There was a time when David M (name changed for privacy), a senior executive at a leading IT organisation, thought nothing about driving himself home after a night of wild partying. “Back in college, I used to think that driving after drinking was cool because it made you look more masculine and in control,” he says. Not anymore, however.
If he ever has alcohol outside, he now makes it a point to take a cab back or hire a driver to ferry him home. “A switch suddenly flipped, and I realised how socially unacceptable, irresponsible and selfish it was to drink and drive. You can kill someone and destroy a family,” he says. Additionally, the laws around drunk driving in India have gotten much stricter, with fines being raised from ₹1,000–₹1,500 to a whopping ₹10,000 and/or six months in prison. “It is a good thing that the fines are so huge,” feels David.
(Clockwise from far left) L to R: Santhosh Zachariah Abraham, Rohit Rajput, Bishal Gurung, RVS Kiran
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Santhosh Zachariah Abraham, the managing partner at the Madras Cocktail Company, aka MadCo, a speakeasy in Chennai, welcomes the move, too. As someone who once worked at a leading alcohol company and has witnessed the outcome of driving under the influence, he thinks it is simply an unwise thing to do. “You are not just risking your own life, but you’re putting everyone else’s life in danger,”
The culture of driving after a few drinks, once commonplace, appears to be undergoing a shift, catalysed by several factors, the topmost being these stringent checks and heftier fines. And, in response to this, many clubs and bars in India are now actively helping customers get home safely. MadCo is one of them, with valets instructed to ask every guest upfront if they will need a driver after partying. “If they do, we make arrangements for that,” says Santhosh, who believes that most guests are amenable to this idea.
Gaanesh Ranganath, the managing partner at Bier Loft Brewing Company and Gulp in Bengaluru, agrees that partygoers are more sensible nowadays and eschew driving after a drink. “They just want to book a cab, take it easy, have a good evening and call it a night,” he says.
People just want to book a cab, take it easy, have a good evening and call it a night
| Photo Credit:
Mlenny
At Bier Loft, too, valet drivers can be employed to get clients home safely. “We are located in Electronic City, and people who come don’t live beyond six or seven kilometres usually. So, our drivers can easily drop them and come back,” he says. His staff also helps clients to book ride-hailing apps, especially if there are clear signs that they have had too much to drink and may need help getting home safely. “Our staff is appropriately trained to recognise when a guest is a little more than tipsy. If we see that they’ve drunk beyond the permissible limit, we help them book cabs since their safety is our priority,” he says.
What, by most accounts, is also fuelling this mindset shift is the mushrooming of easy and relatively inexpensive transport options. While this is not true of all parts of the country — Goa, for instance, has fewer options, despite its reputation for being a haven for affordable alcohol — most metros and even two-tier cities have excellent ride-hailing services and may even have public transport at night. “This technology has led to a change in behavioural patterns. People no longer need to drive home after drinking because all these services are at the tip of your fingers,” agrees David, who believes this has played a vital role in making it easier to have fun without worrying about the hassle of getting home after drinking.
The plethora of cab and driver services makes it easy to get home safe after a night of drinking
| Photo Credit:
lakshmiprasad S
Shiva Shailendran, director of consumer growth at Uber India South Asia, echoes this sentiment. “We have seen more people turning to Uber as their preferred way to get home responsibly,” he says, citing a recent survey conducted by the brand in Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru, where an overwhelming 93% of the respondents said they chose not to drive back drunk only because of the availability of ridesharing options. In keeping with the organisation’s goal of having reliable rides available whenever people need them, especially late at night and on weekends, Uber has strengthened supply across major metros. This ensures riders can find a trip quickly, even during peak party hours, he adds. “It encourages people to enjoy their evenings out while making the responsible choice when it is time to head home.”
Technology encourages people to enjoy their evenings out while making the responsible choice when it is time to head home.”
| Photo Credit:
Peopleimages
And it is not just cabs that can be booked quickly on your phone: drivers can be, too. David still recalls, while on a visit to Thiruvananthapuram, encountering an ad for DriveU, a start-up that allows you to pre-book a driver. “After you are done drinking, two people will arrive on a bike. One will get into your car and drive you to your destination, with the other person following you on his bike,” he says. “Once you get dropped off, the person who drove your car will hop back on the bike and leave.”
Drivly, a newly launched AI-powered mobile app that instantly connects car owners with trusted, background-verified call drivers, is another option for Chennai-based partygoers (the co-founders plan to soon expand to other parts of India). “Around 25-30 percent of our bookings come from nightlife users, and they really appreciate the fact that we can provide a driver in thirty minutes,” says Zachariah Jacob, who co-founded Drivly with Karthikeyan G. Most call drivers take anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour to reach a client, he points out, making this a convenient option since people don’t always want to wait that long for a driver. “We are giving the option of being able to use your own car without worrying about safety,” he says.
After all, as Santhosh puts it, “It doesn’t make any sense for you to spend thousands and thousands of rupees drinking, and then not pay ₹500 for a (safe) ride.”
Published – December 26, 2025 07:43 pm IST