Overview
आरंभ Tours & Travels ("आरंभ", "we", "us", or "our") operates the website aarambhatravels.in and its associated booking platforms. This Privacy Policy describes how we handle personal data when you visit our website, make a booking, or contact us.
This policy is governed by the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011 of India. We also align with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for visitors from the European Economic Area.
Data We Collect
We collect data in the following categories:
How We Use Your Data
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
- Booking fulfillment — Confirming reservations, processing payments, issuing invoices, and coordinating vehicle/tour logistics.
- Customer communications — Sending booking confirmations, payment receipts, trip reminders, and operational updates via email and WhatsApp.
- Account management — Creating and managing your customer account and booking history.
- Legal compliance — Verifying driver eligibility (age 18+, valid licence), maintaining financial records as required by law.
- Fraud prevention — Detecting and preventing fraudulent bookings, chargeback abuse, and identity misrepresentation.
- Service improvement — Analysing website usage patterns (anonymised) to improve our platform and offerings.
- Marketing — Sending promotional emails and offers — only with your explicit consent, from which you may unsubscribe at any time.
Storage & Security
Your data is stored on MongoDB Atlas hosted servers with data residency in India/Asia Pacific. We implement the following security measures:
- All data transmitted between your browser and our servers is encrypted using TLS 1.2+ (HTTPS).
- Passwords are hashed using bcrypt with 12 salt rounds — never stored in plain text.
- Access tokens use JWT with 24-hour expiry and immediate revocation on password change.
- Driving licence documents and sensitive identity data are stored with access controls restricted to authorised operations staff only.
- API endpoints are protected by rate limiting, IDOR checks, and HMAC signature verification for payments.
Data Retention
Your Rights
Under the IT Act 2000 Rules and GDPR (where applicable), you have the following rights:
- Access — Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Correction — Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
- Deletion — Request deletion of your personal data (subject to legal retention obligations).
- Withdrawal of consent — Withdraw marketing consent at any time via the unsubscribe link in emails or by contacting us.
- Portability — Request your data in a machine-readable format (GDPR users).
- Objection — Object to processing of your data for direct marketing purposes.
To exercise any of these rights, email support@aarambhatravels.in with the subject line "Privacy Request". We will respond within 30 days.
Children's Privacy
Our services are not directed to anyone under the age of 18 years. We do not knowingly collect personal data from minors. Self-drive car rental requires a minimum age of 18 with a valid driving licence.
If you believe a child has provided us with personal data without parental consent, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.
Policy Changes
We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices or applicable law. When we make material changes, we will:
- Update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page.
- Send an email notification to registered users for significant changes.
- Display a prominent notice on our website for 30 days after the change.
Continued use of our services after a policy update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.
Contact Us
For any privacy-related questions, requests, or concerns: