Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how goPayana ("we," "our," or "us") collects, uses, processes, and shares your personal information when you use our mobile application, website, and related services (collectively, the "Services"). We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your data transparently, in compliance with applicable Indian laws and regulations, including the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011, and the principles of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, as and when it comes into full effect.

By accessing or using our Services, you signify your explicit consent to the collection, use, processing, and disclosure of your information as described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not use our Services.

1. Information We Collect

We collect various types of information to provide and improve our Services. This information can be broadly categorized as:

A. Information You Provide to Us (Directly Collected)

• Account Information: When you create an account, we collect your name, email address, phone number, password, and profile picture. This is essential for identifying you and providing personalized services.
• Payment Information: If you make payments through our Services, we collect payment method details (e.g., credit/debit card numbers, UPI IDs, bank account details) and transaction history. Please note that payment processing is often handled by secure third-party payment gateways, and we do not store full payment card details on our servers.
• Demographic Information: We may collect information such as your age, gender, and preferred language to better understand our user base and tailor services.
• User Content: This includes feedback, ratings, reviews, support queries, chat communications with drivers/support, and any other content you submit through the Services.
• Referral Information: If you participate in referral programs, we collect information about the referred individuals to track referral success.
• Identity Verification & Driver/Captain Specific Information: For drivers/captains, we collect government-issued identification numbers (e.g., Aadhaar, PAN), driver's license details, vehicle registration information (make, model, license plate, insurance details), driving history, and other verification documents required for background checks, regulatory compliance, and ensuring safety on our platform. We also collect your bank account details for payout purposes.
• Emergency Contact Information: You may choose to provide emergency contact details, which we may use to notify your designated contacts in case of an emergency during a trip.
• Sensitive Personal Data or Information (SPDI): As defined under Indian law, this may include financial information (excluding payment card details not stored by us), biometric information (if collected for identity verification, e.g., facial recognition for driver login), and health information (if voluntarily provided for accessibility needs). We collect such data only with your explicit consent and for specific, lawful purposes.

B. Information Collected Automatically Through Your Use of Our Services (Usage Data)

• Location Information: We collect precise or approximate location data from your mobile device when you use our Services, particularly for ride-hailing. This data is collected from the time a ride is requested until it ends, and sometimes when the app is running in the background if you have enabled this feature. This includes GPS, IP address, and Wi-Fi data, which are crucial for matching, navigation, and fare calculation.
• Trip Information: We collect detailed information about your trips, including pick-up and drop-off locations, routes taken, distance travelled, duration of the trip, fare details, and any stops made. This data is vital for service delivery, billing, and dispute resolution.
• Usage Information: We collect information about how you interact with our Services, including access dates and times, features used, app crashes, and other system activity. This helps us understand user behaviour, diagnose issues, and improve our service.
• Device Information: We collect information about the devices you use to access our Services, including hardware models, operating system and version, software, unique device identifiers, mobile network information, and crash data. This assists in optimizing app performance and security.
• Log Data: Our servers automatically record information that your browser sends whenever you visit our website or use our app. This log data may include your IP address, browser type, referring/exit pages, and the date and time of your requests.

C. Information from Other Sources (Third-Party Data)

• Third-Party Services: If you link, connect, or log in to your goPayana account with a third-party service (e.g., social media platforms, payment providers), they may send us information such as your registration and profile information from that service, subject to their privacy policies.
• Background Check Providers: For drivers/captains, we receive information from background check providers and public records to verify identity, criminal history (where permissible by law), and ensure safety and compliance.
• Insurance Providers: Information related to insurance claims or policies may be provided by third-party insurance partners in case of incidents.
• Marketing Partners: We may receive information from marketing partners about your interactions with their services, which helps us to measure campaign effectiveness.
• Publicly Available Sources: We may collect information from publicly available sources as part of our verification processes or for market research.

2. How We Use Your Information (Purpose Limitation)

We use the information we collect for specific, legitimate, and lawful purposes, including:

• Providing and Improving Services:
  • To operate, maintain, and provide the core features of our Services, such as facilitating ride requests, efficiently matching riders with available drivers, optimizing routes, and processing payments.
  • To personalize and customize your experience, including showing relevant content, promotions, and recommendations based on your usage patterns.
  • To develop new features, products, and services, and to continuously enhance the efficiency, reliability, and user-friendliness of our platform.
  • To perform internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, and service improvement.
• Safety and Security:
  • To verify your identity and prevent fraud, unauthorized access, and other illegal activities on our platform.
  • To monitor and enforce our terms and conditions, community guidelines, and safety policies to ensure a secure environment for all users.
  • To investigate and address incidents, complaints, and disputes, including those related to safety during trips or driver/rider conduct.
  • To facilitate emergency assistance features, such as sharing trip details with emergency contacts or authorities when activated by the user.
• Communication:
  • To send you essential service-related communications (e.g., booking confirmations, trip updates, security alerts, fare adjustments, OTPs).
  • To send you promotional communications, newsletters, and marketing materials about our Services or partner offers (you can opt-out at any time).
  • To respond to your inquiries, feedback, and provide efficient customer support.
• Research and Analytics:
  • To understand user behaviour, preferences, and trends to improve our service offerings and make data-driven business decisions.
  • To measure the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns and business strategies.
  • To conduct research and analysis for product development, operational efficiency, and market insights.
• Legal Compliance:
  • To comply with applicable Indian laws, regulations, legal processes, or governmental requests, including those related to transportation services, tax, and data protection.
  • To protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property, and/or that of our affiliates, you, or other third parties, and to enforce our agreements and policies.

3. How We Share and Disclose Your Information (Disclosure)

We may share and disclose your information with the following categories of recipients, always ensuring that such sharing is for legitimate purposes and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable laws:

• With Other Users:
  • Riders and Drivers: When a ride is requested and accepted, we share certain information between the rider and driver to facilitate the trip. This includes names, profile pictures, estimated pick-up/drop-off times, current location, and vehicle details (for riders). Drivers also see the rider's destination. This sharing is essential for the provision of the service.
  • Emergency Contacts: If you opt-in to our safety features, we may share your real-time trip details with your designated emergency contacts in case of an emergency.
• With Service Providers: We work with trusted third-party vendors, consultants, and other service providers who perform services on our behalf, such as payment processing, background checks, data analysis, cloud hosting, customer service, marketing, IT services, and vehicle maintenance/inspection. These service providers have access to your information only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are contractually obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose, adhering to strict confidentiality and security standards.
• For Legal Reasons:
  • Comply with a legal obligation or valid legal process (e.g., subpoena, court order, regulatory request from Indian authorities).
  • Protect and defend the rights or property of goPayana, including enforcing our terms and policies.
  • Act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of the Services or the public.
  • Protect against legal liability or investigate potential violations of law or our policies.
• For Business Transfers: In connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business by another company, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will ensure that the acquiring entity adheres to similar privacy standards.
• With Your Explicit Consent: We may share your information with third parties when we have obtained your explicit consent to do so for specific purposes.
• Aggregated or Anonymized Data: We may share aggregated or de-identified information that cannot reasonably be used to identify you. This data is used for research, marketing, analytics, and other business purposes, such as analysing ride patterns, market demand, or service performance, without compromising individual privacy.

4. Data Retention (Storage Limitation)

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to provide the Services, comply with our legal obligations (e.g., tax, regulatory, and audit requirements), resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. The retention period may vary depending on the type of information and the purpose for which it was collected. For example, trip history and payment transaction data may be retained for a longer period due to legal and financial requirements. Driver/captain verification documents are retained as long as they are active on the platform and for a period thereafter as required by law. When your information is no longer needed for these purposes, we will securely delete or anonymize it in a manner that prevents its reconstruction.

5. Data Security (Security Safeguards)

We implement robust technical, administrative, and physical safeguards to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures include:

• Encryption: Data encryption during transmission (SSL/TLS) and at rest.
• Access Controls: Strict access controls and authentication mechanisms for internal systems.
• Firewalls: Network firewalls to protect our infrastructure.
• Regular Audits: Periodic security audits and vulnerability assessments.
• Employee Training: Regular training for our employees on data privacy and security protocols.

However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. You are responsible for keeping your account password confidential and for any activity that occurs under your account.

6. Your Rights and Choices (Individual Rights)

As a user in India, you have the following rights regarding your personal information, which you can exercise by contacting our Grievance Officer:

• Right to Access: You have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you. We will provide you with a copy of your data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
• Right to Correction/Rectification: You have the right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal information that we hold about you.
• Right to Erasure/Deletion: You have the right to request the deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions (e.g., legal obligations, ongoing disputes, or necessary for service provision).
• Right to Withdraw Consent: You have the right to withdraw your consent for the processing of your personal information at any time. Please note that withdrawing consent may affect your ability to use certain features or our Services entirely.
• Opt-out of Marketing: You can opt-out of receiving promotional communications from us by following the unsubscribe instructions in those communications or by adjusting your notification settings in the app.
• Location Information: You can enable or disable precise location services for our app through your device settings. However, disabling precise location services may significantly affect the functionality of our Services, as location data is crucial for ride-hailing and matching.
• Cookies: You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact our Grievance Officer using the contact information provided below. We may require you to verify your identity before fulfilling your request.

7. Third-Party Links

Our Services may contain links to third-party websites or services that are not operated by us. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.

8. Children's Privacy

Our Services are not intended for use by individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 18 without parental consent, we will take steps to remove that information from our servers.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date at the top. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Your continued use of the Services after the effective date of the revised Privacy Policy constitutes your acceptance of the changes.

10. Grievance Officer

In accordance with the Information Technology Act, 2000 and rules made thereunder, the name and contact details of the Grievance Officer are provided below. You may contact our Grievance Officer for any privacy-related concerns, complaints, or to exercise your rights regarding your personal information.

Email: grievance@payana.co

Time: [Specify working hours, e.g., Monday to Friday, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM IST]

11. Contact Us

If you have any general questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices that are not related to a grievance, please contact us at:

goPayana Support

Email: support@payana.co