Taxi apps in India, and the airport touts to skip

Uber and Ola are the two big ride apps in India, both showing a fixed price before you go and both covering the cities and airports a visitor is likely to use. Rapido is worth adding for the cheapest short hops, since it does motorbike rides and auto-rickshaws as well as cars. inDrive, where you propose a fare and the driver accepts or counters, is a common option too. Because the fare is agreed in the app, the meter never comes into it.

One name to skip: BluSmart, the all-electric app, suspended its rides in 2025, so ignore it if you see it mentioned in older guides. Keep two apps installed, since drivers do cancel, and occasional driver strikes can thin availability for a day. On a normal day, though, opening Uber or Ola is by far the easiest way to get a fair price.

The classic Indian airport scene is a cluster of men approaching you as you exit, offering a taxi or a prepaid ride and quoting a fixed rate that turns out to be well over the odds, sometimes with a grab for your luggage to hurry you along. A sharper version has a driver insisting your hotel is closed, full or unsafe, then steering you to another one where he earns a commission. None of this is the official service.

There are two safe answers. Book in your app and walk to its marked pickup zone, or use the official prepaid taxi booth, which is run by the traffic police and gives you a printed slip with a set fare that you hand to the assigned driver. In Delhi, those prepaid booths are now run with a cooperative called Bharat Taxi under the Delhi Traffic Police, and the fare is fixed and printed, so there is nothing to negotiate at the car.

If you land in Delhi, the calmest way into the city is often the Airport Express metro line, which runs from Terminal 3 to New Delhi railway station in around twenty minutes for a few rupees, sidestepping the road traffic entirely. From the metro you can take a short app ride or auto to your hotel.

It is a clean way to avoid the whole arrivals-hall scrum on your first day, when you are tired and least in the mood to argue over a fare. Other big cities have their own airport metro or rail links worth checking, but Delhi's is the one most visitors will use.

Away from the apps, auto-rickshaw drivers are legally meant to run the meter but often refuse and name a flat price, so either agree the number before you set off or just book the auto through Uber, Ola or Rapido for a fixed fare. Watch for the note-switch trick, where a driver takes your 500 rupee note, palms it, and shows you a 100, claiming you underpaid. Count your notes out loud, keep small change handy, or pay by card or UPI in the app to avoid cash disputes entirely.

Tipping is not expected for a taxi, auto or app ride, though rounding up is a friendly gesture. For the wider money picture, including how much cash to carry and how card and UPI payments work, see the India money guide.

Common questions

Quick answers.

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