How JoinRoute works

What each part of the app is for, how to use it, and the rules.

What JoinRoute is · Getting started · Find a ride · Offer a ride · Free rides · Daily rides · On the day of the trip · Cancelling and no-shows · Safety · Messages and notifications · Your account

What JoinRoute is

JoinRoute connects people who are already going the same way, so they can travel together by car or bike and share the fuel cost. It is not a taxi: Ride Hosts are people making their own journey.

How to use it

• Need a ride? Find someone already going your way and book a seat.
• Driving anyway? Offer your empty seats and share the cost, or offer them free.
• Same trip every day? Save it as a Daily ride once and it repeats on your days.

Good to know

• JoinRoute takes no commission. The cost share is paid to the Ride Host directly (cash or UPI).
• Prices are capped so they only share costs; nobody makes a profit.
• Everyone travelling is ID-verified by the JoinRoute team.

Getting started

Sign in with your mobile number, add an email, and verify your government ID. Then you can book and offer rides.

How to use it

• Sign in with your mobile number and the code sent by SMS. Type your full name exactly as on your government ID.
• Add and verify an email (Profile → tap the email under your name).
• Profile → Verify your ID: choose the ID type, type your name as printed on it, add a photo of the ID and take a selfie.
• To offer rides, add your vehicle (Profile → My registered vehicles → Add).

Good to know

• Accepted IDs: Aadhaar (you may cover all but the last 4 digits), PAN, Voter ID, Passport, Driving licence.
• The selfie is seen only by the reviewer and deleted as soon as the check is done. The ID photo is deleted 30 days after the check.
• Once verified, your name is locked to the ID. To change it, upload a new ID; you stay verified while it is checked.

Find a ride

Search for rides going your way, see the price for your part of the road, and ask for a seat.

How to use it

• Home → Find a ride: enter where from, where to and when.
• Each result shows the Ride Host, the time, how far the road passes from you, and your price.
• Open a ride → Request to join. Choose your pickup (a boarding point on the host's road is easiest).
• When the Ride Host accepts, you can chat and call each other.
• Nothing found? Tap Notify me: you hear as soon as a ride on your route is offered.

Good to know

• You can join part-way and pay only for your own distance.
• Long rides between cities show up to 40 km from your start and end (further away ranks lower and says how far). City rides: about 10 km.
• One journey at a time: bookings and rides can't overlap.
• Phone numbers are shared only after the booking is confirmed, and hidden again after the trip.

Offer a ride

Publish a trip you are making anyway: where, when, which road, how many seats and the cost share.

How to use it

• Home → Offer a ride: Where (from and to), When, Vehicle.
• Route: pick the road you will really drive (up to 3 choices in a city, 5 between cities).
• Seats and cost share: set seats, then slide the price from the most allowed down to free.
• More options (routes of 5 km or more): boarding points on your road, a common meeting point, the ORR toll share.
• Publish, then Share to WhatsApp to tell your groups.

Good to know

• Up to 4 paid rides a day and 14 a week (private vehicles may pool paying passengers only on a limited number of trips). Free rides are not counted.
• Highest price: ₹5/km in a city, ₹4/km between cities (car); ₹4/km (bike). Lower or free is always fine.
• Short-trip minimum: ₹30 (car) / ₹20 (bike). It's an amount, not a distance: a passenger whose distance costs less pays the minimum (at the highest price, under 6 km by car in a city, under 5 km by bike). Never more than your whole ride's price, and free rides stay free.
• Bikes take 1 passenger and rides up to 40 km. Cars up to 6 passengers.
• Only ID-verified Ride Hosts appear in search. A one-time declaration confirms it is your own private vehicle and you only share costs.

Free rides

A Ride Host can offer seats for free. A free ride must stay free.

How to use it

• Ride Host: on Offer a ride, slide the price to Free (or tap Make it free).
• Passenger: free rides show "Free" in search and "This ride is free" before you book.
• During or after a free ride, if the Ride Host asked you to pay, tap "Yes, report" on the trip screen.

Good to know

• On a free ride the Ride Host must not ask for money, fuel, a tip or anything else. Passengers pay nothing.
• Each report warns the Ride Host. 3 reports pause their free rides for 2 months (they can still offer rides with a cost share). The count starts afresh after a pause.
• A passenger can report once per trip, only after the ride has started.
• Free rides are not limited and don't count towards the daily and weekly ride limits.
• A report you think is wrong? Tell us from Profile → Send feedback or a suggestion; the team looks at every case.

Daily rides

Save a trip you make regularly (with the trip back) once. It is offered or looked for on your days, without posting every day.

How to use it

• My Rides → Daily rides → Add daily ride, or tap "I do this trip regularly" after publishing or booking.
• Choose the days, the time and (for Ride Hosts) the route, seats, price and boarding points. The return trip is set up with it.
• Ride Hosts can turn on auto-publish: each day's ride appears by itself.
• Passengers: when a Ride Host agrees to take you regularly, your days are booked for you.
• Not going one day? Mark "Not going" for that day; the other person is told.

Good to know

• You can save up to 5 daily rides.
• Past one-off rides have "Offer again": once, or regularly as a daily ride.

On the day of the trip

From leaving to arriving safely: everyone sees where the car is and what happens next.

How to use it

• Home shows "Your next ride", and "Ongoing ride" once you are on the way.
• Ride Host: tap "I'm leaving". Passengers see you move on the map.
• At the pickup the app shows "Here" (or tap "I'm at the pickup"); the passenger is told.
• Passenger running late: tap "On my way · 2 / 5 min" so the host knows.
• Picked up: the host taps "Picked up" (or the passenger "I'm in the car").
• At the drop the passenger is asked "Did you reach safely?". Then both can rate each other.

Good to know

• Free waiting time: 5 minutes in a city, 10 between cities. "On my way" adds up to 10 more minutes.
• Live location is shared only during a trip, only with the people on it (and anyone you send a tracking link to).
• A Ride Host may change the time by ±30 minutes at most twice, and not in the last 30 minutes, once someone has booked.

Cancelling and no-shows

Plans change: cancel as early as you can. Repeated last-minute cancellations and no-shows pause the account for a few days.

How to use it

• My Rides → open the ride → Cancel, with a reason.
• Ride Host cancelled? Rebook Assist asks for seats on similar rides for you.
• Waiting passenger didn't come: after the free waiting time, at the pickup, the Ride Host can "Leave without them".
• Ride Host didn't come: 10 minutes after the pickup time you can report "Ride Host hasn't come".
• Marked as a no-show but you were there? Tap "I was there" within 2 hours.

Good to know

• Ride Hosts: cancelling within 2 hours of departure, with a confirmed passenger, is a short-notice cancellation. A warning from the 3rd in 30 days; 5 pause offering rides for 3 days (7 days if it happens again within 60 days).
• Passengers: 3 no-shows in 30 days pause booking for 7 days (a warning after the 2nd).
• A Ride Host who re-offers a cancelled ride within 12 hours: the cancelled passengers get a seat request automatically.

Safety

Tools to travel with confidence, before, during and after every trip.

How to use it

• Profile → Emergency Safety Contacts: add one or two people.
• During a trip: "Share live GPS route with family" gives a tracking link to send them (it works in any browser and stops when the trip ends).
• "Emergency SOS" on the trip screen: your phone's Messages opens with your location and the tracking link for your contacts; the JoinRoute safety team is alerted. For police, fire or ambulance always call 112.
• Women can choose rides with women only (once gender is confirmed by the ID check).
• Block or report anyone from their profile or the chat.

Good to know

• Phone numbers stay hidden until a booking is confirmed.
• Ratings and reports after every trip keep everyone accountable.

Messages and notifications

Chat with the people on your trip and get the updates that matter.

How to use it

• Chat opens once a seat is booked (trip screen → Message). After the trip it becomes read-only.
• Profile → Notification settings: choose what you are told about (ride matches, messages, reminders).

Good to know

• Safety alerts are always sent.
• The same message is never sent twice within a couple of minutes.

Your account

Your profile, preferences and data, under your control.

How to use it

• Profile → About me & preferences: a short bio, music, chat, luggage.
• Profile → Your account → Download data: everything we hold about you.
• Profile → Your account → Delete account: your personal data is erased.
• Profile → Send feedback or a suggestion: questions, problems or ideas. The team replies in Profile → My messages to JoinRoute.

Good to know

• Others see your first name, photo, rating and trip details, never your phone number before a booking or your email.
• Terms of Service and Privacy Policy: joinroute.in/terms and joinroute.in/privacy.

Still need help?

In the app: Profile → Send feedback or a suggestion, or email support@joinroute.in.