Tempo Traveller on rent with driver

When a group outgrows two cars, a tempo traveller on rent is usually the answer. One van, one driver, one fuel bill, everybody talking to each other instead of chasing a second vehicle on the expressway. RutzIndia.com books Force Traveller vans in 9, 12, 17, 20 and 26 seat layouts with a trained driver across India, priced openly at Rs 78 per km for outstation trips and Rs 19,500 for a local 8 hour / 80 km day.

Tempo Traveller on rent: price per km and package fares

These are base fares for the Tempo Traveller class. Local and airport packages are adjusted by a small city factor (Mumbai and Goa run about 10% higher, Lucknow, Agra and Varanasi about 8% lower), while the per-km outstation rate stays the same everywhere. Tolls, state permits and parking are added at actual cost, and the driver's night allowance of Rs 1,500 per night applies on multi-day trips.

Divide the fare by the head count and the case gets clearer. Twelve cousins doing a same-day Delhi to Agra run pay Rs 36,350 plus tolls, which is roughly Rs 3,030 each before GST, and nobody spends the day staring at the tail lights of the second car. Full city-by-city numbers sit on our fares page.

Which seating layout fits your group

Force Traveller bodies come in several lengths, and the right one depends on how many people are travelling and how much they are carrying. The per-km class rate above is the same for the family of layouts; any supplement for a larger body or a luxury interior is written into your quote before you pay, never added afterwards.

How much does a tempo traveller cost in 2026? Rates by seat size

The table below is the one most groups ask for: every seat size, the rate we bill it at, the daily minimum on round trips, and the driver's allowance. Every van we quote is air-conditioned.

Local hire follows the same logic: Rs 11,700 Pay Now to Reserve for 4 hours and 40 km, Rs 19,500 Pay Now to Reserve for 8 hours and 80 km, and Rs 10,740 Pay Now to Reserve for an airport transfer within 40 km, adjusted by the city factor. Many operators you will see online bill 300 km per day; our floor is 250 km, which makes a real difference on hill trips where you drive little each day. On a four-day Manali holiday, for example, the minimum is 1,000 km with us against 1,200 km at a 300 km floor, a gap of Rs 15,600 Pay Now to Reserve at Rs 78 per km.

9 seater tempo traveller

The smallest Traveller is almost always a luxury or maharaja conversion. Instead of cramming benches into the short body, the fitter installs four or five rows of single, wide captain chairs, each with its own armrests and a deep recline. There is a proper aisle, so an elderly passenger can walk to the back without clambering, and the rear usually keeps a small luggage bay. The 9 seater makes sense when comfort is the whole point: grandparents on a Vrindavan pilgrimage, a senior management team visiting plants around Pune, or an NRI family who landed after a 20-hour journey and want to lie back on the drive to Agra. Per seat it is the most expensive van we book, and for nine people an Innova Crysta pair can sometimes be cheaper, so ask us to compare both before you decide.

12 seater tempo traveller

Twelve seats in a 2+1 layout with pushback recliners is the backbone of Indian group travel. It is short enough for hill hairpins and hotel porches, long enough for a big family, and the most available size in every city we cover, from Chandigarh to Kochi. Luggage goes on the roof carrier under a tarpaulin, with a little room in the rear boot for day bags. If your group is exactly twelve with suitcases, consider the next size up; if you are nine or ten, the 12 seater gives you breathing room. Our 12 seater tempo traveller page has a seat map, weekend fare examples and a luggage guide.

14 and 16 seater tempo traveller

These in-between bodies are less common but useful. Operators arrive at them by adding a row to a 12 seater or by fitting captain chairs into a 17 seat shell. They suit groups of twelve or thirteen who want a spare seat for bags and snacks without paying for a much longer van. Availability varies by city, so mention the size when you book and we will confirm what is actually in the operator's yard rather than promising a layout we cannot see.

17 seater tempo traveller

The 17 seater uses the long-wheelbase Traveller with an extra row or two, still mostly 2+1 so the aisle stays clear. It is the sweet spot for joint families of fourteen to sixteen, school sports teams and office groups, and it still manages most hill roads with a careful driver. Luggage capacity is better than the 12 seater because the rear boot is deeper and the roof longer. On a Char Dham or Himachal trip, the 17 seater is about as long as we like to take into the mountains.

20 seater tempo traveller

Twenty seats usually means 2+1 in the front half and 2+2 in the rear, with a narrower aisle at the back. It is a highway and city vehicle: perfect for college trips to Jaipur, corporate offsites in Lonavala, sangeet crowds shuttling between farmhouses, and airport runs for wedding guests. On steep, narrow mountain roads it becomes a handful, so for Mussoorie or Shimla we sometimes suggest two 12 seaters instead.

26 seater tempo traveller

The longest Traveller body, 2+2 throughout, carries a full wedding side or a large pilgrim group. At this size the comparison with a mini bus on rent matters: the mini bus costs Rs 134.4 per km against Rs 78 plus any long-body supplement for the van, but gives standing headroom, a wider aisle and often an underfloor hold. For short city loops and plains highways the 26 seat Traveller is usually the value choice; for long tours with heavy luggage, the bus often wins on comfort.

A useful rule: book two or three seats more than your head count. Children grow into full-sized passengers on long days, and that spare seat becomes the camera bag, the puja thali or the sleeping toddler.

Standard, deluxe, maharaja or Urbania: which interior?

Interiors differ from van to van even within one category, which is why we send photographs of the actual vehicle before you pay. Force Motors lists the current Traveller and Urbania range on its official website. If the van at your door does not match the photos, tell the desk on WhatsApp at pickup and we will put it right before you set off.

Pushback, maharaja seats and luggage carriers

Standard Travellers have pushback seats that recline a few inches, with armrests on the aisle side, overhead AC vents, reading lights and a music system. Most have a small rear boot behind the last row and a roof carrier with a tarpaulin cover for suitcases. On hill routes and long highway days, ask the driver to load heavy cases on the roof at the start so the boot stays free for things you need during the day.

Maharaja or luxury Travellers replace the bench rows with sofa-style captain seats that recline much further, often with a small television screen, curtains and ambient lighting. They carry fewer people, so for a 9 or 12 seat maharaja van the per-person cost rises, but for a wedding family escort or a pilgrimage with elderly parents they are worth it. If the look matters, tell us at booking; we send photos of the actual interior before confirming.

For bigger groups or longer journeys, the Force Urbania on rent is the newer-generation van with a monocoque body, better ride and individual AC vents, at Rs 102 per km.

All India Tourist Permit and interstate travel

Every van we dispatch is a commercially registered tourist vehicle with a yellow number plate, and interstate trips run on an All India Tourist Permit. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways notified the All India Tourist Vehicles (Permit) Rules, 2023, and followed them with a MoRTH circular asking states not to levy extra taxes on vehicles plying under that permit. In practice a few state borders still collect an entry or tourist tax at checkposts. When that happens the driver keeps the receipt and the amount is billed at actual cost, exactly like highway tolls collected on NHAI toll plazas.

Because of the permit and commercial registration, a tempo traveller on rent from RutzIndia.com is legal for paid passenger transport in every state. Private white-plate vans offered cheaply on social media are not, and an accident in one can leave passengers without the cover a commercial vehicle carries.

Where you can book: city tempo traveller pages

Vans are available in most Indian cities with a day or two of notice, and within hours in the larger metros. These city pages carry local fares, airport details and popular routes:

• North: tempo traveller in Delhi, Noida, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Dehradun, Haridwar
• Uttar Pradesh: Agra, Lucknow, Varanasi
• Rajasthan and Gujarat: Jaipur, Udaipur, Ahmedabad
• West: Mumbai, Pune, Goa
• South and East: Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi, Kolkata

Searching "tempo traveller near me" from a smaller town? Book with your pickup address; we source from the nearest permitted operator and confirm the van registration and driver details on WhatsApp.

Tempo traveller local fares by city, 2026

Outstation kilometres cost Rs 78 everywhere, but local packages and airport runs follow each city's cost of operating: parking, traffic, permits and fuel. This is the full local card for the cities where we list tempo travellers, before 5% GST.

Haridwar vans are quoted on request because most bookings there are pilgrimage circuits rather than city packages; see tempo traveller in Haridwar. Hours or kilometres beyond a local package are billed at the extra-hour and extra-km rates printed on your quote, so ask for them when you book if your day may run long.

Luggage guide by seat size

These are planning figures, not limits. A group travelling with just backpacks can fill every seat; a wedding party with trunks and gift hampers should leave two or three seats for cargo.

Popular trips for tempo traveller groups

Pilgrimages. Haridwar and Rishikesh from Delhi, Vrindavan and Mathura, Shirdi from Mumbai or Pune, Vaishno Devi from Jammu. For the high Himalaya, our Char Dham yatra package uses Travellers built for mountain gradients, with drivers who know the Yamunotri and Kedarnath road heads.

Weddings. Baraat shuttles, guest pickups from the airport and railway station, and hotel-to-venue loops during the wedding season from November to February. Pair the vans with a decorated car from our wedding car rental range.

Hill weekends. Shimla, Manali, Mussoorie and Nainital from Delhi and Chandigarh. Hill roads call for an experienced ghat driver and a slower schedule; plan for about 30 to 40 km an hour once you leave the plains.

Office outings and events. Offsites, factory visits and conference shuttles, invoiced with GST for your company. For daily staff runs, see our employee transport services.

Book a tempo traveller

How booking works and what the fare includes

1. Enter pickup, drop, dates and head count in the online booker, or WhatsApp the desk with your plan.
2. We confirm the seat layout, van registration, driver name on the day, and a written fare with every inclusion listed.
3. Pay a part advance by card or UPI through the booker; the balance can be settled at the end of the trip.
4. The driver reports 15 minutes early, cleaned van, AC checked, with a route plan agreed the evening before.

Included: the van and its fuel, the driver, AC throughout (switched off only on steep ghat climbs if the driver needs full engine power), and kilometres or hours of your package. Excluded: 5% GST, tolls, state entry taxes, parking at monuments and airports, and the driver's night allowance of Rs 1,500 on multi-day trips. On outstation round trips the billing floor is 250 km per calendar day, so a Delhi to Agra same-day trip is billed on the actual 466 km, while a two-day hill trip of 300 km total is billed on 500 km.

For airport pickups the driver tracks your flight, stands at arrivals with a name board and waits 60 minutes free after international flights and 30 minutes after domestic ones; longer waits are billed at the hourly rate on your quote.

Vans we send are within four model years. Our cancellation policy is simple: cancel more than 72 hours before pickup and it is free; within 72 hours we keep 10%, within 48 hours 50%, and within 24 hours or for a no-show the full fare.

Group trip costs from major cities

These examples use the Rs 78 per km Traveller rate and our 250 km daily minimum. The last column divides the fare by twelve travellers, before 5% GST, tolls, parking, any state entry tax and the driver's allowance on overnight trips.

From Delhi NCR

Our Delhi tempo traveller page adds NCR pickup notes, and route pages such as Delhi to Manali and Delhi to Shimla describe the drive in detail.

From Mumbai and Pune

See tempo traveller in Pune and the Mumbai to Shirdi taxi route for local detail.

From Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad

The Bangalore to Coorg and Chennai to Pondicherry route pages cover timings, ghat sections and stops along the way.

Minimum billing and driver allowance, explained

Two lines on a tempo traveller quote confuse first-time hirers more than any other: the daily minimum and the driver's allowance (often called bata).

The daily minimum. An operator commits a van and a driver to you for every calendar day of a round trip, whether you drive 600 km or 60. We therefore bill the greater of actual kilometres or 250 km for each day. A Delhi to Jaipur trip over two days with 620 km of driving is billed on 620 km. The same trip stretched to three days, with a lazy middle day in Jaipur, is billed on 750 km, because three days at 250 km is more than the distance you drove.

Calendar days, not 24-hour periods. A trip leaving at 10 pm on Friday and returning at 6 am on Sunday spans three calendar days. If you are flexible, departing early in the morning often saves a whole day's minimum.

The driver's allowance. For each night the driver spends away from home, we add Rs 1,500 Pay Now to Reserve to cover his meals and lodging; the exact figure depends on the destination and is printed on your quote. You do not have to book or pay for his room separately, though many hotels offer drivers' dormitories.

One-way drops. On listed routes, a one-way drop is billed on the route distance at Rs 78 per km, never below the class minimum fare, with no return charge. Mumbai to Pune is Rs 11,820 Pay Now to Reserve (the minimum fare applies) and Delhi to Jaipur Rs 21,840 Pay Now to Reserve.

Tempo traveller, train or bus: a comparison for groups

Groups often weigh a van against rail tickets. Neither is always right.

For distances beyond about 600 km in one direction, an overnight train with a van at the far end can be the smarter plan; we are happy to quote the van for the destination leg only.

Amenities and what to check at pickup

A well-kept Traveller should give you all of the following. Check them in the first five minutes, while the driver is loading bags.

• AC cooling reaching the rear rows, not just the cabin
• Seats that recline and lock, with no broken armrests
• Working reading lights and, on deluxe vans, charging points
• A clean floor, clean windows and curtains where promised
• A roof carrier with tarpaulin and ropes, plus a spare wheel and jack
• Registration, permit, insurance and fitness documents in the vehicle
• A first-aid box and a fire extinguisher

If anything is missing, message the desk before you leave the kerb.

Monthly and repeat tempo traveller hire

Schools, factories, hospitals and IT campuses hire Travellers by the month for staff and student transport, with a fixed driver and a set daily route. Monthly hire is quoted on your route length, days per month and shift timings, rather than on the tourist per-km rate, and is invoiced with GST at month end. Our employee transport services page explains how route planning and billing work, and corporate car rental covers accounts that also need cars for executives.

Tempo traveller for weddings, corporate groups and pilgrimages

Wedding planning with vans. For a typical North Indian wedding with 150 guests, hosts often combine two or three 17 or 20 seaters for hotel loops, a 12 seater for the bride's close family and one or two Innovas for elders. Book the vans for full days rather than hourly; functions overrun, and a van waiting outside the venue is cheaper than an idle guest list. For decorated cars, see wedding car rental.

Corporate offsites. A 20 seater from Gurgaon to a resort near Neemrana, or from Bangalore to a Coorg homestay, keeps the team together and turns the drive into part of the event. We issue a single GST invoice for multiple vans.

Pilgrimages. Temple towns reward an early start: Vrindavan's Banke Bihari darshan, Haridwar's morning aarti, the Shirdi kakad aarti. Tell us the darshan time you are aiming for and we will set the pickup accordingly. For the whole range of temple circuits, see our pilgrimage taxi guide.

Worked itinerary: five days in Himachal by tempo traveller

A family group of fourteen from Delhi books a 17 seater for Shimla and Manali. Distances are approximate.

Driven distance is about 1,355 km. Five days at 250 km is 1,250 km, so the actual 1,355 km is billed: Rs 1,05,690 Pay Now to Reserve at Rs 78 per km, plus any long-body supplement quoted for the 17 seater, four night allowances of Rs 1,500, Himachal entry tax for the tourist vehicle, tolls, parking and GST. Split fourteen ways, the van costs roughly Rs 7,560 each for the week before extras. Our Himachal taxi service page covers permits for Rohtang and the higher valleys.

Tempo travellers in the hills: what to expect

Hill roads change how a van travels. Average speeds fall to 25 to 35 km an hour, the driver uses lower gears on long descents to save the brakes, and uphill traffic has right of way on narrow stretches. A few points that make mountain days smoother:

• Leave early. Morning roads are clearer, and we plan hill legs to finish before dark where possible.
• Motion sickness. Seat susceptible passengers in the front rows, keep windows slightly open on winding sections and carry ginger sweets or tablets.
• Parking in hill towns. Shimla's Mall Road, Mussoorie's Mall and Nainital's lake front restrict vehicles; the van parks at designated lots and you walk or take a local taxi the last stretch.
• Snow and closures. From December to February, snow can close roads beyond Shimla and Manali. Chains, detours and delays are normal, so keep a spare half-day.
• Monsoon. From July to September, landslides can block roads for hours; follow the driver's advice and local advisories.

Airport and railway station group pickups

Airport arrivals are where a Traveller saves the most hassle: one vehicle, one driver, everyone's luggage on the roof. The driver tracks the flight, waits at the arrival exit with a name board, and gives international arrivals 60 minutes and domestic arrivals 30 minutes of free waiting before the hourly rate applies. At railway stations, the van waits in station parking and the driver meets you at the platform exit you name; tell us the coach number so he can walk to the right end of the platform. For city-specific airport details, see our airport taxi service.

School, college and coaching-institute trips

Educational trips need more paperwork than a family weekend. Before travel we share the van's registration, permit, fitness and insurance details and the driver's name and licence number for the institution's file. Teachers should carry a passenger list with emergency contacts, a first-aid kit, and the principal's permission letter. For groups above 26 students, a bus on rent or a mix of vans and a bus is usually more practical. Popular day trips include science centres and heritage sites within 100 km, and two-day study tours to Jaipur, Agra, Mysore or Pondicherry.

Common mistakes when hiring a van, and how to avoid them

1. Booking exactly the head count. Twelve people and twelve suitcases in a 12 seater is uncomfortable for a long drive. Size up.
2. Comparing per-km rates without the minimum. A lower rate with a 300 km daily floor can cost more than Rs 78 with our 250 km floor on a short-distance hill trip.
3. Forgetting night allowances and tolls. Ask for the full estimate, not just the base.
4. Late-night departures. Leaving at 11 pm adds a calendar day to the billing and puts the driver on the road at his most tired hour.
5. Vague pickup points. Share a map pin for a main-road gate; vans cannot enter every lane.
6. Changing the route mid-trip without telling the desk. Extra destinations are fine, but agree the revised fare first so there is no dispute at the end.
7. Choosing the longest van for the mountains. On narrow hill roads, two 12 seaters beat one 26 seater.

The week before you travel: a group organiser's checklist

• Seven days out: confirm the final head count and luggage with the group, and tell us if the van size needs to change. Changes made this early are simple.
• Four days out: share pickup pins for every stop, the order of pickups and the first destination. If some travellers join midway, say where.
• Three days out: this is the last point for free cancellation, so settle any doubts about dates now.
• The evening before: you receive the van number and the driver's name. Send him the day's plan and agree the departure time, then share his details with the group.
• On the morning: do the five-minute check at the kerb (AC, seats, documents, spare wheel), load heavy bags on the roof first, and count heads before the van moves.
• On the way home: check the roof, seat pockets and the space under the last row for forgotten items before the driver leaves.

Payment, invoices and GST

Pay the advance by card or UPI through our booker; the balance can be paid online or settled at the end of the trip. Every booking gets an itemised invoice showing the fare, 5% GST and the actual-cost items (tolls, parking, state tax) with receipts. Companies can have invoices raised in the registered name with their GSTIN, and repeat users can move to monthly billing.

Seasons, festivals and how early to book

Travellers sell out first around Diwali, Holi long weekends, Durga Puja in the east, New Year in Goa and the hills, and every Saturday of the November to February wedding season. For those dates, book three to four weeks ahead. The Char Dham season opens in late April or May, and Haridwar fills up during Kanwar Yatra in July, when some highway stretches are diverted. In the monsoon, hill routes can close at short notice, so we build a spare half-day into any mountain itinerary.

For a quick comparison of every vehicle class, from sedans to Volvo coaches, browse the RutzIndia.com fleet or read our national bus on rent guide.