1. About these terms

These Captain Terms & Responsibilities (the "Captain Terms") apply to every person who uses the Gosaath Captain app or the Gosaath platform to offer Quick Rides or Long Rides (a "captain") or to list a vehicle for rent (an "owner"). They add to the Terms of Use, the Ride & Long Ride Terms, the Rental Terms, the Rules, Safety & Responsibility and the Privacy Policy, which also apply. If these Captain Terms and the Terms of Use differ on a matter about captains or owners, these Captain Terms apply.

By sending your documents for verification, going online, offering a ride or listing a vehicle, you accept these Captain Terms. In the app you confirm: "I confirm that these are my own, original documents and that I am responsible for my vehicle and my passengers."

2. Gosaath's role

Gosaath is a technology platform. It provides apps that help passengers find independent captains, and renters find vehicle owners. Gosaath does not own, operate, hire out or control any vehicle, and does not provide transport services.
Captains and owners use the Gosaath Captain app, which is separate from the passenger Gosaath app. For security, the apps do not run while your phone's Developer options (or USB debugging) are switched on.
Captains and owners are independent. You are not an employee, agent, partner or franchisee of Gosaath. You decide whether and when to go online, which requests to accept and which trips to offer, and you use your own vehicle, fuel and phone.
Each ride is an agreement between you and the passenger, and each rental is an agreement between you and the renter. Gosaath is not a party to it.
Gosaath does not supervise your driving, your route or your conduct during a ride, but it may act on safety alerts, complaints and lawful requests as these terms describe.

3. Who may be a captain or owner

You must be at least 18 years old and legally able to enter into a contract, and at least the age the law requires for the class of vehicle and the kind of driving.
To offer rides, you must hold a valid driving licence for the class of the vehicle you drive, issued under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and, where the law requires it, a licence or endorsement to drive a transport vehicle.
You must be the registered owner of the vehicle, or hold the registered owner's written permission to use it for rides or to rent it out.
You may have only one Gosaath account and may use it on one phone at a time. Your account is personal: no one else may use it or drive under it.
Your account must not have been removed from Gosaath before, unless Gosaath agrees in writing.

4. Documents, verification and honesty

Before you can take rides, Gosaath's team reviews your documents. You must give:

a live photo of yourself, taken with the front camera at that time (it becomes your profile photo, which passengers see at pickup);
your driving licence, front and back, and its number;
the vehicle's registration certificate (RC), front and back, and the vehicle number;
your Aadhaar card, front and back (the app reads only the last four digits of the Aadhaar number as text; the images are kept for verification as the Privacy Policy explains); and
for an auto or a car, the vehicle model and photographs of the vehicle showing its number plate.

You promise that:

every document and photo is genuine, valid, current and your own, and shows the vehicle you will actually use. Forged, altered, morphed or borrowed documents are offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and other laws, and will be reported to the police;
the name on your documents is your name, and your profile name is your real name;
you will update your documents in the app before they expire, and whenever they change, and will tell Gosaath at once and stop offering rides if your licence is suspended or cancelled, or if your vehicle's registration, insurance, PUC or permit lapses.

Your licence class decides which vehicles you may add. Gosaath may refuse a vehicle that your licence does not cover. When you send new documents for an approved vehicle, your verified documents stay active until the new ones are decided; once the new set is approved, the old set is kept for 30 days and then deleted.

The app's automatic checks (for example, whether a photo shows a face, whether the right card and side were photographed, and whether names match) only help you take good photos. Our server also compares the face in your live photo with the photos on your driving licence and Aadhaar and shows our team a similarity percentage; our team, not the score, decides. Gosaath may re-check your documents at any time and ask for new ones. Approval is not a certificate that your documents, licence, vehicle, insurance or permit are valid or that you comply with the law; that remains your responsibility.

5. Your vehicle: registration, insurance, PUC and permits

For every vehicle you use on Gosaath, you alone are responsible for making sure that, at all times:

it is registered under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and the registration certificate is valid;
it is covered by a valid policy of insurance, at least the third-party insurance that section 146 of the Act requires, and that the policy covers the way you use it, including carrying passengers. Many private-vehicle policies do not cover carrying passengers for hire or rental use;
it has a valid Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate as the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 require, a fitness certificate where required, and road tax paid;
where it is used to carry passengers for hire or reward, it is registered as a transport vehicle, covered by the permit the law requires (section 66 of the Act), and displays the number plate the law requires (such as a yellow commercial plate), unless a notification of the Government of India or of Andhra Pradesh lawfully allows otherwise;
it is roadworthy and safely maintained, with working brakes, lights, horn, indicators, mirrors and tyres; and
you carry the documents the law requires (in physical or approved digital form, such as DigiLocker or mParivahan) and show them to the police or transport officers when asked.

Important: whether a particular vehicle may lawfully carry paying passengers depends on its registration, its permit and the rules in force in Andhra Pradesh. Gosaath does not decide this and makes no promise about it. Any fine, seizure, claim or other consequence of using a vehicle unlawfully is your responsibility (and, where applicable, the registered owner's).

6. Laws you must obey

You must obey every law that applies to you, your vehicle and your trips, including:

the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, as amended from time to time (including by the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019), and the rules and notifications made under it;
the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989;
the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, as issued and revised from time to time, to the extent they apply to drivers;
the Andhra Pradesh Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 and any rule, scheme, notification or order of the Government of Andhra Pradesh or its Transport Department about transport vehicles, aggregators, bike taxis, autos, permits or fares, and the rules of any other State you drive in;
traffic signs, speed limits, parking rules and the lawful directions of police and transport officers; and
tax laws, the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and the criminal law.

Nothing in the app, including a route, a fare, a request or an alert, permits you to break any law.

7. Safe driving rules

Helmets: on a two-wheeler, you and your pillion passenger must each wear a protective helmet that meets the standards required by law (BIS-certified), properly fastened (section 129 of the Act). Carry a helmet for your passenger.
Passenger limits: on a two-wheeler, carry no more than one person in addition to yourself, seated properly behind you (section 128). In any vehicle, carry no more people than it is registered for.
No drink or drugs: never drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs (section 185).
No phone in hand: never hold or use a mobile phone while driving. Read requests, type start codes and use the app only when you have stopped safely.
Obey speed limits, wear a seat belt in a car and make sure passengers do, use indicators, and never jump signals, drive on the wrong side or drive dangerously (section 184).
Do not drive when you are tired or unwell. Do not let anyone else drive your vehicle on a Gosaath trip.

8. Passenger safety and conduct

You are responsible for the safety of your passengers from pickup to drop, so far as the law places that responsibility on a driver.
Treat every passenger with courtesy and respect. Harassment, abuse, threats, sexual remarks or contact, discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, gender, disability or any other ground, and any violence are strictly forbidden and will be reported to the police where appropriate.
Do not ask passengers for personal details beyond what the trip needs, and do not contact them after the trip except about the trip or lost property.
Do not carry anyone else on the trip without the passenger's agreement. Do not carry weapons, drugs, alcohol in breach of the law, or dangerous goods.
If a passenger is unwell or in danger, help them get to safety and call 112.

9. How you must run a trip

Start code: start a Quick Ride, or a Long Ride request you accepted from the board, only after the passenger is with you and gives you their 4-digit start code. Never ask for it in advance or through anyone else.
Booked route: follow the road the passenger booked, as shown in the app, unless the passenger asks for a change or the road is closed. If you go well off the booked route for a while, the passenger and Gosaath are alerted and the passenger may send an SOS.
Pickup and drop: go to the booked pickup point and drop the passenger at the booked drop point, or a safe place the passenger agrees to.
Cancellations: cancel only when you really cannot do the trip, and as early as possible. Repeated cancellations, no-shows or declining after accepting may limit your account.
Long Rides: offer only trips you are really making, at a price per seat within the range the app allows. Long Rides passengers do not see your phone number; you call them. Use passengers' phone numbers only to arrange that ride.

10. Fares, cash and taxes

The fare shown for a Quick Ride is an estimate calculated from the service area's rates and the distance (with the high-demand multiplier where it applies), and includes any amount the passenger added to get a captain faster. The final amount is agreed between you and the passenger. Collect only the fare shown or agreed, directly from the passenger, in cash or by UPI, at the drop. On a Long Ride, collect only the agreed price per seat.
Do not demand any extra amount. Any extra cost, such as a toll or parking, may be charged only if the passenger agreed to it before it was incurred.
Give correct change and a receipt if the passenger asks for one.
Gosaath does not collect, hold, process, transfer, pay out or refund any fare, seat price, rent, deposit or tip, and at present takes no fee, commission or share of what you are paid. Not a single rupee passes through the Gosaath app. Any refund or dispute about money is between you and the passenger or renter; Gosaath can help you talk it through but holds no money. You are solely responsible for declaring and paying any income tax, GST or other tax on what you earn, and for any registration that tax law requires of you.

11. Rules for vehicle owners (Rentals)

List only a vehicle you own, or one you have the registered owner's written permission to rent out. The number plate, the RC and the photographs must all be of that vehicle; the RC number must match the number plate.
One vehicle, one account: a vehicle may be listed on only one Gosaath account. Do not list a vehicle that is already listed by someone else; if you believe it is yours, raise a ticket.
Set a true rental time (from 1 to 24 hours for one rental), rent, free kilometres, extra-kilometre charge, pickup place and weekly availability, and keep them up to date. Switch the vehicle off when it is not available.
The app does not ask renters for a driving licence or a live photo. Check the renter's original driving licence (and identity, if you wish) in person before you hand over the vehicle, and never hand it to anyone without a valid licence for that class. If an older version of the app shared a renter's licence or photo with you, use it only for that booking; do not save, screenshot or share it.
When you remove a vehicle, it is hidden from renters at once and deleted after 30 days; during that time its plate cannot be listed again on any account. Honour any rental you have already accepted, or agree a cancellation with the renter.
The full rules are in the Rental Terms.

12. Location, records and passengers' data

While you are online, the Gosaath Captain app shares your location with Gosaath regularly, including when the app is in the background (a "You're online" notification shows while it does). During a trip, it shares your location more often and shows it live to the passenger on a Quick Ride. It does not share your location when you are offline and not on a trip.
Gosaath keeps a record of where captains went while online or on a trip for 24 hours, and then deletes it automatically. It is used for safety, to check alerts and complaints, and to answer lawful requests during that time.
Gosaath keeps records of your trips, requests, chats and the fare amounts recorded for your trips (Gosaath does not receive this money) as the Privacy Policy explains.
Passengers' and renters' names, phone numbers, photos, licences and locations are shared with you only so you can do that ride or rental. You must keep them confidential, use them for nothing else, and delete any copy you hold once the trip or rental is over, as the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 expects.

13. Misuse and prohibited conduct

You must not:

add a vehicle that is not yours without the owner's written permission, use documents or a vehicle that belong to someone else, or add a vehicle that is already on another account;
let anyone else use your account, drive under your account, or take a ride you accepted;
open more than one account, or come back with a new account after being removed;
use apps or tools that fake your location, create fake requests or trips, or interfere with the apps;
ask passengers to cancel in the app and travel with you outside it, or ask for payment before the trip;
collect more than the fare, or keep a passenger's or renter's belongings, documents or money;
post false, misleading or offensive content in a listing, profile or chat; or
break any law or any of Gosaath's rules.

14. Suspension and removal

To keep passengers and the platform safe, Gosaath may, at its discretion and to the extent the law allows, warn you, limit what you can do, stop you going online, hide your offers or listings, or suspend or remove your account, temporarily or permanently. It may do so at once, without notice, where safety, the law or an investigation requires. Examples include:

false, forged, expired or someone else's documents, or documents that no longer cover your vehicle;
a safety complaint, an SOS or a wrong-route alert that shows a risk, or a police complaint or case against you;
driving without a helmet, after drinking, while using a phone, or otherwise breaking traffic law;
harassment, abuse, discrimination or violence;
overcharging, fraud or misuse of the platform or of others' data;
repeated cancellations, no-shows or poor ratings; or
a lawful order of a court or authority.

When an account is blocked, the app shows "Account blocked" and you cannot go online. Where it is lawful and safe to do so, Gosaath will tell you the reason. You may ask for a review by writing to the Grievance Officer (see Contact). Removal does not affect anything you already owe a passenger, a renter or an authority.

15. Accidents, complaints and police requests

If you are involved in an accident, make sure everyone is safe, call 112 (or 108 for an ambulance), get medical help for anyone injured, and report the accident to the police as section 134 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 requires.
Tell Gosaath about any accident, injury, damage or serious incident as soon as you can.
Claims for death, injury or damage from a road accident lie against the driver, the owner and the insurer of the vehicle. Gosaath is not the owner, driver, operator or insurer of any vehicle and does not provide insurance.
Gosaath shares records about you and your trips with the police, courts and other authorities when it receives a valid legal request, as the Privacy Policy explains.

16. Responsibility, liability and indemnity

To the maximum extent permitted by law, you are solely responsible for your vehicle, your documents, your driving, your conduct and every ride or rental you provide, and Gosaath is not liable for them. You agree to indemnify Gosaath against any claim, fine, penalty, loss or cost arising from your breach of these Captain Terms or of any law, or from any ride or rental you provide, as the Terms of Use set out. Nothing in these terms excludes any liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law.

17. Changes, law and contact

Gosaath may update these Captain Terms. The date and version at the top show the current version. If a change is significant, Gosaath will tell you in the app or on the website. These terms are governed by the laws of India, and the courts at Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh, have jurisdiction, as the Terms of Use provide.

Grievance Officer, Gosaath
Name and designation: Venu Madhav, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer
Email: [email protected]
Phone / WhatsApp: +91 73370 51857
Address: Madanapalle, Annamayya District, Andhra Pradesh 517325, India