Terms and conditions

1. Who we are and what we do

JoinTrip is operated by [Registered company name] (Private) Limited, a company registered in Sri Lanka under the Companies Act, No. 7 of 2007, registration number [PV number], with its registered office at [address] ("JoinTrip", "we", "us").

JoinTrip is an online marketplace. Vehicle owners ("owners" or "hosts") design trips and offer individual seats in their own vehicle. Travellers book and pay for those seats through JoinTrip. The owner provides the transport and is responsible for the vehicle and the driving. JoinTrip provides the platform, collects payments for the owner, and handles refunds and support.

By creating an account, booking a seat or publishing a trip you accept these terms. Contracts made on JoinTrip are made electronically and are valid under the Electronic Transactions Act, No. 19 of 2006, as amended by Act No. 25 of 2017.

2. Your account

• You must be 18 or older to create an account. A traveller under 18 may travel only when a parent or guardian books the seat and accepts these terms for them.
• You sign in with a Sri Lankan mobile number verified by a one-time SMS code. Keep your phone and codes private. You are responsible for bookings made from your account.
• The information you give us, including your name and any identity documents, must be true and your own.
• One person, one account. You may not use another person's account or identity.

3. How bookings work

• Each trip page shows the date, departure time, route, pick-up points, seat price, what is included and the owner's rules. The seat price is set by the owner and is the full price you pay. JoinTrip adds no booking fee.
• You can book up to six seats in one booking. When you choose seats we hold them for 10 minutes while you pay.
• Your booking is confirmed when payment succeeds and your ticket appears in My trips. For a bank transfer, the seats are held for up to 2 hours and the booking is confirmed only when the money arrives before booking closes.
• The transport contract for the trip is between you and the owner. JoinTrip acts as the owner's agent to take payment and as the platform that runs the booking, cancellation and refund rules in these terms.

4. When booking closes

Every trip has a scheduled departure date and time. Each trip has a booking close time, shown on the trip page, at checkout and on your ticket. JoinTrip sets how long before departure booking closes; right now it is at departure, so you can book and cancel until the trip leaves. A trip keeps the close time it was published with. From that moment:

• No new seats can be booked or paid for, and pending bank transfers are cancelled and returned.
• Travellers can no longer cancel for a refund (see the Refund policy).
• The list of travellers is fixed, so the owner can plan fuel, rooms and pick-ups.

The lock time is shown on the trip page, at checkout and on your ticket. All times are Sri Lanka time (UTC+05:30). Weekly trips close the same way before each run.

5. Minimum travellers

The owner sets the minimum number of travellers needed for the trip to run. It is shown on the trip page before you book.

• If the minimum is reached when booking closes, the trip is confirmed.
• If the minimum is not reached by the lock, the trip is cancelled automatically, every traveller is told by SMS and every traveller gets a full refund.

6. Cancellations

By you, the traveller

You may cancel a booking at any time before booking closes. You get back what you paid, less a cancellation fee of Rs. 50 per booking. After booking closes, once your host has checked you in (by scanning your ticket or entering its PIN), or if you don't come to the pick-up point, there is no refund. The fee does not apply when a trip is cancelled by the owner or by us, or because it didn't reach its minimum.

By the owner

The owner may cancel a trip at any time before departure if it cannot run safely or properly, for example because of an accident, a vehicle breakdown, bad weather, flooding or a road closure, illness or an emergency, or a government restriction. When an owner cancels, every traveller gets a full refund, even after booking has closed. Owners must cancel as early as possible and must not cancel to move travellers to a different price.

By JoinTrip

We may cancel a trip if we believe it is unsafe or unlawful, or if the owner's documents are no longer valid. Every traveller then gets a full refund.

Trips that stop part-way

If a trip has to stop part-way because of an accident or breakdown, and the owner can't arrange a suitable replacement vehicle to finish it, every traveller gets a full refund.

7. Payments, fees and payouts

• Prices are in Sri Lankan rupees (LKR) and include everything listed as included on the trip page.
• Card and wallet payments are handled by payment providers licensed by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. We do not store your full card number.
• We hold the money for each trip until the trip has been completed. We then pay the owner the seat sales minus the JoinTrip fee, usually on the Monday after the trip.
• The JoinTrip fee is a flat Rs. 50 for each seat sold; no commission is taken on the seat price. It is paid by the owner, never added to the traveller's price. Nothing is charged on unsold seats or on refunded seats. An owner's first 3 trips with travellers checked in are free of the fee. We may change the fee for future bookings and will tell owners first.
• Paying the host directly. Where it is offered, a traveller can book without paying online and pay the owner instead, at pick-up, just before their ticket is scanned. Only pay the owner named on your ticket. Owners must not ask travellers to pay in advance. JoinTrip does not hold this money, so it can't refund anything paid to an owner before the trip (see the Refund policy). If a traveller doesn't turn up or pay at pick-up, the owner may release the seat.
• For seats paid to them directly, owners pay JoinTrip the same fee as a monthly commission. It is counted when the owner checks the traveller in, shown on the owner's dashboard, and must be transferred to the JoinTrip bank account shown there by the 9th of the following month. While a month is unpaid after that, the owner's trips are hidden from new travellers and they can't publish new trips; travellers who already booked are not affected.
• Reviews. Only travellers whose ticket was scanned at pick-up can review a trip, after it has left. Ratings from these reviews decide the Top Host badge and the order of trips in search. Reviews must be honest and about the trip; we may remove reviews that are abusive or not about the trip.
• We can switch either way of paying off for a time, for example while a payment provider is being connected. Bookings already made keep the way they were paid.
• Owners are responsible for their own income tax and any other tax on what they earn.

8. Vehicle owners

When you publish a trip you confirm that, for the whole trip:

• You, or the driver you name, hold a valid driving licence for the class of vehicle, as required by the Motor Traffic Act (Cap. 203).
• The vehicle has a valid revenue licence, a valid emission test certificate, and insurance that is valid for carrying the travellers on the trip, including the compulsory third-party cover under the Motor Traffic Act.
• You hold any permit or registration your service needs, which may include a permit from the National Transport Commission or the provincial Road Passenger Transport Authority, and registration with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority if you carry tourists.
• The vehicle is roadworthy and clean, and carries no more people than it is registered and insured for.
• The driver is not under the influence of alcohol or drugs, follows the road rules, and takes rest breaks on long drives.
• The route, times, price and seat layout you publish are accurate, and you run the trip as published.

You upload your NIC, driving licence, revenue licence and insurance for checking before your first trip, and keep them up to date. You may not take payment from JoinTrip travellers outside JoinTrip, except for bookings where the traveller chose to pay you directly. For those you collect only the price shown on the booking, check the traveller in only once they have paid, and pay the monthly commission.

9. Travellers

• Be at the pick-up point on time. The owner waits up to 10 minutes after the published time, and a missed pick-up is treated as a no-show.
• Follow the trip rules shown on the trip page and the driver's safety instructions, and wear a seat belt where one is fitted.
• Do not carry anything illegal or dangerous. Treat the driver and other travellers with respect.
• The owner may refuse to carry, or ask to leave, a traveller who is drunk, violent, harassing others or putting the trip at risk. There is no refund in that case.
• Women-only trips are for women travellers only. You may be asked to show your NIC at pick-up.

10. Safety and incidents

In an emergency call the Police on 119 or the Suwa Seriya ambulance on 1990 first, then use the SOS button in the app. Report any accident, damage, harassment or other problem to us within 72 hours of the trip. We keep trip records so we can help you, the owner's insurer or the police.

11. Reviews and content

• Only travellers who paid for a seat and finished the trip can review it. Reviews must be honest and about your own experience.
• Do not post anything false, abusive, discriminatory or private about another person, or photos of people who did not agree to be shared.
• You keep ownership of the photos and words you post. You allow JoinTrip to show them on the platform and in its marketing for as long as they stay published. We may remove content that breaks these terms.

12. Liability

The owner is responsible for the transport service, the vehicle and the driving. JoinTrip is responsible for running the platform with reasonable care and for paying refunds as these terms promise.

As far as the law allows, JoinTrip is not responsible for indirect losses, such as missed connections, rooms or events, or for delays caused by traffic, weather or other events outside our control. Our total liability to you for a booking is limited to the amount you paid for it.

Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or any right you have as a consumer under the Consumer Affairs Authority Act, No. 9 of 2003 or any other law that cannot be excluded.

13. Suspension and closing your account

We may pause or close an account that breaks these terms, gives false documents, receives repeated serious complaints, or (for owners) cancels trips without a real reason more than twice in three months. Bookings already paid by other travellers are refunded in full. You can close your account at any time from your profile. Confirmed bookings stay subject to these terms.

14. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. We will tell you by SMS or in the app at least 14 days before a significant change takes effect. Bookings already made keep the terms that applied when you booked.

15. Governing law and complaints

These terms are governed by the laws of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Please contact us first so we can try to fix a problem quickly; we reply within 3 working days. If you are not satisfied, you can complain to the Consumer Affairs Authority (hotline 1977). The courts of Sri Lanka have jurisdiction over any dispute.

16. Contact

[Registered company name] (Private) Limited
[Registered address]
Email: [support email] · Phone: [support number]