This Policy explains how money moves in a Nearby Pets India order, which payment methods we accept, what charges apply, and the controls we operate to prevent fraudulent transactions. It supplements the Return, Refund and Payment Policy.

1. How Payment Is Structured

An order is settled in two parts:

Booking advance	25% of order value, payable online to confirm the order.
Balance	75% payable on delivery (Cash on Delivery).
Freight	Standard freight of ₹999, which attracts 18% GST. Live pets themselves are GST-exempt.

Full 100% Cash on Delivery is not available under any circumstances.

This requirement exists because a live animal is vet-screened, documented, and placed into specialised transit before it reaches you; an order abandoned mid-transit leaves an animal in transit at our cost.

2. No Escrow — Where Your Money Sits

We want this stated plainly. Nearby Pets India does not operate an escrow arrangement. Your booking advance is processed by our PCI-DSS compliant payment gateway partners and settles to KRP Tech Solutions OPC Private Limited. Funds are not held by a neutral third party pending delivery, and no claim of escrow protection is made or implied.

Your protection instead comes from the published cancellation and refund terms: if we cancel an order before dispatch for any reason, you receive a 100% full refund with zero cancellation fees, including the payment gateway charge.

3. Accepted Payment Methods and Charges

UPI (Google Pay / PhonePe / Paytm)	No processing charge.
Credit Card, Debit Card, Net Banking	A 2% transaction charge applies to the amount paid online, to cover gateway processing costs.
Gateway partners	PayU and CCAvenue, both PCI-DSS compliant.

All applicable charges are displayed at checkout before you confirm. We never store your card number, CVV, or net-banking credentials — these are handled entirely by the gateway.

On a seller-initiated cancellation, the 2% gateway charge is refunded in full alongside the principal.

4. Fraud Prevention Controls

• Age and identity verification: live animals are sold strictly to adults (18+). Government photo ID may be required for age verification or exotic-species registration.
• Address verification: delivery pincode feasibility is confirmed before dispatch. Orders to unserviceable or unverifiable destinations are cancelled with a full refund.
• Submission logging: IP address, timestamp and device metadata are recorded at order placement for fraud detection and chargeback defence.
• Unpaid order expiry: orders are cancelled automatically if the booking advance is not paid within 48 hours.
• Cancellation window: buyer-initiated cancellation must be requested within 3 hours of payment; the 25% advance is non-refundable thereafter.
• Blocking: IP addresses linked to fraudulent or abusive activity are permanently blocked across all brand sites we operate.

5. Chargebacks and Disputes

If you do not recognise a charge, contact us before raising a chargeback — most issues are resolved faster directly. Where a chargeback is raised, we will supply the gateway with the order record, delivery documentation, communication history, and submission logs as permitted by law.

Chargebacks raised on delivered and accepted orders, or after a full refund has already been tendered, are contested. Once a full refund is issued the transaction is a closed commercial matter.

6. Refund Mechanics

• Approved refunds are initiated within 1–2 working days.
• Funds reflect in 5–7 business days domestically, or up to 10 business days where the original payment was made from an overseas bank or card.
• Refunds are always returned to the original payment instrument. We do not refund to a different account.

7. Beware of Impersonation

We will never ask you to transfer money to a personal bank account, UPI handle, or wallet belonging to an individual. Payments are collected only through the checkout on this Platform or through our official gateway links. Report suspected impersonation to support@nearby-petstore.in immediately.