From ground assistance to emergency support, India Assist’s Founder and MD Harish Khatri explains how the platform is revolutionising travel safety through tech and human touch
What inspired the launch of India Assist, and how has the journey evolved over the past 6-7 years?
This was born out of a personal need. As a traveller, I always wondered—if I or my family were stuck in a different city with language barriers or no local contacts, who would help us? The travel industry caters to transport, accommodation, and itineraries, but no one really takes responsibility for the traveller’s real-time needs. India Assist was created by travellers, for travellers. It’s a service I wished existed for my own family—and that’s how it all started.
Safety and tech are two big concerns in Indian travel. How does India Assist stand out from traditional support services?
The truth is, there are no real-time technical assistance services for travellers in India. Airlines drop you from point A to B, hotels offer bed and breakfast, and travel insurance only compensates you after something happens. What about during the crisis? India Assist is the missing link. We offer live help when you need it the most—through a tech platform backed by human support. That’s what sets us apart. Even the industry is now realising this gap and reaching out for partnerships.
Can you explain how your model works and how you ensure timely, reliable support across India?
We operate in 28 cities with service partners and trained ground staff on payroll. If a user presses a help button in our app—whether for a medical issue, lost item, or emergency logistics—we instantly get their location and problem type. Then, just like Ola or Zomato, a ground staff is assigned and reaches them in 25-40 minutes. Meanwhile, our call centre stays in constant touch. It’s tech-enabled, but human-driven. We’re not bots—we’re there for people when it really matters.
How does the model work for a first-time user? Walk us through a typical customer experience.
We currently follow a B2B2C model—so hotels, airlines, or tour operators offer India Assist as part of their service. For example, if a tourist eats something that causes an upset stomach in Kochi at midnight, the hotel may not be able to help due to SOPs. But with India Assist, we arrange a doctor consultation via video call and deliver prescribed medicine to their hotel—within half an hour. It saves time, money, and stress. We’ve done this across India, even delivering medicine to houseboats in Srinagar or helping tourists file FIRs in English in Trivandrum.
What are your expansion plans, especially after the Mahakumbh partnership?
At Mahakumbh, we partnered with the UP Government and managed ground support and information centres. Now, we’re scaling globally. We’ve signed a contract with the Royal Family of the UAE to launch a pilot service called UAE Assist. Soon, it will be part of the visa package—travellers won’t need to sign up separately. By 2026, we aim to offer our assistance service in 3-4 countries. In India, state-level tourism rules slow us down, but globally, we’re becoming part of tourism policy itself.
