Know your profit point
Enter your costs and earning rate to find exactly how many kilometres you need to run every month before you start making money.
Enter what you actually pay — we convert everything to monthly.
Enter fare, average km, and trips per day for each slab.
Max/day is optional — fill it to see a busy-day earnings scenario.
| Type | Fare / trip | Cost / trip | Margin / trip | KM / trip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short 0–15 km | ₹688 | ₹149 | +₹539 | 24 km15.0 earning |
| Medium 15–25 km | ₹781 | ₹261 | +₹521 | 42 km26.3 earning |
| Long 25–50 km | ₹1,000 | ₹471 | +₹529 | 76 km47.5 earning |
| Extra Long 50+ km | ₹1,375 | ₹806 | +₹569 | 130 km81.3 earning |
🏆 Extra Long trips give the highest margin per trip at current return ratio (25%)
| ›Total Fixed | ₹22,950/mo |
| ›Total Variable | ₹6.20/km · ₹31,522 total |
| Total Monthly Cost | ₹54,472 |
| Total Revenue (5,082 km) | ₹87,281 |
| Net Profit @ 5,082 km | +₹32,809 |
P/L calculated at 5,082 km/mo
- If BEP > 90% of your target km, margins are dangerously thin.
- Add ₹0.50–₹1.00/km as a sinking fund for unexpected repairs.
- At 5,000 km/month, tyres need replacement every 10–12 months — save monthly.
- As owner-cum-driver, factor in your personal time value when setting rates.
You drive. We handle the rest.
Focus on earning more — every alert, every maintenance reminder, every low-income warning is our job, not yours.
How the break-even calculator works
Most cab and commercial vehicle owners know their monthly EMI but not the one number that decides whether the vehicle actually makes money: how many kilometres it must run each month just to cover its costs. This calculator finds that number from your own costs and fares. Here is exactly what it does with the figures you enter.
1. Fixed costs: what you pay even if the vehicle stands still
Fixed costs do not change with distance. Enter each one the way you actually pay it (monthly, quarterly, yearly or every two years) and the calculator converts it to a monthly amount:
- EMI on the vehicle loan, with the loan duration so the lifecycle view knows when it ends.
- Insurance premium, spread over the 1, 2 or 3 years it covers.
- Road tax and the fitness certificate (a 2-year cost, divided by 24).
- GPS device subscription where your RTO requires a tracker.
- Driver salary, only if you choose Owner (you pay a driver), not Owner-cum-Driver.
- Other fixed costs such as parking or a monthly toll pass.
2. Variable cost per km: what every kilometre uses up
Variable costs rise with distance. Instead of guessing a per-km figure, you enter real prices and lifespans, and the calculator divides one by the other:
- Fuel: price per litre ÷ your mileage (km per litre).
- Tyres: price per tyre × number of tyres ÷ kilometres a set lasts.
- Periodic service: cost per service ÷ service interval in km.
- Brake pads, clutch and suspension: part-plus-fitting cost ÷ expected life in km.
- Other per-km costs such as commission or per-trip tolls.
3. The break-even formula
Your earning per kilometre minus your variable cost per kilometre is your margin per km: what each kilometre contributes towards the fixed costs. Break-even is simply how many of those kilometres it takes to pay the month's fixed costs:
Earning per km is the effective rate per kilometre driven, after empty running. If you charge ₹14 per billed km but 20% of your driving is empty, you really earn ₹14 × 0.8 = ₹11.20 for every km you drive.
Worked example: a sedan cab in a metro city
An owner-cum-driver with a financed sedan. Fixed costs converted to a month:
| EMI | ₹19,000 |
| Insurance (₹18,000 a year) | ₹1,500 |
| Road tax (₹10,000 a year) | ₹833 |
| Fitness certificate (₹2,800 per 2 years) | ₹117 |
| GPS subscription (₹6,000 a year) | ₹500 |
| Parking and other | ₹1,000 |
| Fixed cost per month | ₹22,950 |
| Fuel: ₹90.50 per litre ÷ 19 km/l | ₹4.76 |
| Tyres: 4 × ₹4,500 ÷ 75,000 km | ₹0.24 |
| Service: ₹5,000 every 10,000 km | ₹0.50 |
| Brake pads: ₹2,400 per 35,000 km | ₹0.07 |
| Clutch: ₹8,900 per 1,10,000 km | ₹0.08 |
| Suspension: ₹12,000 per 80,000 km | ₹0.15 |
| Other (commission, tolls) | ₹0.40 |
| Variable cost per km | ₹6.20 |
The car earns ₹14 per billed km with 20% empty running, so ₹11.20 per km driven. The margin is ₹11.20 − ₹6.20 = ₹5.00 per km.
Over 26 working days that is roughly 177 km a day before the car earns anything for its owner. At 6,000 km a month, the owner keeps (6,000 − 4,590) × ₹5 = ₹7,050 for their own pay and savings.
Two lessons from the same numbers
- Hiring a driver changes everything. Add a ₹25,000 salary and fixed costs become ₹47,950. Break-even jumps to about 9,590 km a month, so at 6,000 km the vehicle loses about ₹17,950 every month.
- Empty running is expensive. Cut dead kilometres from 20% to 10% and the effective rate rises to ₹12.60, the margin to ₹6.40, and break-even falls to about 3,590 km, roughly 1,000 km less driving for the same result.
Beyond this month: the lifecycle view
The calculator also projects year by year. Once the loan is fully paid, EMI drops out of your fixed costs and break-even falls sharply. Against that, maintenance usually rises as the vehicle ages and fares may drop for an older car. You set the yearly maintenance increase, the year fares start dropping, the purchase price, the scrap value and the maximum age or kilometres before retirement, and see how profit changes over the vehicle's life.
Want these numbers worked out from your real trips and expenses instead of estimates? The Kawst app lets you record fuel, EMI, service, tyres and tolls as you spend them and shows your real monthly profit per vehicle.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the break-even point for a taxi or commercial vehicle?
- It is the number of kilometres you must run in a month before your vehicle stops losing money. Up to that point, the margin from every kilometre only pays back your fixed costs like EMI, insurance and permits. Every kilometre after it is profit.
- I drive my own vehicle. Should I add a driver salary?
- No. Choose Owner-cum-Driver and the calculator leaves driver salary out of your fixed costs. The profit it shows above break-even is then the money left for your own income and savings. Choose Owner if you pay a driver, and the salary is added to fixed costs.
- Why does the calculator ask for empty or dead kilometres?
- Fuel and tyres wear out on every kilometre, but customers only pay for billed kilometres. Return trips with no booking, garage runs and driving to the first pickup all cost money without earning any. Entering your empty-km percentage gives you a true earning per kilometre driven.
- What if my cost per km is higher than my earning per km?
- Then there is no break-even point: you lose money on every kilometre, and running more only makes it worse. The calculator shows a warning in this case. Fix the rate or the costs first, for example by raising fares, cutting empty running or improving mileage.
- I earn a monthly package or a fixed fare per trip, not per km. Can I still use it?
- Yes. Besides the Per KM model there is a Monthly Package model (package amount, kilometres included and extra-km rate) and a Trip Sheet model (fare and average distance for short, medium, long and extra-long trips). The calculator turns each one into an effective earning per kilometre and works out break-even from there.
- Does it work for trucks, tempos and buses too?
- The fixed-cost and per-km method works for any commercial vehicle. Set the number of tyres to match your vehicle, enter your real mileage and part costs, and use the Per KM or Monthly Package model. The Trip Sheet slabs are designed around city cab duties.
- Is my data saved or shared?
- The calculator runs in your browser and remembers your last entries on this device so you do not have to type them again. Use the Clear all data button at the top of the calculator to erase them.