Privacy Policy

1. Overview & Acceptance

Padma Sri Travels (“we”, “us”, or “our”), an APTS-licensed commercial passenger transport and car rental mobility operator based in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, is dedicated to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy governs your use of our official website (padmasritravels.com), the Padma Sri Travels customer mobile application, and our online/offline mobility booking services.

By downloading, accessing, or using our mobile application or website, or by reserving any vehicle with or without a driver, you agree to the collection, processing, and storage of your personal data as outlined in this document.

2. Data Collection (Google Play Data Safety)

To facilitate vehicle dispatch, regulatory compliance, passenger safety, and transparent accounting, we collect the following categories of data:

A. Personal Identity & Contact Information

• Full Name & Contact Details: Name, verified primary mobile phone number, secondary contact number, and email address collected during registration or reservation.
• Account Credentials: Secure OTP verification records and hashed authentication tokens used to manage customer sessions.
• Emergency Contact Details: Optional family or enterprise contact information provided for ride safety notifications.

B. Location Data & Real-Time GPS Tracking

• Precise Location (GPS and network-based): When you use our mobile application, we collect precise latitude and longitude coordinates to pinpoint your exact pickup point, calculate accurate trip distances, and locate nearby available fleet vehicles.
• In-Trip Continuous Telemetry: For active trips, location data may be collected in the foreground and background while a journey is underway to track route progress, compute transparent kilometer utilization, ensure passenger security, and assist emergency dispatch.
• Coarse Location: City, state, and pincode derived from cellular networks or IP addresses to provide local package availability and serviceability checks.

C. Documents & Identity Verification (Self-Drive Bookings)

• Driving License: For self-drive bookings, we collect high-resolution photos and document numbers of your official Indian or International Driving License. This is mandated by the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and insurance regulatory requirements.
• Government Identity Proof: Official government photo IDs (such as Aadhaar card, Passport, or Voter ID) uploaded to verify driver age (minimum 21 years) and residential identity prior to vehicle release.

D. Financial & Transaction Information

• Payment Records: Transaction IDs, payment modes (UPI, Net Banking, Credit/Debit Card), booking amounts, advance deposits, and refund statuses.
• Card Information: We do not collect or store raw credit or debit card numbers, CVVs, or cardholder PINs on our servers. All digital transactions are processed directly by certified third-party payment gateways.
• GST & Invoicing Details: Corporate entity names, GSTIN identifiers, and billing addresses for tax-compliant invoice generation.

E. Technical & Device Information

• Device Telemetry: Device manufacturer, hardware model, operating system version, unique device identifiers, and IP addresses.
• Push Notification Tokens: Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) or Apple Push Notification (APNs) device tokens used strictly to transmit booking alerts, chauffeur arrival notifications, and invoices.

3. Purpose and Data Usage

Padma Sri Travels processes collected data strictly for legitimate business, operational, and statutory safety purposes:

• Booking Fulfillment & Vehicle Allocation: Reserving selected car models, scheduling pickup and return windows, and coordinating garage dispatch.
• Driver Assignment & Coordination: Providing assigned chauffeurs with your pickup coordinates, customer name, and contact details to ensure timely arrival and smooth navigation.
• Distance & Fare Computation: Utilizing server-side Google Routes and Distance Matrix APIs to provide deterministic estimates and reconcile extra kilometer/hour charges.
• Safety & Regulatory Compliance: Verifying valid driving credentials for self-drive rentals to prevent unauthorized vehicle operation and satisfy motor insurance underwriters.
• Transactional Notifications: Sending automated booking confirmation, OTP authentication, driver details, payment receipts, and trip summaries via SMS, WhatsApp, and push notifications.
• Customer Support & Dispute Resolution: Reviewing customer support tickets, conversation transcripts, and telemetry logs to address service grievances and process refunds.

4. Third-Party Sharing & Disclosures

We treat your personal data with utmost confidentiality. Padma Sri Travels does not sell, rent, monetize, or trade your personal information or contact details to third-party advertising networks or commercial data brokers under any circumstances.

Information is shared only with trusted service partners under strict confidentiality agreements:

• Certified Payment Gateways: Payment details are transmitted through PCI-DSS Level 1 compliant aggregators (e.g., Razorpay, Stripe) using end-to-end 256-bit SSL encryption.
• Assigned Chauffeurs: Drivers assigned to your trip receive only the necessary information required for ride fulfillment (customer name, pickup address, and direct call bridge).
• Technology & Cloud Infrastructure: Cloud hosting and managed database services (Supabase, AWS), mapping telemetry (Google Maps Platform), and transactional communication gateways (MSG91, Twilio).
• Legal & Law Enforcement Compliance: We may disclose data when required by applicable Indian law, judicial decree, subpoena, or official investigation by state police or transport departments.

5. Data Retention and Account Deletion (Google Play Compliance)

In accordance with Google Play Store Data Safety guidelines and Apple App Store privacy mandates, we empower customers with complete ownership and control over their accounts and personal data.

A. Data Retention Policy

We retain your personal data only as long as your account remains active or as needed to provide you with mobility services. Certain trip and transaction records (such as GST tax invoices, trip manifests, and payment receipts) are retained for statutory accounting and legal compliance periods mandated by Indian tax and commercial statutes (typically 7 years).

B. How to Delete Your Account and Associated Data

You have the absolute right to delete your account and request complete eradication of your personal data at any time through either of the following methods:

1. In-App Deletion (Instant & Self-Serve):
   Open the Padma Sri Travels customer mobile application → Navigate to Profile → Select Account Settings → Tap Delete Account→ Confirm deletion.
2. Support Request (Email or Phone):
   Send an email from your registered email address to support@padmasritravels.com or padmasri@padmasritravels.com with the subject line “Account Deletion Request”, providing your registered mobile number. You may also contact our 24/7 hotline at +91 96769 16668.

C. What Happens Upon Account Deletion

• Your active account session is terminated and your mobile authentication credentials are deleted.
• All Personally Identifiable Information (PII)—including your full name, profile picture, email address, contact numbers, and saved destination addresses—is permanently scrubbed from our active databases.
• All uploaded verification documents (driving licenses, government identification documents) are permanently deleted from secure cloud storage within 30 days.
• Historical transaction and billing records that must be preserved under mandatory commercial accounting regulations are irreversibly decoupled and anonymized.

6. Security Measures

We employ multi-layered physical, technical, and managerial safeguards to protect your personal information:

• Encryption in Transit: All communication between our mobile apps, websites, and backend servers is encrypted using Transport Layer Security (TLS 1.3 / HTTPS).
• Encryption at Rest: Customer records and document uploads are stored in encrypted databases using AES-256 standard encryption.
• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Access to customer identity, documents, and trip logs is strictly partitioned and restricted to vetted operational staff on a need-to-know basis.
• Continuous Monitoring: Automated rate-limiting, injection screening, and intrusion detection safeguard API endpoints against automated attacks.

7. Device Permissions Requested by the Mobile Application

The Padma Sri Travels mobile application may request the following device permissions, each of which can be managed or revoked via your device operating system settings:

8. Children’s Privacy

Our services are not structured for or directed to individuals under the age of 18. Self-drive rentals require a minimum age of 21 years and a valid driver’s license. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. If we discover that a minor has submitted personal information, we will delete it immediately.

9. Policy Updates & Notifications

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect enhancements in our fleet operations, legislative updates, or platform features. When changes are made, we will revise the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page. Material modifications will be communicated via in-app banner announcements or SMS notifications prior to the effective date.

10. Grievance Officer & Contact Details

In accordance with the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Digital Personal Data Protection laws of India, if you have questions, feedback, or grievances regarding this Privacy Policy or your data, please contact our designated Grievance Officer: