Draft for legal review. This policy is part of the Terms and conditions. It does not reduce any right you have under the Consumer Affairs Authority Act, No. 9 of 2003.
1. At a glance
| What happens | When | Your refund |
|---|---|---|
| You cancel your seat | Before booking closes | Everything except a Rs. 50 cancellation fee |
| You cancel your seat | After booking closes | None |
| You miss the pick-up (no-show) | Any time | None |
| The trip doesn't reach the owner's minimum | Checked when booking closes | 100%, automatic |
| The owner cancels (accident, breakdown, weather, illness or any other reason) | Any time before departure | 100%, automatic |
| The trip stops part-way and no replacement vehicle is arranged | During the trip | 100% |
| JoinTrip cancels the trip for safety or legal reasons | Any time | 100%, automatic |
| The owner makes a major change to the trip and you don't accept it | Any time before departure | 100% |
2. When booking closes
Every trip has a booking close time (Sri Lanka time). JoinTrip sets how long before departure it is; right now booking closes at departure. After it no one can book or pay for a seat, and seats can no longer be cancelled for a refund. The close time is shown on the trip page, at checkout, on your ticket and in My trips, and a trip keeps the close time it was published with.
Example: a trip leaving on Saturday at 5:00 am locks on Thursday at 5:00 am. Cancel on Wednesday night and you get your money back, less the Rs. 50 cancellation fee. Cancel on Thursday at 9:00 am and you don't.
3. Cancelling your seat
- Go to My trips and choose Cancel and refund. The button is there until the lock.
- You get back what you paid, less a cancellation fee of Rs. 50 per booking. The fee stops people from holding seats with bookings they don't mean to keep, so real travellers can get them.
- If you booked several seats you can cancel all of them in one go. Each seat follows the same booking close time.
- Your seat goes back on sale straight away.
4. When the minimum isn't reached
Each owner sets the minimum number of travellers the trip needs. If fewer seats are booked when booking closes, the trip is cancelled automatically, everyone is told by SMS, and every traveller gets a full refund. You don't need to ask for it.
5. When the owner cancels
If the owner has to cancel because of an accident, a vehicle breakdown, bad weather, flooding or a road closure, illness, a family emergency, a government restriction or any other reason, every traveller gets a full refund. This applies even if the owner cancels after booking has closed. The same applies if a trip has to stop part-way and the owner can't arrange a suitable replacement vehicle to finish it.
6. Major changes by the owner
If, after you book, the owner moves the departure by more than 2 hours, changes the date, removes your pick-up point or swaps to a smaller or lower-class vehicle, we tell you straight away. You can accept the change, or cancel and get a full refund, even after booking has closed.
7. How and when refunds are paid
Refunds always go back to the way you paid. We start every refund within 1 working day of the cancellation. After that it depends on your bank or wallet provider:
- Debit or credit card: usually 5 to 10 working days.
- Mobile wallet: usually 1 to 3 working days.
- Bank transfer: back to the account you paid from within 3 working days.
You get an SMS when the refund is sent. If it hasn't arrived after 14 working days, contact us and we will trace it with the payment provider.
If you chose to pay the host directly: you pay the host at pick-up, just before your ticket is scanned. JoinTrip never holds this money.
- Cancel for free until booking closes. You haven't paid anything, so there is nothing to refund.
- Don't pay a host in advance. Money paid to a host before the trip doesn't go through JoinTrip, so JoinTrip can't refund it if you cancel or the trip doesn't run. Any refund of it is between you and the host.
- If a host asks you to pay before the trip, you can refuse and pay at pick-up instead. Please tell us, and we may pause the host's account.
8. When there is no refund
- You cancel after booking has closed.
- You don't come to the pick-up point on time (the owner waits up to 10 minutes).
- The owner refuses to carry you, or asks you to leave, because you were drunk, violent, harassing others or putting the trip at risk.
- You leave the trip part-way by choice.
Traffic, a slow stop or small changes to the timing on the day are not reasons for a refund. Please tell us if something went seriously wrong; we look at every case.
9. For vehicle owners
- We hold every traveller's payment until the trip has been completed, so refunds can always be paid in full.
- For refunded seats you receive nothing and pay no JoinTrip fee.
- For seats cancelled by travellers after booking closed, and for no-shows, you are paid as usual after the trip.
- For travellers who paid you directly, you make the refunds above yourself, within 3 working days. You may keep the Rs. 50 fee when the traveller cancels. Commission is only counted for travellers you check in.
- Cancel only when the trip really can't run. More than two cancellations without a real reason in three months can pause your account.
10. If something goes wrong
Contact us within 72 hours of the trip at [support email] or [support number]. We reply within 3 working days. If you are not satisfied with our answer, you can complain to the Consumer Affairs Authority (hotline 1977).