Cancellation & Refund Policy

This Cancellation & Refund Policy explains when you can cancel a booking, when you can receive a refund or ride credit, what happens if you do not show up, what happens if SHAFFL cancels the ride, and how refunds are issued.

The goal is to be transparent, fair, and consistent with common practice in Egypt's seat-reservation bus market, while respecting Egyptian consumer protection rules.

This Policy should be read together with SHAFFL Terms & Conditions and SHAFFL Privacy Policy.

This Policy applies to:

1. City Routes (daily commute / shuttle / staff transport): Repeating routes inside or between neighbourhoods in Egyptian cities.

2. Intercity / Long Routes: Longer trips between governorates (Cairo ↔ Alexandria / Hurghada / Sharm).

3. Corporate / Institutional Routes: Routes paid for by a company, school, university, etc.

If you ride through a corporate agreement, that agreement may override some of the refund/payment rules below.

City Routes operate like commuter shuttles. Seats are limited, and last-minute empty seats cost the route money.

• Cancel 60 minutes or more before pickup time: You are eligible for a full ride credit (100% of the fare) back into your SHAFFL wallet.

• Cancel less than 60 minutes before pickup time: The booking is treated as committed and is generally not refundable. The seat is considered consumed.

• Special cases for medical or safety incidents: Contact support. SHAFFL may investigate and issue a credit if you could not reasonably board and it was not your fault.

For long-distance routes, advance planning is stricter.

• Cancel ≥ 24 hours before departure: 100% refund as wallet credit or original payment method (minus non-refundable fees).

• Cancel from 4 hours to < 24 hours before departure: Partial deduction. A small service fee may apply, remainder is credited back.

• Cancel < 4 hours before departure: Up to 50% of ticket price may be retained as late-cancellation fee. Remaining refundable portion is returned as wallet credit.

• After scheduled departure time: The ticket is normally not refundable. The seat is treated as 'used' once departure time has passed.

If you fail to appear at the pickup point within the pickup window:

• The booking is marked as "No-Show".

• "No-Show" rides are considered used and are not refundable.

• Repeated No-Shows may result in temporary suspension from high-demand routes, loss of eligibility for company-sponsored seats, or account review.

Why this matters: When you book a seat, we reserve physical capacity in a real vehicle. Holding a seat and not boarding creates cost and denies that seat to someone else.

Sometimes SHAFFL or the operating partner must cancel, reroute, or significantly delay a trip for reasons like mechanical issue, safety concern, sudden police checkpoint closure, or lack of legal clearance.

If SHAFFL cancels your ride and no reasonable alternative is provided:

• You are entitled to either a full refund (wallet credit or original payment method) OR rebooking/alternative transport of similar standard at no extra fare.

If the vehicle departs but experiences a major breakdown and cannot continue, SHAFFL will try to arrange onward transport or issue an appropriate partial or full credit.

If SHAFFL cancels a route permanently, unused future bookings on that line will be refunded.

SHAFFL aims to provide realistic pickup windows and estimated arrival times, but Egyptian roads are affected by congestion, weather, checkpoints, and road closures.

You acknowledge that:

• A delay alone is not automatically grounds for a full refund.

• However, if the driver or vehicle never arrived at your pickup point within a commercially reasonable window and you were never transported, that is treated like a cancellation by SHAFFL.

If you miss a personal event because of traffic, that is not typically compensated unless you have a written corporate agreement with SHAFFL.

Refunds are normally issued as wallet credit (ride credit) inside SHAFFL. In some cases, we may reverse the original payment.

Some processing or convenience fees may be marked "non-refundable" at purchase.

Banking channels in Egypt may take time to display the reversal. SHAFFL will register the approved refund/credit after your claim is validated.

We may request trip details (booking code, route, pickup point) and verify with the driver before issuing a refund.

If your rides are paid or subsidised by an Institution:

• The Institution may set attendance rules, check-in requirements, or cancellation cut-off times.

• SHAFFL may share attendance/usage confirmations with that Institution for billing, safety, and planning.

• The Institution may choose to absorb the cost of late cancellations or No-Shows, or may charge you internally.

In cases of service failure, SHAFFL will credit the Institution and/or the rider. The Institution may decide how that credit is applied.

Egyptian Consumer Protection Law No. 181 of 2018 gives you core protections:

• You have the right to receive accurate, non-misleading information about the service and its price.

• If a paid service is not provided or is defective, the provider must correct the issue, re-provide the service, or reimburse the cost.

• The provider is expected to clearly display key conditions, including refund/return rights.

If you believe the service was not provided, you were charged incorrectly, or were refused a rightful refund, you may escalate to the Egyptian Consumer Protection Agency.

You also have privacy rights under Egyptian Personal Data Protection Law No. 151 of 2020.

To request a cancellation review, refund, or billing correction:

• Email: support@shaffl.app

• Include: your full name, registered phone number, booking code, pickup point, and what happened.

For privacy-related requests (data access/correction/deletion):

• Email: privacy@shaffl.app

Address for formal correspondence: [Cairo, Egypt]

We may update this Cancellation & Refund Policy to reflect changes in Egyptian law, updated guidance from regulators, operational changes, or improvements to rider protection.

If we make major changes, we will announce them through the app, SMS, email, or another reasonable channel before they take effect.

By continuing to use SHAFFL after an updated version is posted, you accept the updated Policy.