7 Reasons Why Global Capability Centers in India Are Investing in Smarter Employee Transportation Systems

Every morning, across Indian metro cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Pune, millions of employees head to work from distant suburbs, battling congested roads, unpredictable public transport, and limited safe commuting options. Global Capability Centers (GCCs) in these cities have noticed how this daily chaos leads to late arrivals, low energy levels, and increasing attrition. A sea of honking horns and blinking brake lights. The story isn’t any different in Mumbai’s Powai, Hyderabad’s HITEC City, or Gurugram’s Cyber Hub. Employees from Global Capability Centers (GCCs) face a daily challenge that chips away at productivity, morale, and well-being: the commute.

Whether it’s employees struggling to find safe rides during odd hours or HR teams grappling with the unpredictability of vendor-driven fleets, traditional transportation models are no longer working. That’s why GCCs are rethinking how their employees move.

India is now home to over 1,580 Global Capability Centers, with a major concentration in cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata. With rising expectations around safety, punctuality, sustainability, and tech enablement, these companies are actively shifting towards smarter employee transportation systems.

A 2025 Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) report noted that over 68% of GCCs in India are revising their transport policies in favour of automation and safety-centric systems.

Why Global Capability Centers are Rethinking Their Transportation Game

India is home to 1,580+ Global Capability Centers, with most of them concentrated in metro hubs like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata. Over 70% of these centers employ over 1,000 people each, many of whom rely on organized transportation. Recent surveys indicate that over 64% of Indian GCCs have moved from in-house fleet to smarter corporate car rental solutions in the last 3 years.

Let’s explore the key reasons behind this massive shift:

7 Reasons Why Are Global Capability Centers Moving Towards Smarter Employee Transport Systems?

1. Employee Retention Depends on Commute Experience

A study by NASSCOM in 2024 revealed that 46% of employee dissatisfaction in metro-based GCCs stemmed from commute-related stress. Poor travel experience not only affects performance but also drives attrition.

When companies adopted GPS-enabled smart fleets and real-time tracking, the attrition due to commute dropped by 23% in 12 months. Another survey conducted by PeopleStrong in 2025 confirmed that employees who commuted via company-arranged transport were 31% more likely to remain with their employer for 2+ years.

2. Cost Leakage and Operational Inefficiencies in Old Systems

Most GCCs earlier operated with multiple local vendors or in-house vehicle pools. Without automation, data-driven allocation, or centralized tracking, this created invisible cost leakages.

According to a Deloitte survey (2023), companies saved up to 17-22% annually on transportation logistics after switching to centralized smart systems. GCCs reported:

• Fuel wastage minimized through optimized routing

• Duplicate and ghost billing eliminated via automated trip logs

• Driver idle time reduced by up to 35%

In 2025, a case study conducted on five mid-sized GCCs in Pune and Chennai showed an average annual cost reduction of INR 1.2 crore per center after implementing AI-enabled route optimization.

3. Need for 24x7 Employee Transportation

India’s GCCs operate in global time zones, especially those supporting the US and Europe. That means employees traveling during night shifts, early mornings, or weekends. This raises safety concerns, especially for women.

Smarter employee transportation service systems allow:

• Real-time SOS alerts

• Panic buttons integrated in fleet apps

• Dynamic routing with checkpoints

These systems contributed to a 28% improvement in safety perception scores in internal surveys conducted across five major MNCs in Hyderabad and Pune.

As per the 2025 ASSOCHAM report, companies that upgraded to intelligent employee transport models reported a 34% increase in night-shift attendance.

4. Employee Safety and Brand Liability

GCCs are bound by global compliance standards like ISO 27001 and local employment codes which require them to ensure safe transit, especially for night-time transportation. Incidents in transit not only harm employee trust but also expose companies to serious legal and brand consequences.

By investing in smart transportation systems, companies gain:

• Digital logs for every trip

• CCTV-enabled fleets

• Driver KYC + police verification

In 2024, over 60% of Bangalore-based GCCs mandated transport audits every quarter. Those working with integrated tech transportation vendors reduced incident escalations by 40%.

5. Data-Driven Decisions and Real-Time Fleet Visibility

With software-driven dashboards and fleet control centers, GCCs can now make real-time decisions on:

• Fleet availability

• Pick-up delays

• Route bottlenecks

• SLA breaches by vendors

Over 300 GCCs across India now rely on transportation analytics tools to manage over 1.5 lakh employee rides per day.

This visibility has helped reduce:

• Trip cancellations by 35%

• Delays by 29%

• Vendor non-compliance by 40%

These analytics systems also help HR managers track ride punctuality, vehicle health, and driver compliance without manual follow-ups.

6. Environmental Responsibility and Green Goals

Many global MNCs now require their Indian GCCs to adhere to sustainability goals. Shifting to electric vehicles, ride-sharing algorithms, and idle-time monitoring has led to:

• Carbon emission reduction of 20-25% per year

• Integration of over 5,000 EVs across metro cities

• Transition to hybrid fleets by 2026 for 70% of transport partners

A recent collaboration between 25 top GCCs and the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) aimed to pilot green fleet programs in Delhi, Pune, and Bengaluru by end of 2025.

Why More GCCs Are Partnering with Companies Like Eminent Transit

With a strong track record in corporate car rental, Eminent Transit has emerged as a preferred partner for GCCs across Indian metro cities.

Eminent Transit at a Glance:

• Operating in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Delhi & Kolkata

• GPS-enabled vehicles, live-tracking, AI-based routing

• Employee Transportation for night & day shifts

• Airport transfers and Outstation cab services

• Corporate luxury car rentals for events

• Car attachment model for drivers (owner-operator program)

Key Impact Delivered to GCCs:

• 99.4% on-time arrival rate

• 24x7 fleet readiness

• Fully trained drivers with background checks

• Panic button and route alerts for employee safety

• 18% cost savings vs traditional fleet model

A performance audit conducted in Q1 2025 showed that Eminent Transit helped a top Bengaluru-based GCC reduce its absenteeism rate by 12% and boost employee commute satisfaction by 41%.

7. Scalability and Future-Ready Operations

GCCs in India are growing rapidly, with projected headcount growth of 8-11% year-on-year till 2027. Traditional models simply don’t scale. Smart transportation solutions are designed to:

• Onboard new employees quickly

• Handle shift expansions with real-time fleet allocation

• Reduce manual work in transport scheduling by 70%

Solutions by Eminent Transit use AI to predict peak demand, automate routing, and dispatch backups during breakdowns or delays.

Their modular platform also integrates with HRMS systems, enabling end-to-end ride lifecycle management from employee onboarding to offboarding.

The Numbers Behind the Movement

According to a 2024 survey by NASSCOM, 72% of operational GCCs in India have already shifted from managing in-house fleets to partnering with professional transportation service providers. Another 18% are in the process of evaluating third-party options. Why this trend? Because poor employee commute is now recognized as a serious productivity drag.

Here's a quick City-Wise Stats on Smart Transportation Adoption by GCCs look at the adoption across key metro cities:

Data source: NASSCOM Industry Survey Q1 2025

Global Capability Centers in India are no longer just back offices for global brands. They are innovation hubs, R&D centers, and mission-critical extensions of Fortune 500 companies. To maintain this edge, they need smart systems that optimize both people and operations.

With proven results in cost savings, safety, employee satisfaction, and ESG compliance, investing in smarter employee transportation in India isn’t just a trend it’s becoming a fundamental requirement for GCCs operating in India’s metro cities.

As the data shows, cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune are already ahead of the curve. And with service partners like Eminent Transit, the shift toward intelligent mobility for Global Capability Centers is not just possible it’s already happening.