Car rental
Self-drive, chauffeur-driven or somewhere in between — and an honest answer to whether you should drive in Mumbai at all.
Where the desks are
Concentrated at P4, Level 1 of the Terminal 2 multi-level car park, and on the city side at Terminal 1.
What you need
Home licence plus an International Driving Permit, passport and valid visa, and a credit card in the main driver's name.
What it costs
Roughly ₹2,000–₹5,000 a day for self-drive depending on class and season, before insurance and deposit.
Who rents cars at CSMIA
Indian airport car hire works differently from Europe or the United States. Most brands operate on a meet-and-greet basis in the car park rather than from a staffed desk inside the terminal, and chauffeur-driven hire is the mainstream product.
Airport-listed operators
Akbar Cab and Shree Sai are principally chauffeur-driven hire-car operators, booked at the counter on arrival rather than online in advance.
Meet-and-greet, not a desk
What you need to rent
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Licence — visitors | A valid licence from your home country and an International Driving Permit. Some operators accept an official certified translation instead of an IDP — check before you travel, because you cannot obtain an IDP in India. |
| Licence — residents | A valid Indian driving licence, usually held for at least one year. |
| Identity | Passport and valid Indian visa for foreign nationals. Some operators also ask for proof of stay — a hotel booking or return ticket. |
| Minimum age | Typically 21. Premium and larger categories often require 23–25. |
| Deposit | A credit card in the main driver's name for the refundable security deposit. Some operators accept debit cards. Amounts vary widely by vehicle class. |
| Insurance | Basic third-party liability is normally included; excess reduction is sold as an add-on. Read the damage excess before you sign. |
| Fuel | The renter's responsibility on conventional rentals. Zoomcar's per-kilometre model is the exception — you return the car without refuelling. |
How Indian car-with-driver packages work
Chauffeur-driven hire is usually sold as an 8 hour / 80 km package, with published rates for each additional hour and each additional kilometre. Outstation trips — Pune, Lonavala, Nashik, Alibaug — are quoted separately and typically include a driver allowance and return mileage whether you come back or not.
- The driver handles parking, which in Mumbai is worth the money on its own
- Tolls, state permits and parking charges are normally extra
- Agree the package terms in writing before you set off — especially the km cap
CSMIA-specific package prices are not published, so get a written quote from the counter or your operator.
Driving in Mumbai: what to expect
- Lane markings are advisory rather than binding
- Horn use is constant and communicative, not aggressive
- Street parking near anywhere you want to be is scarce and often paid
- Monsoon flooding closes roads at short notice between June and September
- An accident involving a foreign driver becomes an administrative problem quickly
You probably want one of these instead
Prepaid taxi
Fixed price, no navigation, no parking. The right answer for almost every single journey.
Taxis & cabsMetro Line 3
₹10–80 to anywhere along the line, immune to traffic and monsoon alike.
Metro & busLeaving your own car
₹600 for 24 hours in general parking at either terminal, bookable in advance.
Parking tariffs