Legal & Compliance
A summary of how Backseat is structured to comply with charity, payment, and transportation regulations. This page is informational and does not constitute legal advice.
Not a transportation service
Backseat is a technology platform that helps people who are already making a journey share a spare seat with someone travelling the same way. We do not employ drivers, dispatch vehicles, set routes, or charge fares. We are not a taxi, cab-aggregator, or public transport operator, and we do not hold — nor do we require — the licenses applicable to those businesses.
No fare, ever
The platform's technical design deliberately has no field, setting, or workflow through which a rider can set, request, or receive a fare or fee for transportation. This is enforced at the application and database level, not only in the interface.
Donations are charitable contributions
Any amount a passenger chooses to give is a voluntary donation to our registered charity partner, routed directly to that charity's beneficiary account. It is not consideration for transportation and is never paid to, or redirected by, the rider.
Tax treatment
Donations made through this platform may or may not qualify for tax deduction depending on your jurisdiction and the specific charity's registration status. Where a donation is eligible, a receipt indicating eligibility will be issued by the charity. Consult a qualified tax advisor for guidance specific to you.
Payment processing
Donations are processed via UPI. Backseat does not store card numbers, bank credentials, or UPI PINs. Payment confirmation and settlement are handled by regulated payment infrastructure; this platform only records the resulting transaction reference for auditing and receipting.
Charity partner accountability
Charity beneficiary details are configured and controlled by Backseat's compliance team, not by individual riders. Riders cannot view, edit, or redirect the beneficiary account under any circumstances.
Before production launch
This platform's legal, charity-registration, payment-gateway, and transportation-regulatory setup should be reviewed by qualified legal counsel in every jurisdiction where it operates before real donations are processed or real rides are offered.