Abstract : This paper aims to analyze the various aspects of car rental websites and their current status in the Transport industry. It also includes the various ways in which the system is different from Taxi and cab systems and the highlights of each. Further, some drawbacks of the existing car rental systems, as well as some probable solutions, are stated. The car rental service gives customers the ability to book their cars from any part of the world for as much time as they like without stressing about the quality and condition. The customer just has to give an input of the time and the location where the car is required. The system automatically displays the options available along with the prices. This way, elimination of the process of visiting physical car rental agencies and increased options for the customer has been achieved.
Index Terms - car rental system, cab services, transportation, a customer review. INTRODUCTION In the past decade, the transportation industry has seen tremendous advancements. Taxi hire, car rental systems, and public transportation systems have changed the dynamic of how people travel from one place to another. The car rental system even after being the latest technology has seen tremendous growth in popularity due to its easy customizability. The car rental apps and websites have made it easy and accessible for anyone having a driving license. So, starting by stating some of the major aspects of the car rental system, this paper will further address the current status of this system and also draw some comparisons between the car rental system and cab transportation system. The conclusion of this review will state the future scope of car rental services. I. ASPECTS OF CAR RENTAL SYSTEM
a) Reservation system b) Fleet management c) A Platform for custumer-admin interaction d) User profiles
a) RESERVATION PROCESS Mostly a majority of car rentals such as Zoomcar, ola rental, etc have the following reservation process: 1. The first step requires the user to input the duration for which the vehicle is required and the location at which the vehicle is required. 2. A list of available vehicles appears with details of where the vehicle is parked and the fare for the particular duration. 3. The system also has a home delivery option available.
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1. Telematics: Telematics is a way of tracking vehicles, trucks, equipment, and other assets using GPS and onboard diagnostics (OBD) to plot their movements on a digital map. The rental fleet of an automobile rental company is less predictable than that of other transport services such as airlines or hotels. As a result, it necessitates constant monitoring, which can be performed through telematics. Using GPS and onboard diagnostics, a device installed in a car collects and communicates vehicle information such as position, mileage, fuel consumption, speed, and temperatures [1]. Agents can look through the cars that will be arriving shortly and start making the required preparations ahead of time. A report of how efficiently the car is being handled by the customer is also given. Hence, giving rewards in the near future. Another very important feature is creating a database of drivers of the city which could later be used to predict which cities require what cars.
2. Maintaining vehicles: Regular security checks including the record of the history of damage and repairs are well maintained. After every time a vehicle is rented out, multiple security checks are performed before its next booking to avoid any kind of vehicle failures. The cars have proper complete documents and have a permit to be driven within the entire country. The ownership of the car is transferred to the customer during the rental phase.
3. Insurance policy: Insurance is done during every booking to pay for the damages if any occur. This is an efficient way for the company to recover damage costs which takes the burden off the customer’s shoulders in case of any mishappening. A small amount is added to the fare which is to be paid to the insurance company.
c) USER PROFILES When regular users build user profiles, a customer database is created that can be accessed whenever the user fills out a form or adds information, allowing the user to auto-fill the required fields. Not only does this save consumers time by eliminating the need to fill in the same fields repeatedly, but it also speeds up the process and enhances conversion rates. The user profile also contains the driving performance for previous bookings giving rewards in the future and making the customer more reliable.
II. CURRENT SCENARIO IN THE INDIAN INDUSTRY
The rise of the automobile rental sector is gradually being recognized by businesses across India as a valuable opportunity. The fact that only 10% of the car rental business is organized is worth noting. The remaining 90% is a potentially disorganized market that can be tapped through technology. This opens up a lot of possibilities for both self-driving and chauffeured car rentals. In addition, India's roadway connectivity increased from 76818 kilometers to 100087 kilometers in just four years, ending in 2015, and by 2022, it is estimated that 200,000 kilometers of national roadways would have been constructed [2]. This demonstrates the country's enhanced pan-India connectivity. Driving enthusiasts will like to explore India's unexplored territory, and they would need convenient and reasonable vehicle rentals to do so. The word, which was completely unknown until a few decades ago, is now gaining popularity among today's families.
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1. ZoomCar: Zoomcar is one of India's most popular online car rental apps and services. It is now present in over 34 cities. Zoom formed a partnership with Ford and Mahindra in 2013 to become India's first car rental company to supply an electric vehicle (the Mahindra REVA E2O by Mahindra) and the Ford EcoSport "urban SUV by Ford."
2. Ola Rentals: Ola Rentals, which began operations in June 2016, offers a variety of automobiles, ranging from SUVs to hatchbacks. Ola Rentals is an excellent choice for those who need to attend meetings, shop around the city, go on a weekend excursion, or bring their family to a function or event. Ola Rentals is one of India's largest participants in the automobile rental industry, with a market share of 60%.
3. ECO Rent A Car: Eco began with a single car in Delhi, India's capital city, in 1973, after Late Khem Raj Loomba retired from the Indian Army. It presently employs over 800 employees and has a fleet of over 5,000 automobiles in 72 locations across India. It provides a variety of services, including automobile rentals, cars for corporate workers, transportation for company employees, and cars for specific occasions. It is known for having high-end luxury cars on its records.
4. Myles: Carzonrent in Delhi, India owns Myles, a self-drive automobile sharing company in India. Myles offers a wide choice of vehicles, from affordable hatchbacks to tough SUVs. You can own a Myles car for a variety of service tenures, ranging from 2 hours to months. It is the first company to offer Business Partners, allowing both fleet operators and private car owners to collaborate with Myles and share their vehicles on the Myles digital platform.
5. Drivezy: Drivezy, originally JustRide, is a self- driving vehicle and two-wheeler rental marketplace based in Bangalore, Karnataka, that was launched in April 2015. Within two years, the company had 1,600 automobiles and 800 two- wheelers on its platform, with services in Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Goa, Mysore, and Mangalore, among others. The company launched a carsharing service under Google's guidance, allowing customers to rent their cars when they were not in use. Later in 2018, Drivezy announced inter-city one-way auto rentals, which enable users to hire a car in one city and deliver it in another.
III. NEED FOR DEVELOPING CAR RENTAL SYSTEMS
Various factors that led to the development of this system are stated below: 1. The already existing public transportation and cab services could not provide flexibility of the route as well as time. So, a system that was not bound by these parameters was needed. 2. People who are always traveling due to work or any other reason can rent a vehicle instead of looking for taxis and buses. 3. Hiring a taxi or other public transport gets costly when a customer has to visit different locations.
IV. COMPARISON BETWEEN CAB SERVICE AND CAR RENTAL
1. SECURITY: Talking about the level of security of both systems, it majorly depends on the person driving the vehicle. You have no way of knowing whether the driver transporting you to your desired location is a skilled professional or a beginner. Whereas on the other hand, it is much easier to trust the skills of a known person while renting a vehicle.
2. FREEDOM: While taking a cab or a taxi the customer has to be dependent on the driver. Asking to make stops frequently might not be accepted very well by the driver. Whereas, renting a car allows the customer to go at their own pace, making them free to stop as much as they like and even visit many locations along the way to their destination.
3. PRIVACY: When you hire a cab or taxi, you don't want an unknown driver listening in on your talks. It's even worse when you book a cab for a multi- day tour outside of the city. On the other hand, if you rent a self-drive vehicle, you will have entire privacy to have a fantastic time while retaining that privacy, provided that the driver is a skilled individual who is familiar with the routes.
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Most of the time the pickup and drop-off process becomes very inconvenient and frustrating. Even though the home delivery facility is available, the customer sometimes has to go to a specified location to pick up as well as drop off the car.
2. Driving skills: The person renting the vehicle should be able to handle the vehicle with proper responsibility and must have a driving license.
3. Transparency in fees: Usually, when a vehicle is rented out, the complete details of the fees are not given out to the customer. The fees include various expenses such as insurance, GST, and other expenses that the customer has to pay. But sometimes extra or hidden charges are also added to the total amount.
4. Fuel conditions: Most of the time the customer is required to return the vehicle with a full tank of fuel or the exact same amount at which it was rented out.
5. Insurance for Car Rentals:
The customer must check with the insurance carrier to determine if there have been any changes before picking up the rental car. One may need to obtain a separate policy from the rental agency if the insurance policy does not include rental car coverage. Depending on the situation, this can be advantageous or disadvantageous.
VI. POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO THE DRAWBACKS
The inconvenience of drop-off and pickup can be reduced by hiring more people whose prime job would be to make sure the vehicle is provided to the customer at the desired locations.
Building a safe platform for users and building their trust by providing complete details of the fees including insurance and other costs.
Bringing up an alternative solution for the customer instead of having to refill the fuel tank one could have the option of paying for that amount of fuel.
The car rental agency could partner up with other services such as hotels or travel agencies to provide a new edge to the system. It would be beneficial for the customer as well.
CONCLUSION The car rental industry has emerged as one of the most used services in the transportation industry providing to the customer’s requirements. In contrast to prior experiences, when all activities associated with the vehicle rental business were limited to a single physical location, the automobile rental sector has completely converted that process from manual to online. Also, the most important factor in the success of this system is customer satisfaction. Knowing your customers' feelings is significant when establishing services that result in customers’ loyalty and business retention. Twitter is the strongest social media network for learning about client sentiments about any items or services, as users post their thoughts.
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FUTURE SCOPE Given the rate at which the car rental industry has been growing, a lot of potentials can be seen in this field. From US$1.053 billion in 2019, the Indian automobile rental market is expected to increase at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 9.83 percent to US$2.030 billion by 2026 [3]. This system of transportation has the tendency to expand rapidly due to enhancements in technology and urbanization making this service easily available. The growth in tourism is also one of the major factors leading to the growth of this industry. In recent years, the government has focused on developing the tourism sector. The Ministry of Tourism has been allocated Rs. 2026.77 crores in the budget for 2021-22 [4]. Rather than choosing tour packages, most tourists now prefer to travel on their own time and at their leisure, which is possible with car rentals. Also, India’s pan India connectivity has increased due to an increase in highway network from 132500 km, making it easier to connect with various parts of the country. Cognizant, a multinational corporation that provides business and technology-based solutions to its clients, indicated in a 2015 report that companies in the Car Rental Industry have the ability to gain more visibility and a leg up over their peers in the market through 'Retailification'. Car rental retailification means implementing retail-based business strategies in this market to make them more competitive. With many companies presently adopting this approach in the country, it is probable that many physical and mortar firms in the Indian car rental business would follow this pattern in the near future to enhance brand presence across numerous platforms.
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