DriveU, India’s largest on-demand driver service platform, is stepping into another highly competitive sector with the launch of ‘Rentals by DriveU’, a chauffeur-driven car rental service.
With Rentals, DriveU expands beyond its core driver-on-demand offering to serve customers who want a premium car with a professional chauffeur, especially for weddings, business travel, airport transfers, long-weekend getaways, pilgrimages, and other special occasions. The launch marks DriveU’s entry into India’s increasingly competitive, fast-growing chauffeur-driven mobility market.
“We revolutionised on-demand driver service with a combination of pricing transparency, tech prowess and customer support,” said Rahm Shastry, CEO, DriveU. “Over the years, our customers have consistently asked for one thing: the same service reliability they trust from DriveU drivers, but with a car included for occasions that demand a more curated experience. Additionally, we have a huge cohort of NRIs and international visitors who are looking for the ‘DriveU-level’ service for their travel needs. That’s why we designed Rentals by DriveU to deliver chauffeured car service with our marquee service quality.”
DriveU has already set up a dedicated Rentals team in Bengaluru and is running a pilot to fine-tune the operating model before scaling to cities like Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Chennai and Hyderabad. The company is building Rentals with a tightly-managed operations layer—covering fleet onboarding, chauffeur grooming, trip readiness, and real-time support. It has also partnered with 400+ vendor partners and has access to a network of 1,500+ cars, ranging from sedans to premium luxury vehicles such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
DriveU’s push into new initiatives comes as the company completes two years of profitability and prepares for its next phase of growth. In FY2025, DriveU reported 22% revenue growth to approximately Rs 111 crore, with a net profit of Rs 1.7 crore.
Recently, the company also rolled out foldable e-bikes in the pilot phase for driver-partners in Bengaluru. These lightweight, foldable e-cycles will enable driver-partners to reach customer locations faster without depending on last-mile public transport, especially during late hours.
Driver-partners often face mobility challenges after completing late-night trips or when operating in areas with limited public transport. The foldable e-bike folds in seconds, making it easy to fit in the trunk of a car. With a riding speed of up to 25 km/h, it offers a quick, eco-friendly mobility option. Once fully deployed, these micro-mobility vehicles could assist over one lakh driver-partners daily by the end of 2026, reducing idle time and contributing to lower urban carbon emissions.
