If you study away from home, you know the routine. The semester ends, everyone in the hostel wants to leave on the same Friday, the train is full and the bus leaves at an hour nobody likes. A shared ride is often the simplest way out: a driver is already going your way, and you pay only for a seat.
This guide is for students doing it for the first time.
Why a shared ride works for students
- You pay for a seat, not the whole car. The driver sets a price per seat to share the fuel and tolls. Tezzo adds no fee and takes no commission.
- It leaves when people actually travel. Drivers going home for the weekend leave on Friday evening and come back on Sunday, the same days you do.
- It can drop you closer to home. Tezzo finds rides whose route passes near your starting point and your destination, not only rides that start in your city, and the card tells you how far the route passes from you.
Finding a seat
- Search your route and date. Use the town you are leaving from and the town you are going to. If the date is flexible, try the day before and the day after.
- Set seats needed. Going with two hostel friends? Set it to three, and you only see rides that can take all of you.
- Read the ride page. You see the driver's name, photo, rating, experience level, the price per seat and how quickly they usually reply. A driver with no ratings yet is simply new; read the rest of the profile.
- Nothing yet? Tap Create a ride alert, and Tezzo tells you by notification and email when someone publishes that route.
Booking and talking to the driver
Some rides confirm instantly; on others the driver accepts each request. Once you have a booking, use the chat to agree on three things:
- Pickup point. Pick a spot that is easy to find and easy to stop at, like a metro station, a college gate or a petrol pump.
- Luggage. A laundry bag and a backpack are fine; a trunk for the whole semester needs a word first.
- Payment. You pay the driver directly, in cash or by UPI, on the day of travel. Never pay in advance. If anyone asks for money before the trip, report them from the app.
Your phone number is shared only with the people on a confirmed booking.
Splitting the cost fairly
The seat price is set by the driver and shown before you book, so there are no surprises. If you are curious how it adds up, the fuel cost calculator works out the fuel and tolls for a trip and each person's share. Our guide on splitting fuel and toll costs explains the arithmetic.
Safety basics for first-timers
- Tell someone at home which ride you are on. You can share your trip details from the app before you leave.
- Women travelling alone can look for women-only rides, published by women drivers for women passengers. Both the driver and every passenger need a verified ID for these rides.
- During the ride, the SOS button lets you call 112, call your emergency contact, or send your location to someone you trust.
- After the ride, rate each other. If something was wrong, report it; if you never want to see someone's rides again, block them.
Our carpool safety guide has the full checklist.
Do you have a car?
If you drive home yourself, your empty seats can pay for most of the fuel. Publish the ride, share it on WhatsApp with the poster Tezzo makes for each ride, and accept the people you want to travel with. The driver's guide covers setting a fair price.
Ready?
Search for a ride home, set an alert if nothing is there yet, and plan the way back at the same time.