Payments, Commission & Settlement
Last updated: 29 September 2026
This page explains where money sits, who collects what, and how an operator's settlement is worked out. We have tried to be exact, because settlement disputes come from vague policies.
1. The three charges, kept separate
These are independent of each other. One does not replace another.
| Charge | Who pays it | How much |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | The bus operator | ₹590 per bus, per month — inclusive of all taxes.First month free on your first bus, for new operators |
| Booking commission | The bus operator | 5% on cash bookings. 2% on online bookings.Online is normally 5% — PathYatra absorbs 3% of it |
| Platform charge | The passenger | Shown as a separate line before payment, on the booking screen.This is PathYatra's own charge. It is not deducted from the operator and does not affect their settlement |
2. Who collects the money
- Online bookings. The passenger pays through our payment partner, and the funds are collected by PathYatra, through our payment partner.
- Cash bookings. The passenger pays on board, and the cash is received by the bus operator or their conductor, directly. PathYatra never handles this cash.
That difference is the reason settlement works the way it does in the next section.
3. When a settlement happens
Settlement is per trip, not a weekly or monthly cycle. A settlement is initiated as soon as the trip is marked complete, using instant settlement through our payment partner. We do not hold your money longer than 2 days; in normal operation it moves the same day the trip closes.
Bank holidays, clearing delays or a problem at the bank's end can push a credit back by a day. If that happens the settlement still shows in your app as processed, so you can see the money is accounted for even before it lands.
4. How an operator's settlement is calculated
Because we never touch the cash, commission on cash bookings cannot be collected from the cash itself. It is instead recovered out of your online collections. So one settlement covers commission on both kinds of booking:
- Online booking collections for the trip
- less 2% commission on those online bookings
- less 5% commission on the cash bookings for the same trip
- less any balance carried forward from an earlier trip
- less any refunds, chargebacks or agreed adjustments
Every deduction is itemised in the operator's app: online collections, commission on online bookings, commission on cash bookings, anything carried forward, and the balance still outstanding.
Example A — a normal trip
A trip with ₹8,000 of online bookings and ₹4,000 of cash bookings:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Online collections held by PathYatra | ₹8,000 |
| Less 2% commission on ₹8,000 online | − ₹160 |
| Less 5% commission on ₹4,000 cash | − ₹200 |
| Settled to the operator | ₹7,640 |
| Cash already in the operator's hands | ₹4,000 |
5. When the online collection is not enough
If a trip is mostly cash, the commission owed can be larger than the online money available to deduct it from. This is a normal situation, not a penalty, and it is handled in a fixed order:
- Recover what the online collection can cover. We deduct commission only up to the online money actually collected for that trip. A settlement is never turned into a demand for cash out of the operator's pocket.
- Carry the rest forward to the next trip. Anything still owed becomes a carried-forward balance and is deducted from the next trip settlement. If that trip is also cash-heavy, the balance simply carries again.
- Roll any remaining balance into the subscription invoice. If a balance is still open when the bus's subscription due date arrives, it is added to that invoice and collected with the subscription. The cycle then starts clean.
The important part: we never ask you to hand over cash to cover commission. Recovery only ever happens out of online collections we are already holding, or out of a subscription invoice you are already due to pay.
Example B — a cash-heavy trip, then the trip after it
A trip with only ₹500 of online bookings but ₹30,000 of cash bookings:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Online collections held by PathYatra | ₹500 |
| Commission due — 2% of ₹500 online | ₹10 |
| Commission due — 5% of ₹30,000 cash | ₹1,500 |
| Total commission due | ₹1,510 |
| Recovered from this settlement (limited to the ₹500 available) | − ₹500 |
| Settled to the operator | ₹0 |
| Carried forward to the next trip | ₹1,010 |
| Cash already in the operator's hands | ₹30,000 |
The next trip takes ₹6,000 online and ₹2,000 cash, and clears the balance:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Online collections held by PathYatra | ₹6,000 |
| Less 2% commission on ₹6,000 online | − ₹120 |
| Less 5% commission on ₹2,000 cash | − ₹100 |
| Less balance carried forward from the previous trip | − ₹1,010 |
| Settled to the operator | ₹4,770 |
| Carried forward after this trip | ₹0 |
Had that second trip also been cash-heavy, the ₹1,010 would simply have carried again. And if it were still open on the bus's subscription due date, it would be added to that invoice — so a ₹590 subscription would be billed as ₹1600, with the ₹1,010 shown as a separate line.
Illustrations only. They exclude the passenger platform charge, which is not part of your settlement, and any tax adjustments confirmed by our accountant.
6. Refunds, cancellations and chargebacks
Where a passenger cancellation or a refund reduces a booking after it has already been counted in a settlement, the adjustment is applied to your next settlement — in the same way as a carried-forward balance. The same applies to a chargeback raised through the passenger's bank or card issuer.
Cancellation windows and how much of a fare is refundable are covered in the Refund & Cancellation Policy.
7. Payment partner and fund handling
Online payments are processed by a payment aggregator authorised by the Reserve Bank of India. Card, bank and UPI credentials are handled by that partner and are not stored on our systems.
8. Taxes
The ₹590 subscription is an all-inclusive figure — there is no tax added on top of it at checkout. Where we are required to deduct tax at source from a settlement, the deduction is shown as a separate line and a certificate is issued as required.
You remain responsible for your own tax registration, returns and records for your transport business.
9. Changes to fees
We may change subscription pricing, commission rates or the platform charge with reasonable advance notice. The online commission subsidy is a commercial concession and may be varied or withdrawn on notice. If you do not accept a change, you may stop using the paid service before it takes effect.
10. Questions and disputes
If a settlement figure looks wrong, contact us with the settlement reference and we will reconcile it with you. Email support@pathyatra.com or call +91 91200 53901. If it is not resolved to your satisfaction, use our Grievance Redressal process.