Commission & Pricing

1. Overview — commission, surge & tiered speed

RideChain's money model is deliberately simple to say out loud: commission plus surge, on a tiered-speed fare. A delivery is priced from a transparent fare formula; the platform keeps a thin, visible commission percentage of that fare and the partner keeps the rest; each RideChain Point earns a flat per-parcel handling fee for the physical handover. Nobody is surprised by a hidden cut — the partner's weekly statement reconciles to the paise (see Split-Money Settlement).

flowchart LR
  PAR["📦 Parcel to price"] --> FORM["Fare formula
base + distance + handling + special + surge"]
  FORM --> TIER{"Speed tier chosen
by booker"}
  TIER -->|"not urgent"| MILK["🥛 Milk-run
(bundled, cheapest)"]
  TIER -->|"today"| SAME["⏱️ Same-day"]
  TIER -->|"urgent"| EXP["🚀 Express / dedicated
(premium)"]
  MILK --> FARE["Total Fare T"]
  SAME --> FARE
  EXP --> FARE
  FARE --> SPLIT["Split: partner + Points + thin platform commission"]
  classDef cheap fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#2e7d32,color:#1b5e20;
  classDef prem fill:#fff3e0,stroke:#f4920b,color:#8a5200;
  class MILK cheap; class EXP prem;
        

2. The fare formula

Every quote is computed from one deterministic formula. There is no opaque "dynamic price" — the booker can see each component before committing. All arithmetic is done in paise (integers); the ₹ figures are display only.

fare = ( base
       + distance_km × vehicle_rate_per_km
       + weight_size_handling
       + special_handling )
       × tier_multiplier
       × surge_multiplier

# all terms in paise; surge_multiplier is capped (see §5)
# tier_multiplier < 1 for milk-run, = 1 same-day, > 1 express

3. Vehicle rate card

RideChain is a multi-modal network — from a kid on a cycle to a tractor-trolley hauling sacks. Each vehicle type carries its own base fare and per-km rate, matched to the parcel by the matching engine and gated by onboarding & eligibility (motorized vehicles are validated via VAHAN for the RC and Sarathi for the DL). The numbers below are illustrative MVP rate-card values, updated on a published cadence (see fuel-price edge case).

flowchart LR
  P["📦 Parcel:
weight + size + distance"] --> SEL{"Cheapest sufficient
vehicle?"}
  SEL -->|"<= 20 kg"| LIGHT["🚲 Cycle / 🛵 Bike"]
  SEL -->|"<= 250 kg"| MID["🛺 E-rick / Auto"]
  SEL -->|"<= 1000 kg"| HEAVY["🚙 Bolero / 🚚 Tata Ace"]
  SEL -->|"> 1000 kg"| BULK["🚜 Tractor / 🚛 Mini-truck / 🚐 Tempo"]
  LIGHT --> RATE["Apply base + per-km from rate card"]
  MID --> RATE
  HEAVY --> RATE
  BULK --> RATE
        

4. Speed tiers

The same parcel, on the same vehicle, can cost very different amounts depending on how fast the booker needs it. The tier sets a multiplier on the fare and changes how matching treats the job — a milk-run waits to be bundled with others, while express grabs a dedicated partner immediately.

Because the milk-run shares one trip's cost across many parcels and often rides on a journey the partner was already taking, its discounted multiplier still pays the partner fairly per-parcel. Express costs more precisely because the partner gives up the whole trip to one parcel.

flowchart TB
  BASE["Computed pre-tier fare
(base + distance + handling + special)"] --> T{"Speed tier"}
  T -->|"milk-run"| M["× 0.6
🥛 cheapest, bundled, slower"]
  T -->|"same-day"| S["× 1.0
⏱️ baseline"]
  T -->|"express"| E["× 1.5
🚀 premium, dedicated"]
  M --> SUR["× surge (capped)"]
  S --> SUR
  E --> SUR
  SUR --> FLOOR["max(fare, minimum-fare floor)"]
  FLOOR --> Q["Quoted Total Fare T"]
  classDef cheap fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#2e7d32,color:#1b5e20;
  classDef prem fill:#fff3e0,stroke:#f4920b,color:#8a5200;
  class M cheap; class E prem;
        

5. Surge — capped & transparent

Surge is how the price tracks reality when supply is tight or cost spikes. RideChain treats it as a capped, fully-disclosed multiplier — the booker always sees the surged price and why, before they commit, and a share of the surge flows to the partner who shows up in the hard moment.

flowchart TB
  IN["Inputs"] --> DS["Demand / supply ratio (zone)"]
  IN --> WX["Weather signal"]
  IN --> FE["Festival calendar"]
  IN --> FU["Fuel price signal"]
  DS --> RAW["Raw surge factor"]
  WX --> RAW
  FE --> RAW
  FU --> RAW
  RAW --> CAP{"Clamp to hard ceiling"}
  CAP --> MULT["surge_multiplier (capped)"]
  MULT --> SHOW["Show surged price + reason
BEFORE booker commits"]
  SHOW --> OK{"Booker accepts?"}
  OK -->|"yes"| BOOK["Lock quote → book"]
  OK -->|"no"| DROP["No booking — try later / cheaper tier"]
  MULT --> SHARE["Partner surge share applied to payout"]
  classDef good fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#2e7d32,color:#1b5e20;
  class BOOK,SHARE good;
        

6. Commission & take-rate

The platform's revenue is a commission = a percentage of the Total Fare. It is the single slice that absorbs the payment-gateway fee (~2%) and the tax reserve (GST / TCS / TDS), leaving the rest as net platform margin. Partners and Points receive their stated amounts in full; there is no second, hidden deduction. The mechanics of how the slice is physically transferred live in Split-Money Settlement — here we size it.

Take the canonical single point-to-point booking with Total Fare ₹120 (12000 paise), matching Split-Money Settlement worked example #1 exactly:

The platform's ₹28 (2800 paise) is a take-rate of ≈23.3% of the fare — but most of it is not margin. It is the only slice that carries the cost of moving the money and the cost of tax:

pie showData title "₹120 booking split (paise)"
  "Partner 8000" : 8000
  "Drop Point 600" : 600
  "Collect Point 600" : 600
  "Platform 2800" : 2800
        

7. Worked examples

Three concrete prices, all in canonical paise, showing the model across a single trip, a relay, and a deeply-bundled milk-run.

(a) Single point-to-point — ₹120

One partner carries the parcel end to end; a drop Point and a collect Point each take a per-parcel handling fee; the platform takes the thin remainder.

(b) Relay (bundled through a Block Hub) — ₹220

Two legs through a Block Hub, a different partner per leg; money splits per leg and releases on each leg's verified handover (see Split-Money Settlement §4).

Σ = 55 + 95 + 6 + 8 + 6 + 50 = ₹220. The platform's ₹50 again absorbs the PG fee and tax reserve out of its own slice.

(c) Cheap bundled milk-run — landing in the ₹25–45 band

A non-urgent 15 km interior parcel goes on the milk-run tier. The trick is that one run's cost is divided across N parcels — the booker pays only their share of the trip, plus their own per-parcel Point handling and a thin commission.

Versus the alternatives (illustrative, 15 km interior)

8. Cost-leadership tie-in

RideChain can price the milk-run at ₹25–45 and still pay partners fairly because its cost to serve is structurally low. Pricing doesn't fight the cost base — it exploits the same six levers documented in Scale & Low-Cost:

9. Incentives & partner earnings

The fare is only half the partner story — incentives and fairness make the earnings sustainable. The brand promise to a partner is plain: apni gaadi, apna time, apni kamai — your vehicle, your hours, your earning.

10. Edge cases & failure modes

Pricing assumes bookers will feel surge as gouging, weights will be under-declared, fuel will swing, and competitors will undercut. Every pricing risk has a defined, transparent mitigation; the full catalogue lives in the Edge-Case Catalog.