Carpooling means travelling in a car that is already making the trip. Someone is driving from Delhi to Jaipur on Saturday morning with three empty seats; you need to be in Jaipur that afternoon. You take one of those seats and pay your share of the journey, and the car that was going anyway now carries four people instead of one.
That is the whole idea. It is not a taxi: the driver is not working for you, they were going there already. It is not a bus either: you know who is driving, you can talk to them before you go, and the car usually leaves from somewhere closer to you than the bus stand.
This guide walks through a first ride on Tezzo from start to finish.
Who carpools, and why
Most shared rides are between cities 100 to 500 km apart, the distance where a car is the most practical way to go and a lot of people make the same trip.
- Students and working people going home on weekends and holidays.
- Office travel between nearby cities, where a car leaves at the same time on the same day every week.
- People who missed the train booking or found every bus full on a festival weekend.
- Drivers who make the trip anyway and would rather not pay for the fuel alone.
The reasons are usually the same three: it costs less than travelling alone by car, it is often quicker and more direct than a bus, and the company makes a long drive shorter.
Step 1: search your route
Open Tezzo, or search on tezzo.co.in, and enter where you are leaving from, where you are going and the day. You do not have to live in the city where a ride starts. Tezzo matches the towns along each ride's route, so a car going from Delhi to Jaipur can pick you up at Gurugram or Behror if the driver passes through.
In the app, search also looks for rides that pass within 100 km of your start and end points, and each result tells you how far the route passes from you. If nobody has published your route yet, you can ask Tezzo to tell you the moment someone does.
Step 2: look at the ride, not just the price
Every ride shows the seat price before you book. Before you pick one, look at:
- The driver's profile. Their name, photo, rating from earlier trips, and whether their government ID has been checked by the Tezzo team (a badge says so).
- Pickup and drop points. Where exactly the car leaves from and where it stops. Many drivers choose a well-known spot such as a metro station or a petrol pump.
- How booking works. Some rides confirm your seat instantly. On others the driver approves each request, and the ride page shows how quickly that driver usually replies.
- Preferences. Luggage space, whether pets or smoking are allowed, and how chatty the driver likes the trip to be.
- Women-only rides. A woman driver can keep a ride for women passengers. Both she and every passenger need a verified ID for that.
Step 3: book and talk
Choose how many seats you need and book. If the driver approves requests, you will get a notification when they answer.
Once your booking is confirmed, you can chat with the driver in the app to agree on small things: the exact pickup point, how much luggage you have, whether you can be picked up five minutes later. Phone numbers are shown to both sides only after the booking is confirmed, never on a public profile.
Step 4: pay the driver directly
The price the driver sets per seat is what you pay. Tezzo does not add a booking fee or a commission on top. You pay the driver directly, in cash or by UPI, usually at the start or end of the trip. Agree on which in the chat so nobody is surprised.
If you board or get off at a stop along the way rather than the whole route, the price for that part of the trip is shown when you book.
Step 5: travel, then rate each other
On the day, be at the pickup point a few minutes early. During the ride, the app has an SOS button that calls 112, calls your emergency contact or shares your trip details with someone you trust.
After the trip, you and the driver rate each other. Those ratings are what the next passenger looks at, which is why most people on a carpool app behave like good travelling companions.
If plans change
If you cannot make it, cancel the booking in the app as early as you can, so the driver can offer the seat to someone else. If the driver cancels, you are told straight away and can look for another ride.
A short checklist before your first ride
- Your profile has a photo and a mobile number.
- You have read the pickup point and know how you will get there.
- You have agreed in chat on cash or UPI.
- Someone at home knows which ride you are on.
- You have a little extra time in case of traffic.
Try it
Search your route on the home page, or get the free Tezzo app on Android or iPhone. Driving yourself? Read how to offer a ride and share your fuel cost.