Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Pulp Hotels (pulphotels.com, our apps and our WhatsApp number +91 86790 08586) is a sole proprietorship of Ashutosh Kumar, Plot 123, Shivoham Retreat, Kuthalwali, Johrigaon, Sinola, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248003. For the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 we are the Data Fiduciary for the data described here. Our full details and our Grievance Officer are at the end of this page.

2. What we collect

• Guests: name, mobile number, email (optional), the stay you book or ask about (hotel, dates, rooms, number of adults and children, children's ages, special requests), and any coupon or wallet use.
• At check-in, the hotel may record the ID type and ID number of each guest on our front-desk tool, because hotels must keep a guest register. We do not ask for ID when you book.
• Payments: if you pay the hotel by UPI you may send us the UPI reference (UTR) so the hotel can match it. We do not collect or store card numbers or UPI PINs. If a refund has to be paid to a bank account or UPI ID, we store those details encrypted.
• Account: password (stored only as a one-way hash) or your Google sign-in identity, and a profile photo if you add one.
• Hotel owners, travel agents and partners: business name, address, GST and PAN numbers, the identity and business documents you upload for verification, and bank details for payouts.
• Messages and calls: what you send us on WhatsApp, the contact form or the call-me-back form, and recordings and transcripts of calls with our booking assistant (section 6).
• Usage: your recent searches, recently viewed hotels and wishlist (kept in your browser), the campaign link you arrived from, and, only if you accept analytics cookies, the pages you visit (section 7).

3. Why we use it

• To make, confirm, change and cancel your booking, and to pass your booking to the hotel.
• To send you booking confirmations, one-time login codes, payment reminders and updates on WhatsApp and by email. We do not send SMS.
• To answer your questions and call you back when you ask us to.
• To verify hotel owners and agents, pay them, and keep accounts and tax records.
• To send offers, price-drop alerts and review requests, only if you have agreed. You can stop these at any time (section 9).
• To keep the site secure, prevent fraud and meet legal obligations.

We use your data on the basis of your consent, or for the purpose you gave it to us for (such as a booking), as the DPDP Act allows. We do not sell your personal data.

4. Who we share it with

• The hotel you book or enquire with. Your name and phone number are shown to the hotel once it confirms your booking, so it can host you; before that it sees only the stay details.
• The travel agent who made the booking, if an agent booked for you.
• Service providers who process data for us under contract: our hosting provider, Meta (WhatsApp Business messaging and, with your consent, the Meta pixel), Google (Google sign-in, Maps and, with your consent, Google Analytics 4), our email delivery provider, and the speech and language services that power our automated booking assistant on WhatsApp and calls (Anthropic and ElevenLabs).
• Government or law-enforcement authorities when the law requires it.

Some of these providers process data outside India. We share only what each needs for its task.

5. Payments and wallet

Most guests pay the hotel directly, by UPI or at the hotel, so the payment itself goes through your bank or UPI app, not through us. Wallet balances and transactions are stored in our database and are visible only to you and our accounts team.

6. Calls with our booking assistant

Riya, who answers +91 86790 08586, is an automated assistant, not a member of staff. Calls to and from that number are recorded, and the recording and a written transcript are kept for a short period (7 days by default) so our team can check what was agreed and improve the answers. Only our staff can see them. Riya never takes card, UPI PIN or bank details by voice. If you would rather not be recorded, message us on WhatsApp or email [email protected] instead, and say on the call that you do not want a call back.

7. Cookies and analytics

We use essential cookies and browser storage to keep you signed in, remember your currency and language, and remember your recent searches. These are needed for the site to work.

Google Analytics 4 and the Meta pixel run only if you choose Accept on the cookie banner. If you choose Decline, neither is switched on. To change your choice, clear this site's data in your browser and the banner will ask again. Staff and partner panels never send analytics.

8. How long we keep it

• Booking and payment records: 7 years, for tax and accounting law.
• Account data: while your account is active. After you ask us to erase it, within 30 days, except records we must keep by law.
• Call recordings and transcripts: 7 days by default.
• Owner and agent verification documents: while the partner account is active, then as required by law.

9. Your rights

• Access: ask what personal data we hold about you and who we have shared it with.
• Correction and update: fix your details in your profile, or ask us to.
• Erasure: ask us to delete your data. We will, except what the law makes us keep.
• Withdraw consent: stop marketing messages by replying STOP on WhatsApp or using the unsubscribe link in any email; decline analytics on the cookie banner; or write to us to withdraw consent for anything else. Withdrawing does not affect what was done before, and we may not be able to complete a booking without the details it needs.
• Nominate: name another person to use these rights for you if you die or become unable to.
• Grievance: complain to our Grievance Officer (below). If you are not satisfied with the answer, you may complain to the Data Protection Board of India.

To use any right, email [email protected] or call +91 86790 08600. We may ask you to confirm it is you. We acknowledge requests within 48 hours and answer them within one month.

10. Security

Data travels over HTTPS, passwords are hashed, bank and UPI details for refunds are encrypted, and access to bookings is limited to the people who need it. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects you, we will tell you and the Data Protection Board as the law requires.

11. Children

Accounts are for adults (18 and over). Children's names and ages are recorded only when an adult books a stay that includes them.

12. Changes

If we change this policy we will update this page and the date above.