Most of what follows takes two minutes and nobody asks any of it. Two of the items are things that should make you cancel.
Before you book
1. Does the operator hold permits for every state on your route? Not “can they arrange one” — do they hold it. A route crossing into Kerala or Karnataka needs authorisation, and an operator sorting it at the border is an operator wasting your morning. More on interstate permits.
2. Is the vehicle commercially registered and insured? A private car used as a taxi is not insured for carrying paying passengers. In an accident that becomes your problem as much as the operator’s. Commercial registration, valid insurance, fitness and pollution certificates — all reasonable to ask about, and any operator running properly will answer without hesitation.
3. Is the quote itemised? Distance, driver bata, toll and permit at actuals, tax. Not a single number. An operator who will not break it down is not necessarily dishonest, but you have no way of knowing.
The day before
4. Do you have the driver’s name and mobile number? This is standard with any operator worth using. “We will assign in the morning” is a scheduling answer to a safety question, and it means nobody has planned the driver’s rest either.
5. For an early departure, is the car positioned overnight? A driver setting off across a city at 3am to reach you at 4am, then beginning an eight-hour drive, is a plan with no margin in it. For pre-dawn starts the car should be with you the night before.
When the car arrives — the two that matter most
6. Ask the driver when he last drove and when he arrived. This is the single most important item on the list and it takes ten seconds. Everything else here is paperwork. This is the thing that actually determines whether you arrive.
A driver who came off a long trip the previous night and started again at four is not safe, however good he is. If the answer is uncomfortable, call the operator.
7. Seat belts in every row, including the third. Check they exist and work before you set off, not on the highway. This is the one people skip and it is not optional.
During a long trip
8. Insist on breaks. On a run over about five hours the driver needs to stop, and some will not ask because they think you are in a hurry. Say at the start that you would rather arrive late than tired. It changes the whole trip.
9. Do not push the schedule. The most common cause of bad driving on a hired trip is a passenger who is running late. If you are behind, accept it. A driver being hurried by the person paying him is the situation where mistakes happen.
The two answers that should make you cancel
“The permit will be sorted at the border.” Either it is not held or nobody has checked. On a dawn departure for a flight or a darshan slot, this is how people miss both.
“The driver has been on the road since yesterday but he is fine.” He may well believe it. Do not get in.
What we do
Driver name and number before the trip. Car positioned the night before for anything departing before 6am. Permits held for all six states we operate across, so a border is a line on your fare rather than a wait. Itemised quotes on every route page and the rate card published in full.
None of that is remarkable. It is simply what asking these questions of your own operation produces.