his vehicle on the car-sharing platform Turo. Later, multiple notifications on his Tesla app forced him to remotely check the status of his car, only to discover that his Model 3 had ended up at a body shop.

Valdez was able to locate the body shop using the car's GPS. Upon further inspection, he saw that the car's original bumper had been replaced with an un-coloured aftermarket one. Valdez confronted the renter and initially assumed he was attempting to steal parts off his car, however, the renter clarified that the car was only being used to "test & calibrate their aftermarket parts", including the front bumper.

When the owner threatened to call the cops on the body shop, the renter assured him his car would be back in its original shape within the next two hours.

Valdez later realised that the body shop does have a Tesla & exotic car parts website. However, even if they were just testing parts, it was an unethical & illegal move to do so without the consent of the car's owner.

Reports suggest that Turo has now opened an investigation into the matter. The car-sharing platform has already banned the renter from the app for violating its terms of service, which prohibits guests to make any unapproved alterations to the vehicle.

Source: Teslaoracle

Savaari, an online chauffeur driven car-rental company, has expanded its one-way services from 500 to 5 lakh routes. With this move, the company claims to have become the car rental service provider with the largest geographical coverage in the country. Savaari has a track record of executing 500 million km of road trips over its 14 year tenure.

With the lockdown imposed due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic being lifted in most parts of the country and restrictions being eased, people are starting to travel to their hometowns. The latest trend that is emerging is one-way car rental service drops. Savaari has cashed in on this trend.

The company claims that while Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai lead the demand for the one-way service, non-metros like Ahmedabad, Ranchi, Chandigarh, and Coimbatore have also witnessed a sharp rise in bookings. From unlock 1.0 in June to the present day, the company’s one-way services have witnessed a growth of 800%. With the festive season round the corner, it foresees a demand growth of 300%.

With about 4,000 cities/towns in India roughly translating to a coverage of 40 lakh route combinations that can be reasonably serviced by road, coupled with the high accessibility of these locations by a well-connected road network has provided an opportunity for car rentals to become a thriving mode of transportation across the length and breadth of the country.

Every car that Savaari provides its customers is sanitized and equipped with a bottle of sanitizer for customers' use. Every driver-partner undergoes a 30-point checklist for safety and hygiene including vehicular and personal hygiene, practicing social distancing and wearing a face-mask all the time.

Savaari has also tied up with a Bengaluru based insurance company to provide Covid insurance to its driver partners as well as customers.

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Hertz Global Holdings Inc., the US-based car rental company has filed for bankruptcy.

According to a media report, travel restrictions to contain the spread of Covid-19 and the subsequent economic collapse have killed the demand for rental cars. Mounting debt is also said to have lead to the collapse of Hertz's rental car business.

The Chapter 11 filing allows Hertz to keep operating while it formulates a recovery plan. The company listed about $25.8 billion in assets and $24.4 billion of debts. It has also sought a bailout from the US Treasury Department. The Chapter 11 proceedings only involve the US and Canadian subsidiaries.

Hertz has a fleet of about 4 lakh cars in the US. These are not subject to repurchase agreements with vehicle manufacturers. It is believed that the liquidation of the company's fleet could adversely affect the auto industry in general.

Hertz was founded in Chicago in 1918. Today, the company's business is spread to 12,400 locations worldwide.

Source

Ola has launched a self-drive car-sharing service called Ola Drive. The service will initially be available in Bangalore and later will be offered in Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi, before expanding to other cities.

According to the company, Ola Drive will allow customers to design their own package by selecting the number of kilometers, hours and fuel inclusion. This is said to result in savings of up to 30% compared to other self-drive rental options.

Ola plans to have a fleet of 20,000 self-drive rental cars by 2020. The cars will come equipped with Ola Play connected car platform and a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Bluetooth connectivity and GPS.

Users will also have access to a 24/7 helpline, emergency button, real-time tracking and roadside assistance.

Hype Luxury Car Rentals has started offering airport transfer services in Bangalore. The service is available at an introductory price of Rs. 3,999, until July 31, 2019. 

Hyper offers self drive rental services in Bangalore, Chennai, Chandigarh, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Vishakhapatnam. Chauffeur driven services are available in more cities including Amritsar, Coimbatore, Dehradun, Gurgaon, Jalandhar, Jammu, Ludhiana, Mohali, Mussoorie, Noida, Panchkula, Puducherry, Pune, Ropar and Shimla. At the moment, airport transfers are only available in Bangalore.

Hype is a luxury mobility startup headquartered in Bangalore. The company offers luxury cars from brands like BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Maserati, Jaguar, Rolls Royce, Porsche and even Ford Mustangs.

Oslo, the capital of Norway will soon have wireless charging infrastructure for the city’s electric taxis. Finland-based energy company Fortum has announced a joint venture with the city of Oslo and American wireless charging company Momentum Dynamics to build the fast-charging network.

As part of the move, wireless charging plates are expected to be installed on the road at taxi stands with the receivers placed inside the taxis. This will allow cars waiting in line for passengers to recharge their batteries. The taxis can also move about in the queue while the batteries are being recharged. The system could support induction charging up to 75 kW. One of reasons for a wireless system is the ease of usage. It is considered time consuming for a taxi driver to find a charger, plug it in and then wait for the car to charge.

Oslo aims to have only zero-emission taxis by 2023 and all new cars are expected to be pollution free by 2025. Momentum Dynamics has previously showcased a wireless bus charging system in Wenatchee, Washington on a BYD K9S electric bus.

Gozo has launched ride sharing for intercity taxis. Gozo Share will enable travelers to share taxi rides while travelling from one city to another. The service will be available at an inaugural price of Rs. 1 per seat for a limited time period.

Users can book a share cab via the Gozo app, website or by phone. Customers can choose from hatchbacks, sedans, SUVs and luxury vehicles. All cabs come equipped with the latest safety features and have air-conditioning as well as a music system. Payments can be made via cash, digital wallets like PayTM, Mobikwik, debit/credit cards and pay-later platforms like LazyPay and ePayLater.

According to the company, the platform would ensure high occupancy across all routes. Using the app, drivers can also get information about demand in specific areas.

Currently, Gozo Share has been launched on select routes which include Mumbai to Pune, Delhi to Agra, Bangalore to Mysore and Delhi to Jaipur. The company plans to roll out the service in all major cities across India by the end of this year.

A Mumbai resident, Nitin Nair, has been fined Rs. 1,500 after being caught giving a lift to unknown people.

Nitin says that on the morning of 18 June, he saw workers of an IT company desperately looking for a mode of transport to their offices. It was raining heavily and public transport was crowded and running late. Since he recognised the IT company, Nitin agreed to drop them once he found out that their destination was on the way to his office. One of them was an elderly person, who Nitin claims, was 60+ years old. The incident happened at Airoli circle and the office-goers were on their way to Gandhi Nagar.

As soon as he started the car, a traffic police officer stopped him and said that it was illegal to give a lift to unknown people. He also confiscated Nitin's license and gave him a receipt. He was asked to go to the police station the following day to pay the fine. Interestingly, the police officers never asked the passengers if they were paying for the ride.

The following day, at the police station, Nitin found out that he was being charged under Section 66/192. Under this section, it is illegal to give a lift to an unknown person in a private vehicle. To get his license back, he was told to attend a court session on the morning of 22 June. Nitin was made to accept his mistake after waiting for a while and had to pay a fine of Rs. 2,000. However, he managed to get a Rs. 500 rebate on the fine amount. After pleading guilty to the charge, he had to go back to the police station to collect his driver's license.

Section 66 pertains to the control of transport vehicles. Hence, he cannot be charged under this section if he was driving a white plate car. However, he can be charged for using his private car as a taxi if he was collecting money from the passengers.

Source: Facebook/ Nitin Nair

Toyota is investing US$ 1 billion in Singapore-based taxi hailing service Grab. As part of the agreement between the two companies, one executive from Toyota will join Grab's board of directors and a Toyota executive will be placed as a full-time executive officer in the start-up.

After this fundraising, Grab has been valued at US$ 10 billion. Toyota's investment is expected be used to expand its food delivery services and the mobile payment platform in South East Asia.

The investment by Toyota is the highest so far by any automaker in any ride-hailing venture. The carmaker is expected to share technologies with Grab, including the one that predicts when a vehicle needs maintenance, driving data based automobile insurance, financial services for Grab drivers and vehicle after sales service.

Grab is not the only such company in which the Japanese carmaker has invested. Back in 2016, it had also invested in Uber.

Grab bought rival Uber's food delivery business in the region last year. Other companies that have invested in Grab include Honda, Hyundai and Toyota's investment arm.