1. About these terms
These terms govern your use of this website and every booking you make through it. By making a booking, or by using the website, you accept these terms on behalf of yourself and everyone in your party. If you do not accept them, please do not book.
Two further documents form part of this agreement and should be read with it: our Cancellation & Refund Policy and our Privacy Policy.
Where a listing page, your booking confirmation or a written instruction from us states something more specific than these terms — a different departure point, a longer cancellation window, a boat-specific rule — that more specific term applies to that booking.
2. Who we are
YavaTrip is a trading name of [registered legal name — to be completed], with its registered office at [full registered address with PIN code — to be completed].
- GSTIN: [GSTIN — to be completed]
- Corporate identity number: [CIN or LLPIN, if incorporated — to be completed]
- Email: hello@yavatrip.com
- Telephone: +91 73076 98635
In these terms, "we", "us" and "our" mean that company; "you" means the person making the booking.
3. Definitions
- Booking — a confirmed reservation of a stated number of seats or a whole boat, on a stated departure, identified by a booking reference beginning BB-.
- Departure — the specific boat, date and time slot you have booked.
- Fare — the total price of your booking, inclusive of taxes, as shown at checkout.
- Deposit — the part of the fare payable to confirm the booking; the rest is the balance.
- Lead traveller — the person named on the booking, who is our point of contact for the whole party.
- Operator — the licensed vessel owner or crew who physically runs a departure, which may be us or an independent third party.
- Free-cancellation window — the period before departure during which you may cancel at no charge, as stated on the listing and in your confirmation.
4. Your account and how we identify you
We do not use passwords. You sign in with a one-time password (OTP) sent to your mobile number or email address. Anyone with access to that number or mailbox can access your bookings, so keep them secure and tell us immediately if either is compromised.
You must give accurate contact details. Your booking confirmation, boarding point, invoice, and any change or cancellation notice are sent to the number or address on the booking, and we are not responsible for the consequences of a wrong or inaccessible one.
You must be at least 18 years old to make a booking. If you book for a party that includes minors, you confirm you are responsible for them for the duration of the trip.
You may hold one account. We may suspend or close an account that is used fraudulently, to make speculative or repeated bookings that are not honoured, or in breach of these terms.
5. What we sell and our role
We sell river experiences on the Ganga at Varanasi and, over time, other travel services. Depending on the listing we act in one of two capacities, and the listing page tells you which:
- As principal — we provide the experience ourselves, using vessels and crew we operate. Our contract with you covers the whole service.
- As agent — we arrange the experience with an independent licensed operator. Our contract with you covers the booking, payment and support; the experience itself is delivered by that operator under its own licences and safety obligations, and its conditions of carriage apply on board.
In either case, you deal only with us for payment, changes, cancellation and complaints. We remain your point of contact and will not send you away to a third party to resolve a problem with a booking made here.
All vessels used for your booking must hold the registration, survey certificate, insurance and crew licensing required by the Inland Vessels Act 2021 and by the district administration at Varanasi. We require this of every operator we work with.
6. Making a booking
- You choose a boat, a date, a party size and a time slot. Availability shown is live and is not reserved for you at this stage.
- When you go to checkout, we place a short-lived hold on the seats so nobody else can take them while you pay. The hold expires automatically if payment is not completed, and the seats return to sale.
- You pay the deposit, or the full fare if you choose to.
- Your booking is confirmed only when that payment is successfully received. At that point we allocate the seats, issue a booking reference and send you a confirmation.
Nothing on the website is an offer capable of acceptance. Your payment is an offer to book; our confirmation is our acceptance. If a departure sells out, is withdrawn, or is listed with an obviously incorrect price or description, we may decline the booking and will refund you in full.
Seats are limited by the capacity of each vessel, and by the minimum and maximum party size stated on the listing. We cannot carry more people than the booking records, and additional people who arrive on the day cannot be accommodated unless spare capacity exists and is paid for.
7. Prices, taxes and what is included
All prices are in Indian Rupees and are inclusive of Goods and Services Tax at the applicable rate. The tax charged is itemised on your invoice. There are no booking fees, convenience fees or payment-gateway surcharges added at checkout: the amount shown is the amount payable.
Some listings are priced per person and some per boat for a private departure. The listing states which, and the checkout shows the resulting total for your party before you pay.
Your fare includes the vessel, its crew, and the itinerary described on the listing, together with the safety equipment required to be carried on board. Unless the listing says so expressly, it does not include: transport to and from the ghat, entry or camera fees charged by any temple or site, food and drink, guide services, donations, tips, or anything of a personal nature.
We may change prices at any time, but a change never affects a booking already confirmed. The price you pay is the price shown at the moment you paid.
If an error means a departure was listed at a price that is obviously wrong, we will contact you before the trip and offer either the correct price or a full refund. We will not simply take the extra money without asking, and we will not cancel silently.
8. Deposits, balances and payment
You may pay the whole fare at checkout, or pay a deposit to confirm and settle the balance later. The deposit is a stated percentage of the fare, shown on the listing and again at checkout before you pay; the balance is the remainder. Both figures appear on your confirmation.
The balance is due before departure. You can pay it yourself at any time from Your Trips, or we will ask you for it. If the balance is unpaid by departure, boarding may be refused and the booking treated as a cancellation by you under the Cancellation & Refund Policy.
Payments are processed by our payment gateway. Your card, UPI or bank credentials are entered on the gateway and are never seen, transmitted or stored by us. We keep only the gateway reference for the transaction, the amount, and whether it succeeded.
A deposit is not a fee for booking. It is part of your fare, and it is refundable on the same basis as everything else you have paid — see the Cancellation & Refund Policy.
If money leaves your account but you do not receive a confirmation, do not pay again. Our systems reconcile automatically against the gateway and will either confirm the booking or return the money. Contact us with the time and amount and we will trace it.
9. Your invoice
A tax invoice is generated automatically after a payment clears and is sent to you by email, with a download link by SMS. Every invoice for your account also stays available under Payments & invoices when you are signed in.
If a booking is cancelled or refunded, we issue a credit note against the original invoice rather than deleting it. Tax records must be preserved, so nothing already issued is withdrawn; the credit note is the correction.
If you need the invoice raised to a company name and GSTIN, tell us before the trip. We cannot always reissue an invoice to a different entity after the tax period has closed.
10. Changes you want to make
You may ask to move a booking to a different date, time or boat. We will always try, and there is no administrative charge for asking, but a change depends on availability and is not guaranteed.
If the new departure costs more, you pay the difference. If it costs less, we refund the difference. If we cannot offer a suitable alternative, you may cancel instead, and the Cancellation & Refund Policy decides what you get back.
You may change the names in your party at any time before departure at no charge. You may reduce or increase the party size subject to capacity, and to the minimum party size for that listing; the fare is recalculated.
11. Changes or cancellations we have to make
River conditions are not negotiable. We may have to change a departure time, change the boarding ghat, substitute a vessel of equivalent or better standard, alter the route, shorten a trip, or cancel it outright. We do that only where it is necessary for safety, or where the authorities require it.
The most common reasons are: high or low water levels, flooding, strong current, storms, high winds, fog, a restriction or order issued by the district administration or the police, a religious or state event closing the ghats, VIP movement, or a mechanical or crew problem.
Where we make a significant change or cancel, we will tell you as soon as we reasonably can and you may choose one of:
- the alternative we offer, with any price difference settled either way;
- a different departure of your choice, subject to availability; or
- cancellation with a full refund of everything you have paid us, including the deposit.
A minor adjustment — a modest change in departure time, or moving to an adjoining boarding point — is not a significant change, though we will always notify you of it.
Beyond the refund described above, we are not liable for costs you incur elsewhere as a result, such as flights, trains, hotels or other bookings. This is what travel insurance exists for.
12. Cancelling and refunds
Cancellation, no-shows and refunds are governed by our Cancellation & Refund Policy, which forms part of these terms. In short: you may cancel free of charge up to the deadline shown on your booking, cancelling releases your seats immediately, and we then process the refund back to the method you paid with.
A refund is never automatic or instantaneous. It is processed by our team once the cancellation is recorded, and then takes the usual time for your bank or card issuer to credit it. The Cancellation & Refund Policy sets out the timelines we work to.
13. On the day of your trip
Please arrive at the boarding point stated on your confirmation at least 15 minutes before the departure time. The ghats are crowded, parking is some distance away, and boats depart on schedule because the slot after yours is also booked.
Carry your booking reference and a government photo identity document for each adult. The crew may ask to see them.
If you arrive after your boat has departed, we will carry you on a later departure if there is space, but we are not obliged to, and no refund is due for a missed departure. See the Cancellation & Refund Policy for how no-shows are treated.
Boarding is from the steps of a working ghat, sometimes onto a pontoon and sometimes across another moored boat. Footing can be wet, uneven and slippery. Take care, and follow the crew.
14. Safety and your obligations on board
The master of the vessel is in charge. You and your party must follow the instructions of the crew at all times. This is a condition of carriage, not a courtesy.
- Wear the life jacket provided, correctly fastened, when the crew tells you to. Children must wear one for the whole trip.
- Stay seated while the boat is moving, and do not stand on the gunwales, roof or bow.
- Do not swim, bathe or enter the water from the boat. The Ganga at Varanasi has strong and unpredictable currents.
- Do not lean out to take photographs, and hold cameras and phones securely.
- Do not throw anything into the river, including flowers, plastic or food, except where a diya is provided by the crew for that purpose.
- Do not smoke on board, and do not carry any flammable or hazardous item.
We may refuse boarding to, or put ashore, anyone who is intoxicated, under the influence of drugs, behaving in a way that endangers themselves or others, or refusing to wear a life jacket. In that case no refund is due, and we will not be liable for anything that follows.
Varanasi is a place of worship and mourning. Cremation is performed on the ghats in public. Photography or filming of cremation grounds and of the people there is not permitted. The crew will tell you where you may and may not point a camera, and you must respect it.
15. Health, mobility and suitability
Tell us before you book if anyone in your party has a medical condition, reduced mobility, a disability, or is pregnant, so that we can tell you honestly whether the trip is suitable and arrange what help we can.
Boarding involves descending stone steps that may be steep, uneven and wet, and stepping down into a moving boat. Wheelchairs cannot be accommodated on every vessel. We will do our best, but we may have to advise against a particular departure, and we would rather do that in advance than at the water.
You are responsible for judging whether the trip is suitable for you and for your party, and for carrying any medication you need. If you know you cannot swim, tell the crew before you board.
16. Children and infants
Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a responsible adult, who remains responsible for supervising them throughout. Children must wear a life jacket for the whole trip.
Where a listing offers a child fare or an infant concession, the age limits are stated on it. Every person on board counts against the capacity of the vessel and must be included in your party size, including infants carried in arms.
17. Behaviour we do not allow
We will end a trip, without refund, in response to behaviour that is dangerous, or that harasses, threatens or abuses other passengers, the crew, or people on the ghats. That includes sexual harassment, and it includes abuse directed at our staff over the phone or by message.
You are responsible for any damage you or your party cause to a vessel or its equipment, and we may charge you the cost of repair or replacement.
18. Your belongings
Bring only what you need. Boats are open, cramped and wet, and a phone dropped over the side is gone.
Your belongings remain your responsibility throughout. Except where loss or damage is caused by our negligence, we are not liable for property that is lost, damaged or left behind, and we do not offer a left-luggage service.
19. Photography and media
We sometimes photograph or film departures for our website and social media. If you would rather not appear, tell the crew or write to us and we will exclude you, or remove an image already published.
If you send us a photograph or review, you allow us to reproduce it in our marketing with a credit. You keep ownership of it, and you can withdraw that permission at any time in writing.
20. Insurance
The vessels carry the third-party insurance required of them by law. That is not personal travel insurance and it does not cover your cancellation costs, your medical expenses, or your belongings.
We strongly recommend that you hold travel insurance covering cancellation, curtailment, medical treatment and personal effects for the whole of your trip. We are not an insurer and we cannot advise you on cover.
21. Our liability to you
We will provide the service described on the listing with reasonable care and skill, and we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking this contract or failing to use reasonable care.
Nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited. Your rights under the Consumer Protection Act 2019 are not affected by anything written here.
Subject to that, our total liability arising out of a booking is limited to the amount you paid us for that booking, and we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of enjoyment, profit, or the cost of other travel arrangements you made separately.
We are not liable for the acts of independent third parties you engage yourself — taxi and auto drivers, guides, shops, hotels — even if you found them at the ghat or they were recommended to you.
22. Events outside our control
We are not liable for failing to perform, or for delay in performing, an obligation under these terms where it is caused by something outside our reasonable control.
That includes: flood, high or low water, drought, storm, cyclone, lightning, fog, earthquake or other natural event; epidemic or pandemic and any public-health measure taken in response; war, terrorism, riot, civil unrest or curfew; strike or industrial action; any act, order or restriction of government, the district administration, the police or a port or waterway authority; and failure of public utilities or telecommunication networks.
Where such an event prevents a departure, we will offer you an alternative date or a full refund of what you have paid us. We will not be liable for your other costs.
23. Third-party services
Where we list a service supplied by someone else — a cab, a guided experience, an activity — we will make clear that we are arranging it, and the supplier conditions applicable to it will be made available to you before you book.
Categories advertised on our website as coming soon are not yet bookable, and nothing on those pages is an offer to sell.
24. Using the website
You may use this website to browse and to make genuine bookings. You may not use it to make speculative or fraudulent bookings, to scrape or copy the content, to attempt to gain unauthorised access to any account or system, to interfere with its operation, or to break any law.
We try to keep the website available and accurate, but we do not guarantee that it will be uninterrupted or error-free, and we may suspend, withdraw or change any part of it without notice.
25. Intellectual property
The YavaTrip name and logo, the text, photography, video, design and software on this website belong to us or to our licensors, and are protected by copyright and trade mark law. You may not copy, reproduce or use them commercially without our written permission.
26. Complaints and grievance redressal
If something goes wrong, tell the crew at the time if you can. Many problems can be fixed on the spot, and some cannot be fixed at all once you have gone home.
Otherwise, write to us at hello@yavatrip.com or call +91 73076 98635 with your booking reference and what happened. We will acknowledge your complaint within 48 hours and aim to resolve it within one month of receiving it.
Our Grievance Officer under the Consumer Protection (e-Commerce) Rules 2020 is [name and designation of the grievance officer — to be completed], contactable at hello@yavatrip.com and +91 73076 98635, and at [full registered address with PIN code — to be completed].
If you remain dissatisfied, you may take the matter to the appropriate consumer forum, or file a complaint on the National Consumer Helpline. Nothing in these terms prevents you from doing so.
27. Governing law and jurisdiction
This agreement is governed by the laws of India. Subject to the consumer rights described under Complaints and grievance redressal above, the courts at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh have jurisdiction over any dispute arising from it.
A consumer may bring proceedings in the forum where they reside or work, as permitted by the Consumer Protection Act 2019, and this clause does not take that right away.
28. Changes to these terms
We may amend these terms from time to time, and the version published here is the current one. The terms that apply to your booking are the ones in force on the date you made it, so an amendment does not change a booking you have already paid for.
29. General
If a court finds any part of these terms unenforceable, the rest continues to apply. If we do not insist on something we are entitled to, that is not a waiver of it and we may still insist later.
You may not transfer your rights under this agreement to anyone else without our consent, though you may change the names of travellers in your party as set out under Changes you want to make.
Nobody other than you and us has any right to enforce these terms.
30. How to contact us
| hello@yavatrip.com | |
| Phone | +91 73076 98635 — seven days a week |
| Post | [full registered address with PIN code — to be completed] |
| Legal entity | [registered legal name — to be completed] |
- For cancellations and refunds, see the Cancellation & Refund Policy.
- For how we handle your personal data, see the Privacy Policy.