Chandigarh [India]: Driving through Spiti Valley in winter is not an ordinary road trip. The high altitude, difficult terrain and changing weather conditions make even a single vehicle’s journey demanding. Organising more than 100 vehicles through the region presents an entirely different logistical challenge.
For Akul Rumpal, Founder and Director of The Car Rent Company, that challenge became one of the defining moments in the young company’s journey.
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In February, The Car Rent Company partnered in executing what it describes as the largest winter Spiti Valley expedition, involving more than 100 vehicles navigating challenging high-altitude terrain. The expedition later received recognition in the World Book of Records, London, marking a significant milestone for a company that began operations only in April 2025.
The achievement also reflects the direction in which Akul has been building the business: combining mobility with a strong focus on reliability, fleet management and customer experience.
Akul’s own professional journey began in engineering. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia, before moving away from a conventional engineering career and into entrepreneurship.
The decision to enter the car rental business came with an interest in creating a mobility service that was dependable from the customer’s point of view. The result was The Car Rent Company, which operates across Chandigarh and Punjab and caters to both everyday rental requirements and longer road journeys.
The business has grown around a combination of owned vehicles and a wider partner network. Today, the company has 150 self-owned cars along with a partner network of more than 1,000 vehicles, giving it the ability to handle requirements beyond the capacity of a conventional small rental operator.
Building Around the Customer Experience
For Akul, the size of the fleet is only part of the proposition.
The company follows a policy of renewing its own fleet every three years, with the objective of keeping its vehicles relatively new and well maintained. For travellers, particularly those planning longer journeys into destinations such as Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Leh-Ladakh, vehicle condition can be an important consideration.
The company has also placed considerable emphasis on the rental process itself.
One of its stated differentiators is the availability of on-the-spot security deposit refunds, allowing customers to receive their refunds without the delays that can sometimes accompany vehicle rentals. The business says this focus on transparency and convenience has contributed to a five-star rating across its five office locations.
Its customer base includes travellers looking for vehicles for regular use as well as people planning more demanding road trips. The company also specifically caters to NRIs returning to India, a segment that often requires reliable transportation during visits home.
The Spiti expedition provided a different test of those capabilities.
Managing a convoy of more than 100 vehicles through a difficult winter route required coordination on a much larger scale than a typical rental assignment. Beyond the vehicles themselves, such an expedition involves planning, communication and the ability to manage multiple moving parts across challenging terrain.
For a company less than a year into its operations at the time, the recognition added a notable chapter to its early story.
The broader ambition behind The Car Rent Company is to build a mobility network that can serve both everyday travellers and customers looking for vehicles for longer, more demanding journeys. Its combination of an owned fleet and large partner network allows it to operate across a wider range of requirements while continuing to expand its presence in Punjab and Chandigarh.
Akul’s transition from civil engineering to mobility entrepreneurship has therefore taken a relatively direct route: identify a practical need, build the infrastructure around it and focus on the experience of the person using the service.
The company is still in the early stages of its journey, but the scale of its fleet, its growing partner network and its experience in coordinating large road expeditions point towards an expanding role in the regional car rental market.
From navigating winter roads in Spiti Valley to building a larger rental network across Punjab and Chandigarh, The Car Rent Company is developing its business around a simple idea – making the journey as dependable as the destination.
