Customers booking cars at airport counters or through local agents can now take it easy. PayMate, India’s leading wireless transactions company has partnered with Akbar Car Rentals, India’s largest private car rental agency, to initiate car bookings via a simple SMS. To begin with the service will be available in 6 cities and soon be extended to 10 cities in the next couple of weeks.

Any customer who wishes to book a vehicle just needs to SMS CAR to 667711. A customer service executive will call back to complete all booking details and payment formalities. All confirmation and cancellation details will be communicated via an automated SMS engine. This service is available 24×7 which means even last minute bookings are possible. Customers can call for a pick-up from the airport or anywhere in the city. The service is currently being launched in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Trivandrum, Pune and Ahmedabad. In the coming weeks Delhi, Kolkata and Vizag will also be added to this list.

Ajay Adiseshann, MD & Founder of PayMate says “The core idea is to make the process of car bookings simpler. Instead of queuing up at the airport counter or calling local agents, all the customer now needs to do is send an SMS. The service will come in handy especially for frequent business travelers who often have last minute travel plans and find it difficult to co-ordinate a car booking. Naturally Akbar Travel’s national footprint and monopolistic strengths at the airports make them the ideal partners to offer this service.”

K.V. Abdul Nazar, Chairman & MD of Akbar Travels says “Given the dynamics of the car booking business, we realize that car bookings often are a last minute requirement and telephone numbers of car agencies rarely come in handy. Booking at the airport counter also takes up time precious time for a business traveler so in cases sending an SMS is a lot simpler. Our 24×7 helpdesk does the rest and the customer’s car will be waiting wherever and whenever needed. For Akbar Travels this is yet another step to offer its customers utmost convenience.”

PayMate has already launched its Fly Buy Sms service which has seen a very positive response for flight ticketing via SMS. Now with car bookings and hotel booking (to be launched shortly) the company aims to strengthen its hold in the travel industry.