Most Unsafe Cities For Car Owners In India In 2024

According to Acko Digital Insurance’s Theft and Cities 2024 report, car thefts in India surged 2.5 times in 2023 compared to 2022. Surprisingly, India’s capital New Delhi topped the list, with nearly 80% of car thefts being linked to New Delhi.

“New Delhi remains the city with the highest number of car thefts, with 80% of car thefts in India occurring in Delhi,” the report said.

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Cities that will be unsafe for car owners in 2024

As the world’s third largest car market, India is mired in rampant car thefts. According to a report by insurance company Acko, in the Delhi-NCR region alone, a car went missing every 14 minutes in 2023. According to Acko’s findings, the capital city Delhi is taking a suspicious lead in this national crisis, which is very dangerous for car owners. Notably, Delhi’s areas such as Shahdara, Patparganj and Badarpur have the highest incidence of car thefts. The most unsafe cities in India for car owners are:

  1. Delhi NCR
  2. Chennai
  3. Bangalore

Compared to other major metros, Delhi saw a decline in the percentage of car thefts from 56% in the previous year to 37% in 2023. On the contrary, Chennai and Bengaluru saw a significant increase in the number of car thefts, with the theft rates at 10.5% and 10.2% respectively last year.

In Delhi NCR, an average of 105 car thefts are reported every year. Significantly, the report states that most car thefts occur on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

Significantly, among the six metropolitan areas surveyed, Kolkata (which also includes Hyderabad and Mumbai) emerged as the safest city in terms of incidence of car thefts.

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Which cars are stolen most often?

Many vehicles stolen from Mumbai end up in Nepal or eastern India, where the registration process is yet to be digitised.

The most unsafe cities in India for car owners in 2024

Among the stolen vehicles, Maruti Suzuki’s WagonR emerged as the most stolen car in the country. Notably, according to the report, Maruti Suzuki cars accounted for the highest percentage of thefts in the country, accounting for 47%. Apart from WagonR, other frequently stolen models include Swift, Hyundai Creta, Hyundai Grand i10 and Maruti Swift Dzire. This compilation is based on ACKO’s “Theft and Cities 2024” report, which is constructed by integrating ACKO’s internal database and external sources.

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