Payment & Billing Policy

This policy explains how money moves on Pravaasa Stays, in plain language: what you pay, how you pay, how your payment is protected, what happens to it after you pay, and what to do if something goes wrong. It applies to stays booked and paid for through the Platform.

The key points are these. You see the full price on a Quote before you pay. Pravaasa charges guests no service fee. Payments are handled by Razorpay and not stored by us. Your money is held in escrow and released to the Host 24 hours after check-in. Hosts pay Pravaasa a 10% commission, not guests. And all payments for a Platform booking must be made on the Platform.

Treks, trips and events that you book on an organiser's website are paid for on that website, and this policy does not apply to those payments.

Payments on the Platform are processed by Razorpay, a licensed payment gateway. Depending on what is available at checkout, you can pay with UPI, credit and debit cards, net banking and supported wallets.

Indian payment rules require strong authentication for many online payments, so your bank may ask you for an extra step, such as an OTP, a UPI PIN or app approval. This step happens inside the secure checkout or your banking app. It is controlled by your bank, and it is not something that Pravaasa sees or asks for.

Only the payment methods shown at checkout are accepted. We do not accept cash, cheques, direct bank transfers to personal accounts or payment links sent in chat for Platform bookings. Payments made outside the Platform are not protected by escrow or supported by us (see Section 13).

The payment must be made from an account, card or wallet that you are authorised to use. Using someone else's payment method without their permission is not allowed.

Stays in India are priced, charged and refunded in Indian rupees (INR). If we show an amount in another currency for convenience, it is indicative only. The amount charged is the INR amount on your Quote.

If you pay with a card issued outside India, your bank may convert the amount and add its own foreign-exchange margin or fees. The conversion rate and charges are decided by your bank, and Pravaasa does not receive them.

1. You choose dates and a rate plan, and receive a Quote.

2. When you confirm, the Platform places a temporary hold on your dates and creates a payment order with Razorpay for the exact amount on your Quote.

3. You complete the payment in Razorpay's secure checkout with the method of your choice, including any authentication step your bank requires.

4. The payment is verified. Your browser's confirmation is checked cryptographically, and Razorpay also notifies our servers of the result. We check that the amount and currency match your booking before we act on the notification.

5. Once payment is verified, your booking is confirmed, a booking reference is issued, and an invoice is generated. Until then, you do not have a confirmed booking.

6. Your payment is held in escrow until the release point in Section 8.

If anything fails along the way, the hold may be released and the dates may become available to others. See Section 6.

A payment can fail because of insufficient balance, a bank decline, a wrong OTP, a timeout or a network issue. If it fails, no booking is confirmed. You can try again, but the dates may no longer be available if the hold was released, so please check availability.

A payment can also be pending while your bank or wallet confirms it. If you see a pending status, wait for it to be completed or reversed, and do not pay again straight away, since this can result in a duplicate payment. Check your trips page, email and SMS, and then contact the support team if you are not sure.

If money is debited but your booking is not confirmed, or if you are charged twice, contact the support team with the payment reference, amount, date and payment method. We will verify the payment with our payment partner and either complete the booking, where possible, or refund the verified amount in full. Refund timelines are in the Refund Policy, which gives 5 to 7 business days.

A payment that fails without debiting your account does not need a refund. If your bank debited you and automatically reverses it, this typically happens within a few business days, according to your bank's own timelines.

Your card number, CVV, UPI PIN and net-banking credentials are entered only in Razorpay's secure checkout or in your own bank's or UPI app. Pravaasa's servers do not store, log or process them. We keep a payment reference, the amount, the currency and the payment status so that we can confirm your booking and process refunds.

We verify payment notifications from our payment partner before applying them, and we do not accept an amount from your browser. Booking and payment records are kept in an audit trail of financial entries so that every amount can be traced.

We will never ask you for your OTP, card number, CVV, UPI PIN or net-banking password, by phone, chat, email or WhatsApp. We will never ask you to send money to a personal UPI ID or bank account, and never ask you to download a remote-access app. If anyone claiming to be from Pravaasa or a Host asks, refuse, and report it to the support team at support@pravaasastays.com or at /support.

Check that you are on our official website or app before entering any details, and keep your devices and sign-in methods secure.

Hosts pay Pravaasa a commission of 10% on eligible completed bookings. There is no listing fee or monthly subscription. The commission is deducted from the Host's share and is not added to the Guest's price. A Host's net payout is the Host's share less any applicable taxes or deductions required by law.

Worked example (illustrative): for a booking with a gross value of INR 10,000, the commission is INR 1,000 and the net amount before taxes and statutory deductions is INR 9,000. Actual payouts depend on the facts of the booking and on the Host Agreement.

Payouts are sent to the Host's verified bank account or UPI ID, after the Host has completed the required verification such as identity, PAN and bank proof. A payout is generally expected to reach the Host within one to two business days after it is initiated, subject to bank processing. The Host is notified by email when a payout is initiated, and payout history is available in the host dashboard.

Hosts are responsible for their own taxes, including GST registration, GST returns where required, and income tax. Where the law requires tax to be deducted at source from payouts, Pravaasa may deduct it and report it as required.

Details of commission, payouts, cancellations and deductions for Hosts are set out in the Host Agreement, which Hosts accept digitally.

When your booking is confirmed, an invoice is generated automatically with a unique, sequential invoice number. Invoices carry the fields that Indian tax rules require, such as the invoice number and date, the place of supply, the service code and tax details, and the GSTIN where applicable.

The invoice shows the accommodation amount and the tax lines, matching your Quote. If you need a copy of your invoice or a correction to your billing details, contact the support team. Corrections may not be possible after an invoice has been issued, in line with tax rules, but we can guide you.

The tax treatment of a stay depends on the accommodation and the Host's registration. Information in the Platform about tax is not tax advice. Please consult a tax professional if you need advice for your own situation, for example for a business trip.

Where a refund changes the taxable value of a booking, the tax records and invoice for that booking may be adjusted as required by law.

Refunds are made to the original payment method, for the amount determined by the Cancellation Policy and the Refund Policy. We do not charge a Guest a fee to process a refund. Refunds are expected to reach you within 5 to 7 business days of being initiated, depending on your bank or payment provider.

Refunds are never made in cash, to a different account or to a third party, and never through a link or a request to share your card details or OTP.

If you do not recognise a charge, or think it is wrong, please contact the support team first. We can usually find the cause quickly, for example a duplicate hold or a refund that is still on its way.

You may still dispute a payment with your bank. If you do, we may share booking and payment information with our payment partner and your bank to respond. While a chargeback is open, we may pause related payouts and refunds. A chargeback that is found to be unjustified may lead to recovery of the amount and restrictions on the account.

A Host who receives a payout for a booking that is later reversed through a chargeback may have that amount recovered from future payouts, as set out in the Host Agreement.

All payments for stays booked through the Platform must be made through the Platform. Hosts and Guests must not ask for, offer or accept payment for a Platform booking in cash, by bank transfer, UPI to a personal account, payment link or any other route outside the Platform, and must not use messaging to move a payment elsewhere. This includes requests for "advance", "token", "security deposit" or "discount for cash".

Why: payments outside the Platform are not covered by escrow, cannot be refunded by us, and are a common feature of scams and fake listings.

If you are asked to pay outside the Platform, do not pay, and report it to the support team with a screenshot. Hosts who ask for off-platform payment may have their listing removed, payouts withheld and accounts suspended or closed. Guests who attempt to pay outside the Platform to avoid fees or protections may lose the Platform's support for that booking. Fake listings and fraudulent payment requests may be reported to the authorities.

A Host may legitimately collect some things directly at the property where the listing says so clearly in advance and the amount is on the Quote or listing, for example an optional activity you choose during your stay. Nothing that was included in your Booking may be charged again.

To protect users, we may check payments and payouts for signs of fraud, ask you to verify your identity or payment method, delay a payment or payout while we check it, or cancel a booking that appears fraudulent. We may report suspected fraud to payment partners, banks and authorities.

Hosts must complete identity and bank verification before payouts, and the account receiving payouts must belong to the Host or the business that is the Host.

If you have a question about a charge, an invoice, a refund or a payout, write to support@pravaasastays.com or use the support page at /support. Please include your booking reference, the amount, the date and the payment reference or screenshot if you have one. Never include your full card number, CVV, UPI PIN or OTP in a message to us.

We may update this policy as the Platform, our payment partners or the law change. A change applies to payments made after it takes effect. A booking that is already confirmed stays subject to the terms that applied when you booked, unless a change is more favourable to you.