What SevaCart charges

1. Sevas (ritual offerings)

• Platform fee: 5% of the seva amount, capped at ₹250 per booking.
• Payment gateway: pass-through. UPI = 0%. Cards / netbanking ≈ 2%. Charged by Cashfree, not by SevaCart.
• GST: 18% on the platform fee only. The seva fee itself is GST-exempt under Notification 12/2017 (religious services).
• Dakshina: optional, goes 100% to the officiating priest. SevaCart takes nothing from dakshina.
• Settlement: T+2 to the partner institution’s verified bank account.
• Tax invoice: issued by SevaCart (for the platform fee) and by the partner institution (for the seva amount; 80G receipt where applicable).

2. Causes (donations)

• Platform fee: 0%. SevaCart absorbs the platform cost on charitable donations.
• Payment gateway: pass-through, as above.
• Settlement: T+1 to the institution’s verified bank account.
• 80G receipt: issued directly by the recipient institution, emailed within 7 days.
• Promise: 100% of your contribution reaches the institution after the gateway fee.

3. Worked example — Rudrabhishek for ₹501

Exact numbers vary based on the seva price, the gateway used, and any dakshina you choose to add. The breakdown is line-itemed on every checkout — there are no surprise charges after you click pay.

4. Partner economics (temples, gaushalas, NGOs, gurukuls)

• Commission: 5% on sevas, capped at ₹250 per booking.
• Donation commission: 0%.
• Settlement: direct to your verified bank account — SevaCart never holds your funds.
• TDS: Section 194-O (e-commerce operator) — 1% TDS deducted on settlements once your annual receipts cross ₹5 lakh, deposited by SevaCart and reported in Form 26Q quarterly.
• Founding partners (first 50 verified institutions) get priority placement and a direct line to the team. No upfront listing fee, ever.

5. Refund window matrix

• Daily archana / pradakshina: cancel up to 4 hours before slot — 100% refund.
• Booked muhurat pooja / abhisheka: 24+ hours before — 100% refund. 0–24 hours — 50%.
• Special homa / multi-day yajna: 72+ hours — 100%. 24–72 hours — 50%. Less than 24 hours — non-refundable.
• Donations to causes: non-refundable except for confirmed double-charge errors.
• Partner-side cancellation (priest unavailable, weather, force majeure): 100% refund to devotee, no questions asked.

See the full refund policy and cancellation policy for the legal language.

6. What we do not charge

• No subscription, listing, or KYC fee from partner institutions.
• No account or browse fee for devotees.
• No commission on dakshina — 100% of optional dakshina goes to the priest.
• No FX margin disclosure trick — for NRI payments, we publish the FX rate at checkout (0.5–1% over Stripe interbank, depending on currency).

7. Changes to pricing

Any change to this page takes effect for new bookings only. Bookings already in progress continue at the rates shown at the time of payment. We email all registered devotees and partners at least 14 days before any fee change goes live, and the changelog is appended at the bottom of this page (when applicable).