Refund & Cancellation Policy

Two ways to pay — the choice is always yours

Searchumrah is a discovery and matching platform. You never have to pay us for an Umrah package. When you book, you choose how to pay:

• Pay via Searchumrah — our optional payment protection (details below), or
• Pay the agent directly — off-platform, on the agent's own terms, with no payment involvement from us.

If you pay the agent directly, all payments — deposits, balances, and any refunds — are between you and the travel agent, and the agent's own refund and cancellation terms govern that transaction. Because no money flows through us, Searchumrah cannot issue a refund for money you paid an agent directly — but we will still help you (see below).

Pay via Searchumrah — your money is protected until your trip

How refunds work under "Pay via Searchumrah". The amount of any refund is set by the agent's published cancellation policy for that package (for example, a portion may be non-refundable close to departure). We enforce the mechanics: a refund made while the funds are still held is reversed out of the held amount and returned to your original payment method. Once the funds have been released to the agent after your trip, a refund can no longer be processed automatically — contact us and we will take it up with the agent.

One deduction to know about: the payment-processing fee. When you pay online, Razorpay (the payment processor) charges a processing fee of typically ~2% + GST (higher for EMI and international cards), and Razorpay does not return this fee when a payment is refunded. Searchumrah earns nothing from your booking and takes no fee of its own, so it cannot cover this amount for you. The maximum possible refund is therefore your payment minus that processing fee — for example, on a ₹90,000 booking the fee is about ₹2,124, so the most that can be refunded is ₹87,876 — further subject to the agent's cancellation policy. This is shown to you before you pay.

An honest note on what this does and doesn't do. Holding your money until departure removes the single biggest risk — paying in full upfront and the agent disappearing before your trip. It is not an insurance policy or a guarantee against every dispute, and it does not override the agent's cancellation terms. Read the agent's policy on the package page before you pay, and keep your booking confirmation.

Every agent is hand-selected

Searchumrah does not open listings to anyone who signs up. We onboard only agents with a genuine, multi-year track record and a reputation for reliability among pilgrims that predates their presence on our Platform, and we verify their identity, business, and contact details before publishing their listings. This significantly lowers the chance you encounter a fraudulent or fly-by-night operator through Searchumrah. It does not eliminate risk entirely — no marketplace can promise that — which is why the steps below exist.

Where to find the agent's terms

Each package page lists the agent's cancellation, refund, and change-of-date terms in the "Cancellation policy" or "Purchase summary" section. Read these before paying. If they are missing or unclear, ask the agent in writing (WhatsApp or email) and keep a copy of the response.

If something goes wrong

1. Talk to your agent first. Most issues — itinerary changes, schedule slips, refund delays — are resolved fastest directly with the agent.
2. Tell us. If you cannot reach a fair resolution, email info@searchumrah.com within 30 days of the incident with: your booking details, the agent's name, what was promised, what happened, and any messages or receipts. Use the same email address as your Searchumrah account.
3. What we will do. We will reach out to the agent on your behalf, ask for their account, and try to mediate a resolution. We can flag, restrict, or remove agents who repeatedly fail their obligations or commit fraud.

What we can and cannot do

• We can — for payments made via "Pay via Searchumrah" while the funds are still held — process an eligible refund back to your original payment method, per the agent's cancellation policy. For any payment, we can mediate, escalate within the agent's organization, hold the agent accountable on the Platform (verification status, listing visibility), and preserve our records of your booking and conversations to support you.
• We cannot issue refunds for money you paid an agent directly (off-platform), refund funds already released to the agent after your trip automatically, override the agent's contractual terms, or guarantee a specific outcome to a dispute.

Reporting fraud

If you believe an agent has committed fraud, report it to info@searchumrah.com immediately and to the appropriate consumer-protection or law-enforcement authority in your jurisdiction. We cooperate with lawful requests from authorities investigating fraud on the Platform.

Agent subscription fees

The only money Searchumrah collects is the subscription fee that agents pay to list and use the Platform. This subscription fee is non-refundable. Once a subscription period has been paid for, we do not refund it in whole or in part — including for unused time if an agent cancels, downgrades, or is removed before the period ends.

Any future paid Platform service (for example listing promotion or premium features) will have its refund terms stated at the point of purchase, and those terms will govern that purchase only.