Eight defences, in order
- 1
Pre-book your first transfer
Pre-paid airport taxi counters (every major Indian airport has one inside arrivals) or your hotel's pickup are the only sane first-day moves. Skip the freelance offers at the exit. Cost is fixed and on a printed slip.
- 2
Use Uber, Ola, or Rapido in cities
App-based ride-share is the simplest defence — fares are transparent, drivers are tracked, and there's no haggling. Auto-rickshaws on the apps are cheaper than taxis. If you're getting an off-app rickshaw, agree the fare before getting in.
- 3
Verify hotel bookings before paying
If a tout at a station says your hotel 'closed/burned/relocated', it didn't. Ignore them. Walk in or call the hotel directly using a number from their official booking confirmation, not a number a stranger hands you.
- 4
Cross-check 'official' tour offices
Government tourism offices have IDs and signage you can verify online. If 'India Government Tourism' is on a back-alley shop sign, it isn't. Real ones are at known city addresses listed on the state tourism site or the India Tourism portal.
- 5
Buy train tickets only via IRCTC or known apps
irctc.co.in, the IRCTC app, ConfirmTKT, and ixigo are legitimate. A man at the station offering 'last-minute insider tickets' is selling either a duplicate or a forgery. Tatkal seats open exactly 24h before departure on the official site.
- 6
Refuse pressured 'gem' or 'silk' purchases
If a 'tour guide' diverts you to a shop where you'd be helping his cousin export valuables abroad — the discount, the export-quality stamp, the customs paperwork — leave. The export scam has been documented for decades and still runs.
- 7
Carry small bills, count change
Small-denomination notes (₹10, ₹20, ₹50, ₹100) for street vendors, autos, and tips. Count change at the time, not later. Damaged or torn notes are sometimes refused even by banks — set those aside for railway/government payments which accept them.
- 8
When in doubt, ask the hotel front desk
Hotels have a stake in your good experience and zero stake in scams against you. They'll know the realistic auto fare to a destination, which restaurants are actually open, what a fair guide rate is, and whether the unsolicited offer at your door is worth taking seriously.
What this isn't
India isn't one giant scam zone, and most of the country sees almost none of this. The patterns above cluster in tourist-hub nodes — large railway stations, the Delhi-Agra-Jaipur triangle's busiest cracks, monument exits at Taj Mahal and Hawa Mahal — because that's where the asymmetry of information is highest. Outside these nodes, in residential cities, in smaller towns, on most overland routes, you'll mostly experience ordinary kindness.
Treat this guide like seatbelts: standard kit, you put it on without thinking, and the trip goes fine.