1. What these terms cover

These Rental Terms apply when an owner lists a vehicle on Gosaath (in the Gosaath Captain app) and when a renter asks to rent, or rents, a listed vehicle (in the Gosaath app). They add to the Terms of Use and, for owners, the Captain Terms & Responsibilities, which also apply. Words defined in the Terms of Use have the same meaning here.

2. Gosaath's role

Gosaath provides a listing and messaging service only. It shows vehicles that owners choose to list and passes requests between renters and owners.
Gosaath is not a vehicle rental company, does not own, possess, inspect, maintain or insure any listed vehicle, never hands over or takes back any vehicle or key, and is not an operator or licence holder under the Rent a Cab Scheme, 1989, the Rent a Motorcycle Scheme, 1997 or any similar scheme.
Every rental is a contract made directly between the owner and the renter (in law, a bailment for hire under the Indian Contract Act, 1872). Gosaath is not a party to it and is never the bailor or the bailee.
Gosaath does not collect, receive, hold, process, transfer or refund rent, deposits, extra-kilometre charges or any other money for a rental. Not a single rupee passes through the Gosaath app, and at present Gosaath charges no fee or commission to owners or renters.

3. Owner's responsibilities

If you list a vehicle, you alone are responsible for, and promise, the following:

You are the registered owner of the vehicle, or you have the registered owner's written permission to rent it out.
The number plate, the registration certificate (RC) and the photographs you add are all of that vehicle, and the RC number is the same as the number plate.
The vehicle has a valid RC, valid insurance, a valid PUC certificate, a fitness certificate where required, and road tax paid, and copies are kept in the vehicle.
Where the law requires a licence, permit, registration as a rental (transport) vehicle or a particular number plate to rent out a vehicle for self-drive, you hold and comply with all of them. Renting out a private vehicle without what the law requires is at your own risk.
Your insurance covers the vehicle while it is rented. Many private-vehicle policies do not cover rental use; checking this is your responsibility.
The vehicle is safe, roadworthy and properly maintained, with working brakes, lights, horn, tyres and mirrors, and you disclose every known defect.
Your listing is true and up to date: genuine, current photographs, the correct make, model, year and condition, the rental time, the rent, the kilometres included, the charge for extra kilometres, the times it is available and the pickup place.
The app does not ask renters for a driving licence or a live photo. You check the renter's original driving licence (and, if you wish, proof of identity) in person before handing over the vehicle, and you do not hand it to anyone who does not hold a valid licence for that class of vehicle.
If a renter used an older version of the app that sent a driving licence or a live photo with a request, the app shows it to you only with that request and only for a limited time. You will use it only to decide on that booking and to check the original at the handover. You will not save, screenshot, copy, share or use it for anything else, and you will delete any copy once the rental is over. Gosaath does not check whether a licence is genuine or valid; checking the original is your responsibility.
You give the renter a fair handover and take the vehicle back in the same way.
You declare and pay all taxes, including income tax and any GST, on the rent you receive.

4. Renter's responsibilities

If you rent a vehicle, you alone are responsible for, and promise, the following:

You are at least 18 years old and hold a valid driving licence for the class of vehicle you rent, and you will show the original to the owner.
The app does not ask you for a driving licence or a live photo when you send a booking request. The owner may ask to see your original driving licence and proof of identity in person at the handover, and may refuse to hand over the vehicle if you do not show them. Showing someone else's licence, or a false or altered one, is not allowed, will close your account and may be reported to the police.
Only you will drive the vehicle, unless the owner agrees in writing that another licensed person may drive it.
You will use the vehicle lawfully and carefully: helmets on two-wheelers for you and any pillion, seat belts in cars, no more passengers than the vehicle is registered for, no alcohol or drugs, and obeying all traffic rules.
You will not use the vehicle to carry passengers or goods for hire, for racing or stunts, for towing, for any unlawful purpose, or outside the area agreed with the owner, and you will not sub-rent, sell, pledge or lend it.
You will return the vehicle at the agreed time and place, in the same condition (apart from normal wear and tear) and with the agreed fuel level.
You will tell the owner immediately about any accident, damage, breakdown, theft or police action.

5. Listings and Gosaath's review

An owner first makes an owner profile (name, area and the phone number on the account) and agrees to these Rental Terms. A listing needs at least four photographs, the number plate, a photograph of the plate, and photographs of the front and back of the RC.
The app checks that the number on the plate photograph and on the RC is the number typed in. A plate or RC that shows a different number is refused. Where a photograph cannot be read clearly, the owner may send it for Gosaath to check by hand.
One vehicle, one account: a vehicle (identified by its number plate) can be listed on only one Gosaath account. If a vehicle is already listed on another account, the owner who believes it is theirs may raise a ticket, and Gosaath will look into it.
New listings are reviewed by Gosaath before they are shown. Changing the photographs or the plate or RC photographs sends a listing for review again; other changes are shown at once. The review is limited to the photographs and details the owner provides. Gosaath does not inspect vehicles or verify ownership, documents, insurance or condition against any government record.
Approval of a listing is not a guarantee of the vehicle's ownership, legality, condition, safety or insurance, or of the owner's identity or conduct.
Gosaath may refuse, pause or remove any listing at any time, for example if it seems false, unsafe or unlawful, or after complaints.

6. Rental time, rent and availability

Rental time: the owner sets the length of one rental, from 1 to 24 hours (10 hours unless the owner changes it), and the rent for that time. The owner may also set the kilometres included and a charge for each extra kilometre.
Length of a booking: a renter books one or more rental times in a row, up to 30 days in total. The estimate shown in the app is the rent for one rental time multiplied by the number booked.
Availability: the owner sets the days of the week and the hours when renters can take the vehicle, and may mark specific dates as days off or extra days. A renter can request only a start time, and a rental, that fits inside those times.
The owner can switch a vehicle to "Not available" at any time, and may mark it as booked when accepting a request, so that no new requests arrive until it is switched back.

7. Requests and acceptance

A renter sends a request with the start time, the length and, if they wish, a note. The renter may choose how long the owner has to answer (from 1 to 24 hours, or until one hour before the start). A request that is not answered in time expires.
A renter may have only one waiting request and one booked rental at a time.
The owner may accept or decline a request and may give a reason. A rental is arranged only when the owner accepts. Acceptance creates an agreement only between the owner and the renter.
Prices in the app are the owner's listed prices, and the total shown is an estimate. The final rent, the kilometres included and the extra-kilometre charge are those agreed between the owner and the renter.
Owners and renters are strongly encouraged to sign a short written rental agreement or handover note, with the dates, rent, deposit, kilometres, fuel and condition of the vehicle.

8. Contact between owner and renter

The renter sees the owner's name, phone number and pickup place, and can call the owner.
The owner sees the renter's name and the request details, but does not receive the renter's phone number through the app.
Messages in the app are monitored by Gosaath for safety. Never share bank details or OTPs.

9. Handover, inspection and return

Meet in a safe, public place at the agreed time.
The owner checks the renter's original driving licence in person (the app does not collect it). Owners should not ask renters to hand over original identity documents such as an Aadhaar card; a copy, with the Aadhaar number masked, is enough.
Inspect the vehicle together. Take dated photographs or a video of all sides, the odometer reading and the fuel level, and note every scratch, dent or defect.
Make sure copies of the RC, insurance and PUC certificate are in the vehicle.
At return, inspect the vehicle together again in the same way, note the odometer and fuel, and settle any agreed extra charges.

10. Rent, deposit, extra kilometres and late returns

Rent, any security deposit, extra-kilometre charges, fuel charges and late-return charges are agreed and paid directly between the owner and the renter, in cash, by UPI or by another method they choose.
Gosaath does not collect, hold, process, transfer or refund any rent, deposit or other charge, and is not responsible for any amount that is not paid or not returned. Any refund or dispute about money is between the owner and the renter; Gosaath can help them talk it through but holds no money.
Any deposit must be returned by the owner as agreed, after deducting only charges the renter agreed to or caused. Always give and take a written receipt for every payment and every deposit returned.
Charges for late return must be agreed before the rental starts. If the vehicle is returned late without the owner's agreement, the renter is responsible for the extra rent and any loss caused to the owner.
See Payments, Cancellations & Refunds.

11. Damage, accidents, theft and breakdowns

During the rental, the renter is responsible for the vehicle and for any damage to it or loss of it, apart from normal wear and tear and defects that existed at handover, unless the owner and renter agree otherwise in writing.
In an accident, call 112 if anyone is hurt, inform the police as the law requires, and inform the owner at once. In case of theft, file a police complaint (FIR) immediately and inform the owner.
Insurance claims are made by the owner with the owner's insurer. Any amount the insurer does not pay, and any excess, is settled between the owner and the renter as they agreed.
If the vehicle breaks down because of a defect, the owner and renter decide between themselves on repairs, replacement or a refund of rent.
Gosaath is not liable for any damage, accident, injury, theft, loss or breakdown.

12. Traffic fines and challans

The renter is responsible for every traffic fine, challan, toll, parking charge and penalty incurred during the rental period, including e-challans that are issued in the owner's name and arrive later.
The owner is responsible for those incurred outside the rental period.
Owners and renters should keep their handover records so that the date and time of any fine can be matched to the right person.

13. Removing a listing

When an owner removes a vehicle, it is hidden from renters at once and deleted 30 days later. The owner can undo the removal until then.
During those 30 days, the same number plate cannot be listed again on any Gosaath account. To list it again, the owner undoes the removal.
Waiting requests for a removed vehicle are closed. A rental the owner has already accepted is not cancelled by the removal; the owner must honour it or agree a cancellation with the renter.

14. Cancellations

A renter may cancel a request before the owner accepts it. An owner or renter may cancel an accepted rental before it starts by telling the other as early as possible. Gosaath charges no cancellation fee. Any cancellation charge, or the refund of any advance, is only between the owner and the renter, as they agreed. Gosaath may limit or suspend accounts that cancel or fail to turn up again and again.

15. Disputes between owner and renter

Any dispute about a rental, including about rent, the deposit, damage, fuel, kilometres, late return or fines, is strictly between the owner and the renter, and should be settled between them, or through the police, a consumer commission or a court as the law allows.
Gosaath may, at its discretion, help the two users communicate, and will share the relevant records with the police or a court on a valid legal request, but it is not obliged to mediate or decide the dispute and is not bound by any outcome.

16. Responsibility and liability

The sections of the Terms of Use on users' sole responsibility, assumption of risk, release, no warranties, limitation of liability and indemnity apply to every rental. In short, to the maximum extent permitted by law, the owner and the renter are responsible for the rental and the vehicle, and Gosaath is not liable for them. Nothing in these terms excludes any liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law.

Your confirmations in the app are binding. Before a vehicle is listed, the owner confirms in the app that they own the vehicle or have the owner's permission to rent it out, that its registration, insurance and PUC are valid and will be kept valid, and that they are responsible for the vehicle, its condition and its handover. Before a booking request is sent, the renter confirms that they hold a valid driving licence for the vehicle, that they will check the vehicle and its papers at pickup and return it on time and in the same condition, and that the owner rents the vehicle to them directly. Gosaath records each confirmation with the date, time and version of these terms as an electronic record and relies on it. A confirmation that is not true is a breach of these terms and may lead to removal from Gosaath and, where the law requires, a report to the authorities.