How rental companies are changing business models to stave off challenges

Restrictions on diesel vehicles and use of speed governors are major roadblocks

India’s first self-drive car rental firm Zoomcar is aiming to shift to a marketplace model by early 2018. The first-mover has pioneered the asset-light solution in a fledgling space in the auto industry where regulatory constraints have emerged as a major challenge for all players.

Greg Moran, co-founder and chief executive, Zoomcar, says there is overwhelming demand for self-drive cars in India and a bulk of the time and energy is spent in resolving supply constraints. “A lot of the regulations for self-drive is heavy-handed, and licensing, permitting constraints hinder growth from a supply standpoint.”

A workaround it has found is the