Children's Privacy & Use Policy

Effective Date: 21 June 2026 Last Updated: 21 June 2026 Version: 1.0

How GatiMitra protects users below 18 — and which services they cannot use alone. Required by DPDPA 2023 §9, Google Play Families policy, and Motor Vehicles Aggregator Guidelines, 2020.

#1. Age tiers

#2. Verifiable parental consent (DPDPA §9)

For users below 18, processing of personal data requires verifiable consent of a parent or guardian. We use one or more of:

• Parent's mobile + OTP (linked to parent's own GatiMitra account).
• Parent's email confirmation with a follow-up phone verification.
• Parent's digital signature via DigiLocker (where available).

We re-verify consent annually.

#3. Data minimisation for minors

For accounts identified as below 18:

• Behavioural / interest profiling — disabled.
• Personalised advertising — disabled.
• Targeted promotional notifications — disabled (transactional notifications still work).
• Background location tracking — disabled except during active rides/deliveries.
• Crash diagnostics — anonymous only.

#4. Ride-service restrictions

Per MV Aggregator Guidelines 2020 and our Terms §2.2:

The app prompts age verification before allowing any ride booking. False age declaration → account suspension.

#5. Food, parcel, courier services

Generally allowed without age check, BUT:

• Parental responsibility for payment.
• No purchase of age-restricted items (alcohol, tobacco) via food delivery.
• Parcel sender must be 18+; younger users may receive parcels but cannot initiate them.

#6. Account creation by a child

If you are under 18, you should not create an account by yourself. If you have, please ask a parent or guardian to:

1. Verify the account is permitted.
2. Set spending limits if needed (Profile → Family controls → Spending cap).
3. Enable safety mode (turns off promotions and location-personalisation).

#7. Reporting child accounts

If you believe an account belongs to a child without parental consent, email safety@gatimitra.com with the registered mobile. We verify and act within 72 hours.

#8. Parental controls

Profile → Family controls lets a parent (with their own GatiMitra account):

• Link a minor's account.
• Set spending caps (per day / per week).
• Block specific services (e.g., disable ride services entirely).
• Receive a copy of every order / ride / parcel notification.
• Approve large transactions in real time.
• Revoke access at any time.

#9. Educational outreach

We publish age-appropriate safety content (rider etiquette, traffic awareness, personal-data hygiene) at https://gatimitra.com/learn.

#10. Children's privacy rights

The same rights as adults under DPDPA — access, correction, erasure, grievance — exercised by the parent / guardian on the child's behalf.

#11. Google Play / App Store Family

If you are a parent enrolled in Google Family Link or Apple Family Sharing, our app respects family-policy restrictions (purchase approvals, screen-time limits) imposed by your OS-level controls.

#12. Sensitive content & advertising

For accounts of users below 18:

• No ads from alcohol, tobacco, gambling, dating, weight-loss categories.
• No "in-app purchase" prompts beyond the core flow.
• No nudges to take rides during late-night hours.

#13. Transparency

Annual children-safety report at https://gatimitra.com/transparency — number of minor accounts, parental-consent rates, incidents, response times.

#14. Updates

Material changes trigger an in-app notice + parental re-consent.

#15. Contact

Owner: Trust & Safety + Privacy