Commission, Wallet & Settlement
How the platform takes its commission, how the driver and rider wallets move when a ride is completed, the cancellation charge, the ride OTP switch and the transaction ledger.
Go4Ride earns money by taking a commission on each completed ride (or by selling driver subscriptions instead). The split happens on the server, in the onRideStatusChanged Cloud Function, exactly once per ride: the ride is stamped with settledAt so a retried trigger can't pay twice.
You set the rules in Admin → Settings → Business rules → Business model ("Commission and cancellation charges applied by the settlement function."), stored in settings/business.
Admin commission
"Platform cut of each completed ride"
| Field | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Charge commission | On | Off = drivers keep the whole fare |
| Commission type | Percentage | Percentage or Fixed amount |
| Commission | 15 | "Percent or ₹ per ride, depending on type." |
Rules applied by settlement:
- If the driver has an active paid subscription with rides left, commission is 0.
- Else if Charge commission is off, commission is 0.
- Else if a Commission value is saved here, it is used:
fare × value %, or the fixed amount. Commission never exceeds the fare. - Else the Commission % from Settings → Fare & pricing (
config/pricing, default 15 %) is used.
What happens when a ride is completed
| Payment mode | Who holds the money | Driver wallet | Rider wallet | Ride |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | The driver collected the full fare | − commission | — | Marked paid |
| Wallet | The platform | + driver earning | − fare | Marked paid (gateway wallet) |
| Card / online | The platform, once the rider pays | + driver earning | — | Marked paid when the gateway confirms (Payment Gateways) |
In every case the driver's lifetime Earnings grow by the driver earning, and the ride document gets commission, driverEarning and settledAt.
Worked example
Fare ₹215, commission 10 %:
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Commission | ₹21.50 |
| Driver earning | ₹193.50 |
| Cash ride | Driver wallet −₹21.50 (the driver already has ₹215 in cash) |
| Wallet or online ride | Driver wallet +₹193.50 |
Settlement writes ledger rows in transactions: a ridePayment of +₹193.50 for the driver and a commission row of ₹21.50 (and, for a wallet ride, a −₹215 ridePayment for the rider).
Cancellation charge
"Fee when a rider cancels after the driver is assigned"
| Field | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Charge on cancellation | On | |
| Charge type | Fixed amount | Fixed amount or Percentage of fare |
| Cancellation charge | 25 | ₹25, or 25 % |
| Free cancellation window (seconds) | 120 | Counted from when the driver accepted |
| Maximum negative wallet balance | ₹100 | "Riders can keep booking until their wallet reaches minus this amount." Stored; not enforced by the v1.0 booking screen |
A fee is charged only when all of these are true: the rider cancelled, a driver had accepted, and more than the free window has passed. Then, once per ride:
- the rider's wallet is debited by the fee (it may go negative),
- the driver's wallet and earnings are credited with the fee,
- two
cancellationFeeledger rows are written and the rider gets a push.
Tested example: fixed ₹25, the rider cancels 5 minutes after acceptance → rider wallet −₹25, driver wallet +₹25. Driver and admin cancellations never charge the rider.
Ride OTP
"Rider shares a code before the trip starts"
Require OTP to start a ride (default on). When on, the Customer App creates a random 4-digit code with each booking and shows it on the ride screen once the driver arrives ("Share this OTP with your driver to start the trip"). The Driver App asks for it before Start trip. Off: the driver starts the trip without a code.
The rider and driver wallets
| Wallet | Field | Goes up | Goes down |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rider | users.walletBalance | Online top-up | Wallet rides, cancellation fees |
| Driver | drivers.walletBalance | Wallet / online rides (driver earning), cancellation fees received | Commission on cash rides, approved withdrawals, paid subscriptions |
Balances only change in Cloud Functions; security rules stop the apps from writing them. Every movement has a row in transactions with a type: topup, ridePayment, commission, cancellationFee, payout, subscription.
See also Customers & Wallet, Payout Requests and Driver Subscriptions.
Next: Driver Subscriptions →