Cancellations and refunds
What you pay if you cancel a Zuttle booking, what happens if the operator cancels, and how we refund you.
Last updated: 15 November 2026
The basics
- The operator named on your booking provides the transport. Zuttle takes your booking and your card payment.
- We charge your saved card in full when you book. A charter is paid in two parts, explained below.
- When you cancel, we refund what you paid, less any fee shown below.
- A cancellation never adds a charge. Any fee comes out of what you already paid.
- The time we receive your cancellation decides the fee. We use our server's clock.
- If the operator or the driver cancels your booking, you get a full refund. Most of these refunds happen by themselves. For the cases where they do not, see Special cases.
- For rides, trips and seats, a fee is a share of what you paid, rounded to the nearest rand.
On-demand rides
We charge the fare shown when you choose your driver. The fare does not change at the end of the ride.
| When you cancel | You pay |
|---|---|
| Before a driver accepts your request | Nothing |
| In the first 3 minutes after a driver accepts | Nothing |
| Later, while the driver is on the way or at the pickup | 25% of the fare |
| After the ride has started | You cannot cancel |
Other cases
- No answer. If the driver you chose does not answer within 10 minutes, the request ends and we refund you in full.
- The driver declines. Choose another driver. If the new driver works for another company, we refund your first payment in full and charge that company's fare. Until your bank shows the refund, both amounts can appear on your card.
- Paid, but no driver booked. If your payment goes through but no driver is booked on it, for example because a driver declined and you did not choose another, we refund you in full after about 15 minutes.
- The driver cancels. We refund you in full.
- No-show. If the driver has waited at the pickup for 8 minutes after arriving and you have not come, the driver can report a no-show. You pay 25% of the fare, and we refund the rest.
Pre-booked trips
A pre-booked trip is a shuttle or transfer you book ahead for a set pickup time. We charge the full fare when you choose an operator, before the operator accepts.
| When you cancel | You pay |
|---|---|
| Before an operator accepts your booking | Nothing |
| 24 hours or more before pickup | Nothing |
| At least 12 hours, but less than 24 hours, before pickup | 25% of the fare |
| At least 6 hours, but less than 12 hours, before pickup | 50% of the fare |
| At least 2 hours, but less than 6 hours, before pickup | 75% of the fare |
| Less than 2 hours before pickup | 100% of the fare |
Other cases
- The operator declines. We refund you in full.
- Not accepted or not started by the pickup time. If no operator has accepted your booking, or your driver has not started the trip, by the pickup time, the booking ends and we refund you in full.
- The driver cancels. We refund you in full.
- Paid, but not sent to an operator. If your payment goes through but your booking was not sent to an operator, for example because you closed the app on the card page, we refund you in full after about 15 minutes and ask you to book again.
- Once your driver has started the trip. Your driver can start the trip in the app up to 2 hours before pickup. After that, if you cancel, you pay 100% of the fare, whether you cancel from your trips or from the live trip screen. The app shows you this before you confirm. The no-show rule for on-demand rides applies too.
Scheduled seats
A seat booking is one or more seats on a scheduled departure. We charge the full price when you book. If your bank asks you to confirm the payment, you have 15 minutes from booking to do it. After that, the booking is cancelled and the seats go back on sale. If the payment still goes through later, we refund it in full.
| When you cancel | You pay |
|---|---|
| 24 hours or more before departure | Nothing |
| At least 12 hours, but less than 24 hours, before departure | 25% of the price |
| At least 6 hours, but less than 12 hours, before departure | 50% of the price |
| At least 2 hours, but less than 6 hours, before departure | 75% of the price |
| Less than 2 hours before departure | 100% of the price |
| After departure, whether or not you travelled | 100% of the price |
If the operator cancels a departure, or it does not run, email us with your booking code (see Special cases) and we refund you in full.
Charters
A charter is a vehicle with a driver, hired for your group at a price agreed before the trip.
When you pay
- Nothing is charged when you send a request, but you need a saved card.
- The operator replies by the deadline shown on your request, at most 24 hours later. If the operator does not reply in time, the request ends and nothing is charged.
- When the operator accepts, we charge a deposit of 20% of the price to your card. If the operator accepts 24 hours or less before the start, we charge the full price instead.
- 24 hours before the start, we charge the balance (80%) to the card on the booking. You can pay it earlier with Pay now.
If a payment fails
- The first payment. We tell you. Pay with Pay now by the deadline we show you: 12 hours after the operator accepts, or 2 hours before the start if that is sooner. If you pay it 24 hours or less before the start, we charge the full price. If you do not pay in time, the booking ends and nothing is charged.
- The balance. We tell you, and you can pay with Pay now until 12 hours before the start. We may try your card again before then. If the balance is still unpaid 12 hours before the start, we cancel the booking and you pay only the deposit already taken. We do not charge anything more.
If you cancel
| When you cancel | You pay (share of the price) |
|---|---|
| Before the operator confirms, including while the first payment is still due | Nothing |
| More than 30 days before the start | 10% |
| More than 24 hours, and up to 30 days, before the start | 20% |
| 24 hours or less before the start | 100% |
| After the start | You cannot cancel |
The fee is never more than what you have paid so far. We refund anything you paid above the fee, and we never charge your card again to collect a fee.
If the operator says no or cancels
- If the operator rejects your request, nothing is charged.
- If the operator cancels before the start, we refund everything you paid.
Tips
Tips are optional. You can add one when you rate a completed ride, trip or seat booking. We charge it to your card, and the operator receives it for the driver, less the card fee. Zuttle takes no commission on a tip.
We do not refund tips through the app. If a tip was charged in error, contact us.
Special cases
Death or hospitalisation
If you cancel because the person the booking was for has died or has been admitted to hospital, you pay nothing (Consumer Protection Act, section 17(5)). Cancel the booking, then email proof, such as a death certificate or a hospital admission letter, to admin@zuttle.io with your booking code. Once we have seen it, we refund any fee in full. For a charter, choose "Death or hospitalisation" as the reason when you cancel.
If the operator cancels outside the app
The app refunds you by itself when the driver cancels, when the operator declines a pre-booked trip or cancels a charter, and when a pre-booked trip has not started by the pickup time. If an operator tells you in another way that it cannot do your booking, for example a seat departure that will not run, email admin@zuttle.io with your booking code. Once we have checked with the operator, we refund you in full.
If the driver or operator does not turn up
Email admin@zuttle.io with your booking code. Once we have checked with the operator, we refund you in full. For a pre-booked trip whose driver has not started the trip by the pickup time, the refund is automatic (see above).
How refunds work
- A refund goes back to the card you paid with.
- We send the refund to our payment provider, Paystack, as soon as a refund is due.
- Your bank usually shows it within 3 to 10 working days. If it has not arrived after 10 working days, contact us.
- We do not deduct any fee from a refund. You get back the full amount due under these rules.
- If a refund does not go through, or your card can no longer take one (for example, because the card was cancelled), email admin@zuttle.io with your booking code and we pay you back another way.
- When you add a card, we charge R1 to check it, and we refund the R1 straight away.
Contact
Questions about a cancellation or a refund: email admin@zuttle.io with your booking code.
Zuttle (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2026/320705/07, 179 Mackenzie Street, Brooklyn, Pretoria, Gauteng, 0181. Telephone 087 265 7250.