Mumbai's first hosted journey — a private car run the way a fine hotel is run. A quiet cabin — or your music, once you have told us what it is — an umbrella when it rains, and someone answerable for how you feel when you step out.
The fare is written down before you travel — and it does not move
The car that remembers you.
One ordinary Tuesday, in the rains
It is 11:40 at night and it is raining the way it only rains here.
You step out of the building and the car is already waiting — parked, lit, engine quiet. Before you reach the kerb your door is open and there is an umbrella above you, held so completely that you do not feel a single drop. The person holding it gets wet instead.
Inside, it is twenty-two degrees, because that is what you told us once. The music you asked for once is already playing — and if you never asked, the cabin is simply quiet. There is a sealed bottle of water, and — because it is raining — a folded towel you never had to ask for.
Nobody says very much. You put your head back.
Twenty-six minutes later the sarathi is out first, umbrella up, walking you to your actual door — not the gate, the door — and waits until it closes behind you.
That is a hosted journey.
And that is the whole company
Why Unlyra exists
Every car in Mumbai solved the distance.None of them solved the journey.
Twenty minutes of your life. Long enough to arrive composed, or to arrive frayed. Long enough to be looked after — or to be freight.
The industry perfected the map, the fare, the waiting time. Everything except the person in the seat. And so the journey quietly became the only part of your day that nobody was responsible for.
Nobody notices the flowers on your lap, the interview in ten minutes, the child asleep on your shoulder, the hospital you are driving away from. You give an address and become a booking ID.
Unlyra is that responsibility, taken.
Not a faster car. Not a cheaper one. A car with a host’s conscience — someone has thought about you before you arrive, and someone answerable for how you feel when you step out.
A hosted journey.
Transport moves your body. Hospitality receives you. For a hundred years those were two different industries — one for hotels, one for cars. Unlyra was built as the second, on wheels.
It is not a car with extras. A journey is hosted when one named person has prepared for you before you arrive, stays answerable until the door closes behind you, and is paid the same whether or not you ever notice. Everything short of that is a ride with a better interior.
What Unlyra is not
What Unlyra is
Not knowing who is coming
→
Their name, photo and car number, before they arrive
A fare argued over at the end
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A fare written down before you travel
A price that climbs when you need it most
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One fare, the same in a storm as in sunshine
Explaining yourself all over again
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A cabin already set the way you asked
Weather you simply have to endure
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An umbrella in the rains, a cooled cabin in the heat
Dead time between two places
→
A part of the day worth having
Our name carries the answer — a note of music, and a star to steer home by. That is what rides in every Unlyra: your song, and safe passage. The founder tells the whole story, a little further down.
The word we live by
सारथी
Sarathi. The one who carries the journey.
In the greatest story this land has ever told, the most powerful being in it did not sit in the back seat. He chose the reins. The battle belonged to the warrior — but the direction, the timing, the counsel and the calm belonged to the one who drove. He was never called a driver. He was called sarathi.
That is the seat we train for. A driver moves a car; a sarathi watches over a journey — the route, the silence, the umbrella, the moment you step out feeling better than when you stepped in. So when your confirmation arrives, it will not say a driver has been assigned. It will say: your sarathi is on his way.
Not features. Rituals — performed the same way on your first journey and your hundredth, whether the car is full or you are the only one in it.
I
The car is only yours
No detour to collect a stranger. No detour to a shop, ever — your sarathi earns nothing from anywhere you stop, and suggests nowhere unless you ask. No clock being watched. The back seat is yours from the moment the door opens.up to the licensed seating capacity of the car. Rides are never shared or pooled.
II
It remembers you
Twenty-two degrees. Your playlist, three songs in — or silence, if silence is what you told us. No fragrance at all unless you asked for one, and then only the one you named. Set before the car leaves for you, not after you ask.Create your profile →we can only remember what you have told us — on the first journey, simply say what you like. Until then the cabin is quiet, and it carries no fragrance.
III
Whatever the sky is doing
In the rains, an umbrella held entirely over you — which means your sarathi gets wet — and a folded towel on the seat. In summer the cabin is cooled before you reach it, with chilled water and a cold cloth. In winter it is warmed. Nobody mentions any of it.provided as the weather requires, at no charge. If something is unavailable we will say so rather than substitute silently.
IV
Quiet, unless you want otherwise
The volume drops before you ask, not after. Take your call. Or say nothing at all for twenty-six minutes — that is a service too.your sarathi will still speak up for anything affecting safety, route or timing.
V
Nothing runs out
A charger that fits your phone, in reach without leaning. A socket for a laptop, and a tray to rest it on, if you say you will be working. Sealed water. A small medicine box in every car — paracetamol, ORS, a plaster, something for the road — that you will hopefully never open.USB-C, USB-A and Lightning; a 3-pin socket for a laptop. Water is sealed and replaced every journey, never refilled. The medicine box holds only what a chemist sells without a prescription, and your sarathi will never suggest a medicine — he only hands you the box.
VI
Walked to the door
After dark we do not stop at the gate. We wait until the door closes behind you — and the last thing you hear is only this: Good night. You are home.to the door of your building or lobby, where it is safe and lawful to stop. Nothing is asked of you at the door — not a payment, not a rating, not a review.
Our gift · once a year
One day a year, the car is dressed for you.
Every registered guest receives one celebration journey each year, on the house — within Mumbai, up to two hours, the car dressed for the occasion.
One per registered guest each calendar year · up to two hours · within Mumbai city limits · booked at least 48 hours ahead · subject to availability. Additional hours, travel beyond the city or elaborate décor are quoted in writing beforehand.
Limited by design.
Unlyra accepts a limited number of journeys each day. Every car is prepared by hand, for one guest at a time.·If we're full, we'll tell you honestly — and hold your place for tomorrow.
Availability
See before you ask.
The diary is kept by hand. A day marked full is gone — it is never quietly oversold — and a day marked open is truly open. Choose a date to begin, and a person confirms it in writing.
Few cars remainingFully bookedNotified festival day · Festival Care 25%Sunday
Our punctuality promise
If your sarathi reaches the pickup point more than 10 minutes after the booked time, a share of the fare comes back to you — as Unlyra wallet credit, applied to a later journey. Up to ₹2,500 on any one journey, one gift per journey.
Beyond ten minutes
A fifth of the fare
20% to your wallet
Credited within seven days, without being asked.
Beyond thirty
Half the fare
50% to your wallet
Credited the same way, within seven days.
We apply it ourselves, before you ask. The credit is yours alone — held against your own number, never transferable to a colleague or anyone else, and never exchanged for cash. No more than a quarter of any one fare may be settled with it, so a gift is enjoyed across several journeys rather than spent in one. It is valid twelve months, and we give up to ₹5,000 in punctuality credit to any one guest in any twelve months. The cost is borne by Unlyra, never by your sarathi, so no one is ever rushed on the road. Safety is never traded for a stopwatch.
The promise covers delays that are ours: a late start, a wrong turn, a car that was not ready. It does not apply where the road itself was closed — flooding, a protest or procession, an accident, a police or VIP restriction, or any condition outside our reasonable control, nor on a notified festival day, when the city closes its roads for the processions and no clock can honestly be promised — nor where the pickup point given cannot lawfully be reached by car, nor where the address or timing was changed after your sarathi set out. We will always show you where the car was and when. Full terms.
Journeys
Wherever the occasion takes you.
I
City journeys
Travel across Mumbai with your sarathi, tuned to exactly how you like to travel.
Share your pickup, destination and time — here or on WhatsApp. No account required.
II
We write it down
A person — not a bot — replies in writing, between 7 AM and 11 PM, with your fare and your car. The figure is inclusive and it does not move. A secure link settles it, and the car is held for you the way a fine hotel holds a room.
III
Arrive celebrated
Your sarathi’s name, his photograph and the car number reach you before you travel; your preferences are set before he leaves. The car waits for you — fifteen minutes of complimentary waiting, always — and nothing is asked of you at the end of the journey. Not a payment, not a rating.
No surge, no negotiation, nothing added at the end. The figure is inclusive — tolls, parking and GST inside it — and it is written down before you travel. Choose your journey and see the estimate at once.
Two hours at the least; four for Command, Limousine and Marque. Across the city and back is usually two; a morning of errands, four; a day, eight. Not sure? Reserve the shorter and the clock simply runs on, in half hours.
Garage to garage, three hundred kilometres and twelve hours a day. Tolls, parking, permits and your sarathi’s meals are inside the figure.
Between 11 PM and 6 AM
Less than twelve hours’ notice
A notified festival day
Estimated fare
₹—
An estimate, not a meter reading. We confirm the exact fare in writing before you travel.
The fare you see is the fare you pay. Within Mumbai it includes your sarathi, fuel, every toll on the route, parking at both ends, GST, and fifteen minutes of complimentary waiting — forty-five after a domestic landing and sixty after an international one, with your flight tracked and the airport parking for that wait inside the figure. Waiting beyond that is charged by the minute at the published rate, and your sarathi will always tell you before the clock starts. Between 11 PM and 6 AM a published Night Care rate of 20% applies; on notified festival days a published Festival Care rate of 25%; and a car reserved with less than twelve hours’ notice carries a published same-day rate of 20% — 25% for the Command and Limousine classes. Where more than one would fall on a journey, only the highest is charged, never two, and each is already inside your written figure before you pay. Nothing else is ever added, and there is no surge, ever. Every rate, written down →
Reserve
Your car awaits.
Share the details. A person replies on WhatsApp, in writing, with the fare and the car — between 7 AM and 11 PM, in the order requests arrive.
Within Mumbai the car is yours by the hour — two at the least — and the meter never runs.
Mumbai has two terminals: T1 for most domestic flights, T2 for every international flight and the rest. Navi Mumbai is a different airport, forty kilometres away.
Ten kilometres carried in every hour; beyond what you reserve, the clock simply runs on in half hours at the published rate. Command, Limousine and Marque: four hours at the least.
Can't find the place? Tap Pin on map and drop the pin on the exact gate — it works even where no address exists. Or type the nearest landmark, paste a Google Maps link or Plus Code (e.g. 7JWV+X8), or share your location on WhatsApp after booking (attach → Location).
We confirm the exact fare in writing before you travel, so there is never a surprise.
1
0
1
More than one car moves together, arrives together, and is confirmed as one written figure. Several cars are held with an advance of half the fare.
Every sarathi speaks English and Hindi. For another language, ask early and the house finds the right man; if it cannot, it tells you before you confirm.
The seat beside the sarathi is his — for the umbrella, the water and the door — so the back is entirely yours. Sealed water is always in the car. Anything else you name here waits in the cabin, and appears on the receipt at what the shop charged, nothing added.
We confirm exactly which car is coming when we accept your booking. The class you confirm is the class that comes; the sarathi may change, and you are told his name before the car leaves. Every rate is published on our fares page.
Subject to availability. If we can arrange it, we will and we'll tell you the fare first. If we cannot, we will say so honestly rather than send something else and hope. The car may differ; the care never does.
Celebration journeys need 48 hours' notice so we can prepare properly. Decorated journeys are priced on our fares page — and every registered guest has one celebration journey each year, on the house.
This journey is for someone else
We'll greet them by name and send the journey details to them too.
We'll need a child seat
Provided and fitted at no charge — the age (and weight, if you know it) helps us bring the right seat, checked before the car leaves for you.
Travelling with a pet
Four-legged guests are welcome when we know in advance — we prepare a carrier space or seat protection (a small preparation charge may apply, told to you before you confirm). Service animals always travel free, no notice needed.
I need an accessible vehicle
Tell us what would help — a wheelchair-accessible vehicle, extra room, a sarathi who will assist at the door, or simply more time and no hurry. We will confirm honestly what we can arrange before you travel, and never send something unsuitable and hope. Where we cannot meet a need ourselves, we will say so and help you find someone who can.
I will be working on the way
A laptop tray on the seat beside you, a 3-pin socket for the charger, the cabin lit for reading and kept quiet. Say if you would like the window shades down.
I may want to stop on the way
A washroom, a tea, a moment to stretch — simply say so and we stop at the next safe and suitable place.
One complimentary stop per journey — up to 5 minutes on a city journey, up to 15 minutes on journeys over an hour and on hourly or outstation bookings.
Any further stop, and any time beyond the free period, is ₹14 a minute; your sarathi will tell you before the clock starts.
Planning errands — shopping, a bank, several calls? An hourly package is kinder and simpler: the car and sarathi stay yours throughout, with as many stops as you like.
Riding often? Create my profile — the house fills these details for you next time.
Arriving from abroad? The house never asks for your passport, a deposit or a document — a name, a number and a flight are enough; the fare is written in rupees, settled by any international card or UPI. No account needed — book as a guest above. Create a profile and the car remembers you next time.
The same care, without WhatsApp. Only your name, number, route and time are needed — everything else simply helps us prepare.
✓
Thank you — we have your request.
A person will write back with the exact fare and the car, and a secure link to hold it. Your sarathi’s name and the car number follow before you travel.
Partners
Grow with Unlyra.
We grow slower than demand — and only with the right people. If you share our standard of care, there is a seat at this table.
I
Drive with Unlyra
Professional sarathis who believe hospitality is a craft. Trained, respected, and never asked to beg for ratings.
Your guests arrive in whatever an app sends, and it is a lottery. Give them one reliable car instead — booked from your desk in one message, confirmed in writing to you and to the guest. The first journey any front desk books with us carries a courtesy of fifteen per cent off the written fare — on the Signature class only, within Mumbai, once for each property.
Unlyra began with a small, stubborn observation: the part of the day that carries you between everything that matters is the one part nobody has ever bothered to make good.
So we built the opposite of a transport company. Everything here — the training, the rituals, the promise on lateness, the refusal to ever ask you for a rating — exists to serve one sentence:
you should arrive better than you left.
CONSISTENCY
The old-hotel rule
Like a legendary kitchen that keeps its taste identical for decades, journey #1 and journey #1,000 must feel the same. We grow slower than demand — always.
CARE
The silent rule
We never ask for ratings or tips. If a journey was extraordinary, you'll say so yourself. Confidence is silent — the journey is the ask.
CELEBRATION
The yearly gift
Once a year, every member's car arrives decorated — because arriving somewhere should sometimes feel like being received.
"Our name hides a note: lyra — the small harp of the old myths, and the constellation sailors steered home by. Music and direction. That is what rides in every Unlyra: your song, and someone who knows the way. Look closely at our mark — the U carries the strings."
Unlyra
— The Founder · Unlyra, Mumbai
Safety & dignity
You should never have to be brave to get home.
Especially late, especially alone. These are not features — they are the minimum we owe you.
I
Every sarathi, verified
Licence, badge and police verification checked before a single guest is carried. You receive their name, photo and car number before they arrive.sent when the booking is confirmed. If the sarathi changes, we tell you before the journey.
II
Your sarathi, your choice
Decline the sarathi assigned to you before a journey — no reason needed, no cost, and we send another. Tell us any preference about who drives you — including a woman sarathi. We are a small house and cannot always promise it, but we will always tell you honestly before you travel.declining the assigned sarathi is free and another is sent. Sarathis are never penalised for a guest's preference.
III
Stop the journey, any time
Uncomfortable for any reason? Say so and we stop at the next safe point — no explanation needed, nothing to pay for the journey so far, and another car sent to you at once. This is for comfort and safety — a journey ended for a change of plan is charged for the distance completed.
IV
Share your journey
One tap sends your live journey to someone you trust — sarathi name, car number and route.shared from your own phone via WhatsApp live location, so nothing is stored by us.
V
Walked to your door
After dark, our sarathi waits until you are safely inside — not merely at the kerb.included in every fare, with no waiting charge for the walk itself.
VI
Never sent again
Tell us once, privately, and that sarathi will never be assigned to you. No explanation asked for, ever.recorded against your profile permanently. The sarathi is not told who asked.
In a medical emergency, call 108 first — they are the ambulance and we are not. Then tap ✚ emergency car: it messages the house and dials us at once, at any hour. If a car is within reach it is yours, and any diversion to a hospital is on us.
Questions
Everything you might ask.
What is Unlyra?
A private chauffeur house in Mumbai, run the way a fine hotel is run. You reserve in advance; a person confirms it in writing; the fare is settled and does not move; and a sarathi — our word for a chauffeur trained to host, not merely to drive — is answerable for the whole journey, from the door he opens to the door he walks you to.
What is a sarathi?
Sarathi (सारथी) is the old Sanskrit word for the one entrusted with the journey — Krishna was Arjuna’s sarathi. We use it because “driver” describes a task; sarathi describes a trust. Every Unlyra sarathi is police-verified, named to you before he arrives with his photo and car number, and answerable for how you feel when you step out.
What is a hosted journey?
A ride solves distance. A hosted journey solves the arrival — the cabin prepared to your preferences, quiet unless you have asked for music, the door opened, the umbrella up in the rain, and one person answerable by name. It is the difference between transport and hospitality, and Unlyra is Mumbai’s first.
Is Unlyra another ride app?
No — and we do not compete with them. Such an app moves you between two points; that problem is solved. Unlyra exists for what those rides leave out: the door opened, the cabin cooled before you arrive, the umbrella in the rains, a cabin kept quiet unless you want otherwise, a fare written down before you travel. Not another ride platform — the experience every ride platform missed.
Why do people book Unlyra?
For the days that matter: an airport run that must not go wrong, a parent travelling alone, a birthday arriving decorated, a guest you want received properly, or simply a working hour reclaimed in a quiet, cool cabin. People come for one occasion and stay because the car remembers them.
How do I book?
Tell us on WhatsApp, or use the form above. A person — not a bot — replies in writing between 7 AM and 11 PM with the exact fare and the car. A secure link settles the fare and holds the car; your sarathi’s name and car number follow before you travel.
Do I pay before or after the journey?
Before. A reservation is held once the written fare is settled, the way a fine hotel holds a room — by UPI, card or bank transfer through a secure link from the house, against the figure you were quoted. Journeys beyond the city, the Command, Limousine and Marque classes, weddings and multi-day bookings are held with half the fare, and the balance seventy-two hours before. Nothing is asked of you at the end of the journey — not a payment, not a rating. Companies that travel with us regularly are invoiced monthly after three completed journeys.
How long does a quote hold?
Every quote is written, and every quote expires: twenty-four hours from the moment it is sent, or two hours for a journey inside the next twenty-four. A lapsed quote is simply written again at the fares then in force. We do not negotiate a written figure, and no one at the house is able to.
How are fares calculated?
From the published rate card — no surge, ever, and no meter. Within Mumbai the car is reserved by the hour, two hours at the least, with ten kilometres carried in every hour; the airport is a fixed fare; a day beyond the city is a day. The figure is inclusive: it carries your sarathi, fuel, every toll, parking at both ends and GST. Between 11 PM and 6 AM a published Night Care rate of 20% applies; on notified festival days a Festival Care rate of 25%; and a car reserved with less than twelve hours’ notice carries a same-day rate of 20% (25% for Command and Limousine). Where more than one would fall on a journey, only the highest is charged — never two together — and each is already inside your written figure.
What if I need to cancel?
Within Mumbai, for the Signature and Premium classes: free more than twenty-four hours before pickup, as often as you need; inside twenty-four hours, half the fare; inside twelve hours or a no-show, the full fare. For Command, Limousine and Marque and every journey beyond the city, the windows are forty-eight and twenty-four hours. Weddings and multi-day bookings hold with an advance that returns in full more than seven days out. A flight the airline moves is never a cancellation. If we cancel, you are never charged, and every refund owed returns within seven working days. The whole of it, on one page.
What if you're late?
Beyond 10 minutes past the booked time, a fifth of the fare returns to you as wallet credit; beyond forty-five minutes, half — up to ₹2,500 on a single journey, one gift per journey. The credit is yours alone: it cannot be passed to a colleague or anyone else, and it is never exchanged for cash, though you may ask for it to come off that journey’s own invoice instead. It covers delays that are ours; it does not apply when a road is closed by flooding, a procession, an accident or a police restriction, nor on a notified festival day, when the city closes its roads and no clock can be promised.
What if I feel unwell during a journey?
Say "please stop." The car stops at the next safe place — water, air, and no charge for the pause. If you'd like medical attention, we take you to the nearest suitable facility with your consent, and the diversion is never charged. If a guest is unresponsive, your sarathi calls 108 and follows their guidance.
Can I book for someone else?
Yes. Add their name and number when booking — we greet them by name and send the details to them as well. If you book for others, you accept the terms on their behalf.
Is there anything for a first journey?
Something waits on the seat of a first journey with us. We would rather not say what.One to each guest, on a first journey. It is a thing, not a discount — so there is nothing to claim, redeem or remember.
Can I choose the car?
You may tell us which of our classes you would prefer — Signature, Premium, Command, Limousine, or a Marque car quoted in writing. We confirm exactly which car is coming when we accept your booking. The class you confirm is the class that comes; if only a lower class can be sent, you choose between the lower fare and a full refund. The sarathi may change — the law requires his rest — and you are told his name before the car leaves. We do not run a small car and never will.
What is the celebration journey?
Once a year, every registered guest has a decorated journey within Mumbai on the house — up to two hours, booked 48 hours ahead, subject to availability. Further celebration journeys are priced on our fares page — published there, rather than quoted to you on the day.
Can I ask for a different sarathi?
Yes — decline any sarathi before the journey at no cost, ask us to stop at any point if you feel uncomfortable (you pay nothing for the journey so far), or tell us privately that someone should never be assigned to you again. No reason is ever required. This is for your comfort and safety, not a way to shorten a fare.
Can we stop on the way?
Of course — a washroom, a tea, a moment to stretch. Say so and we stop at the next safe and suitable place. One stop per journey is complimentary — up to 5 minutes within the city, up to 15 minutes on longer, hourly and outstation journeys. Any further stop, or time beyond that, is ₹14 a minute and your sarathi will tell you before the clock starts. On a long road your sarathi also rests — up to twenty minutes in every three hours, for water and his eyes; those stops are for your safety, counted inside the day, and cannot be waived.
Do you wait if I'm running late?
Fifteen minutes of waiting is complimentary on every booking, and forty-five minutes after a domestic landing and sixty after an international one, with your flight tracked. If a flight is delayed, we re-time the booking at no charge rather than run a meter. Beyond that we charge by the minute at our published rate — ₹14 a minute for the Signature car — and your sarathi will always tell you before the clock starts. Thirty minutes after the booked time with no word from you — sixty after a landing — the journey is recorded as not taken.
Where do you go?
We are a Mumbai house — the city, both airport terminals, Navi Mumbai and Thane are home ground. From Mumbai we go anywhere the road goes: Pune, Lonavala, Nashik, Shirdi, Alibaug, Goa, and the quiet places between them, quoted as one written figure. Journeys run at every hour, day and night; a person confirms them between 7 AM and 11 PM, and a car reserved for the night is always honoured.
Is Unlyra safe for a woman travelling alone at night?
It is built for exactly that. Every sarathi is police-verified and named to you with his photo and car number before he arrives. You may decline any sarathi with no reason and no cost, share your live journey with someone you trust in one tap, stop the journey at any point you feel uncomfortable and pay nothing for the journey so far — and after dark, your sarathi waits until your door closes behind you, not the gate. You can also tell us privately that someone should never drive you again.
I left something in the car.
Message us immediately, or write to [email protected]. We hold found items securely for 30 days and return them to you at no charge within Mumbai — further afield, at the courier’s cost only.
Do I need to download an app?
No. Everything works on WhatsApp and unlyra.com — booking, fares, your saved profile and preferences. Add unlyra.com to your home screen and it opens like an app. When we build one, your profile comes with you.
A house like this is shaped by the people it carries. A wish, a small annoyance, a thing you noticed that we did not — tell us. One person reads every word, and nothing you write is ever published or used to sell you anything.