An outstation tempo traveller fare from Delhi is usually built from four parts: a rate for every kilometre, a minimum number of kilometres charged for each day the van is away, a daily allowance for the driver, and the costs of the road — tolls, parking and, in a few cases, state tax — with GST added. The kilometres are counted for the whole trip, the drive back included. The table below runs real Delhi trips through that arithmetic.
The parts of an outstation fare
- Rate per kilometre. The main figure, multiplied by the kilometres the trip is billed for.
- Minimum kilometres per day. A van that spends a day parked outside a hotel earns nothing, so operators charge each day at no less than a set number of kilometres.
- Driver allowance. A fixed amount for each day, towards the driver's meals and stay on the road.
- Night driving. Some operators charge extra when the van is on the road late at night.
- Tolls, parking and permits. Either inside the fare or paid on the way; the quote should say which.
- GST. Added to the fare at the rate the quote states.
Billed kilometres: the run or the daily minimum, whichever is more
Count the road kilometres there and back, and the days the van is with you. If the road kilometres are more than the daily minimum times the days, the road kilometres are billed; if the van spends days parked, the minimum is. A quick trip runs well past its minimum. A five-day stay in one hill town usually does not, because the van covers most of its kilometres on the first and last days.
Whatever you drive at the destination — between Agra's monuments, from Manali up to Solang — adds to the road kilometres in the table, and so does a pickup that collects the group from several addresses.
| Trip | Days | Road km, there and back | Kilometres billed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delhi → Agra and back, the same day | 1 | 460 km | 460 km, or one day's minimum if that is more |
| Delhi → Jaipur and back | 2 | 560 km | 560 km, or 2 days' minimum if that is more |
| Delhi → Rishikesh (by Haridwar) and back | 3 | 480 km | 480 km, or 3 days' minimum if that is more |
| Delhi → Manali and back | 5 | 1,070 km | 1,070 km, or 5 days' minimum if that is more |
Rupees appear here once our rate is published; until then, your WhatsApp quote states it.
One way is rarely half the price
A van that drops a group in Jaipur still has to drive back to Delhi, and many operators bill the return kilometres even when nobody is in the van for them. Ask how a one-way trip is billed before you compare two quotes, and ask where the kilometres are counted from: some count from the pickup address, others from wherever the van is kept.
Tolls, parking and state tax
Every vehicle pays the expressway and highway tolls, so a quote either includes them or leaves them for the group to pay on the way. Parking at monuments, hotels and Delhi airport is the same — and the airport charges commercial vehicles from the moment they drive in, starting at ₹270 for the first half-hour.
State tax is where the permit matters. A van with an All-India Tourist Permit pays its permit fee once, centrally, under the All India Tourist Vehicles (Permit) Rules, 2023, and in August 2023 the Ministry of Road Transport told every state not to charge such vehicles a separate passenger, border or check-post tax. That is what the rules say; it is not a promise that no check post ever asks.
Comparing two quotes
Put them side by side on the same four lines: the kilometres each assumes, the days, the driver allowance, and what each leaves out. A lower rate per kilometre with tolls, parking and the night charge left out can come to more than a higher rate that includes them. Our reply is one figure for the trip, with what is inside it and what is not written next to it.