Safety Policy
Last updated: 29 September 2026
Bus travel in India is mostly safe and occasionally is not. We cannot drive the buses, but we can set conditions for being on the platform, make reporting easy, and act when something is wrong. This page says what we require, what we do, and what we honestly cannot promise.
1. What operators must do
- Hold a valid permit, fitness certificate, passenger insurance and pollution certificate for every bus, kept current.
- Use only drivers with a valid licence of the correct class, and a badge where the state requires one.
- Never allow a driver to operate under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or while seriously fatigued.
- Observe speed limits and any speed-governor requirement applying to the vehicle.
- Not carry more passengers than the vehicle is permitted to carry. Overloading is not a commercial decision; it is a safety failure.
- Keep emergency exits usable, fire extinguishers charged, and a first-aid kit on board as required.
- Maintain the vehicle, and take a bus off the road when it is not fit to run.
- Report any accident or serious incident to us immediately, as well as to the authorities.
These requirements are part of the Operator Agreement. Breaching them can lead to immediate suspension.
2. What we do
- Verify before enabling. Operator identity and vehicle documents are checked before bookings can be taken.
- Track expiry. Bookings can be paused on a bus whose permit, fitness or insurance has lapsed.
- Verify staff. Conductors and drivers are identity-verified, so the person on duty is a known, accountable individual.
- Show the trip live. Passengers can see where the bus is during the journey, and can share that with someone at home.
- Keep a record. Trip and ticketing data means a complaint can be checked against what actually happened, rather than becoming one person's word against another's.
- Act on patterns. Complaints are recorded against the operator's account, not treated as isolated one-offs.
3. What we cannot promise
We do not drive the buses, employ the drivers, or inspect the vehicles ourselves. Verifying a document is not the same as guaranteeing a safe journey, and we will not pretend otherwise. What we can promise is that we take reports seriously, investigate them, and remove operators who are not safe to carry people.
4. Safety for women and vulnerable passengers
Harassment of any kind is not tolerated, from staff or from other passengers. If you feel unsafe on a journey, tell the crew if you can, and report it to us — the report reaches a person, not a form. Reports of harassment are treated as urgent and are not closed by asking the operator whether it happened.
You can share your live trip with a family member or friend from the app so someone knows where you are.
5. Reporting a safety issue
If someone is in immediate danger, call the emergency services first — 112. Then tell us so we can act on the operator.
- Email: support@pathyatra.com with “SAFETY” in the subject line
- Phone / WhatsApp: +91 91200 53901
- Or through the app, from the trip screen
Include the trip date, route, bus number if you have it, and what happened. If you would rather not be identified to the operator, say so and we will handle it that way.
6. How we handle an incident
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Immediate | Acknowledge the report and, where there is a credible risk, suspend the bus, the staff member or the operator while we look into it |
| 2. Investigate | Review trip data, ticketing records and documents; speak to the reporter and the operator |
| 3. Decide | Warning, mandatory corrective action, suspension, or permanent removal from the platform |
| 4. Close | Tell the reporter the outcome, and cooperate with any authority involved |
7. Accidents
The operator must report any accident to us immediately and comply with their legal obligations, including reporting to the police and their insurer. Passengers are covered by the operator's passenger insurance and by the compensation framework under the Motor Vehicles Act. We will provide the trip and booking records needed to support a claim, without making anyone fight us for them.
8. Related policies
Operator Agreement · Passenger Terms · Grievance Redressal · Privacy Policy