Policies

Who these policies apply to

Joldar is a marketplace where private individuals in Almaty rent out their own cars to other people by the day. The platform is operated by JoldarCom LLP (the Joldar brand). These policies apply to every registered user of the platform, both car hosts and renters, and form an integral part of the Terms of use.

Joldar is not a party to the car rental contract. The rental contract is concluded between the host and the renter; Joldar brings the parties together, accepts payment, provides tools that keep the trip safe and makes decisions when a dispute arises.

By registering on the platform you confirm that you have read these policies and agree to follow them. A new version of the policies takes effect on the day it is published on this page.

Who can rent

• A person aged at least 21.
• A holder of a driver’s license of the appropriate category with at least 2 years of driving experience.
• A person who has passed identity verification (KYC): ID card, driver’s license and a selfie taken in the app. Verification is done once, before the first booking.
• A holder of a valid bank card registered in their own name (for payment and the deposit hold; the deposit is 30 000–150 000 ₸ depending on the car class).
• A person who has not previously been removed from the platform and whose account is not blocked.

Only the verified renter may drive the car. Letting a third party drive is a serious breach of the policies.

Who can rent out a car

• The registered owner of the car, or a person holding a notarized power of attorney from the owner.
• The car is no more than 12 years old, roadworthy, has a valid OGPO VTS policy (compulsory motor third-party liability insurance) and its registration documents are in order.
• The listing has at least 8 real photos of the car and an honest description.
• The listing has passed Joldar moderation. Moderation usually takes 1–2 business days.

Renter’s obligations

• Drive the car only personally and use it only for the purpose stated in the listing.
• Complete the in-app photo report in full at check-in and check-out (exterior, interior, odometer, fuel level).
• Follow the traffic rules; be responsible for all fines incurred during the trip.
• Return the car in the condition in which it was received, with the same fuel level and clean.
• Immediately notify the host and Joldar support of any damage, traffic accident, theft or breakdown.
• Return the car on time. A grace period of 30 minutes applies; after that, each started day is charged at the daily price.

Host’s obligations

• Hand over the car as described in the listing: clean, roadworthy and with the fuel level stated in the listing.
• Reply to a booking request within 60 minutes. If there is no reply, the request is automatically declined and the renter is not charged.
• Honor accepted bookings. A cancellation by the host results in a full refund to the renter and has a negative effect on the host’s rating.
• Confirm the photo report together with the renter at check-in and check-out.
• Disclose known defects and restrictions of the car in the listing in advance (for example, no child seat, or no trips outside the city).
• Never ask the renter for payment outside the platform.

Payouts to hosts

• Hosts are paid out only from money Joldar has actually collected from the renter: trip payments as they are charged, extras and fees. Joldar does not guarantee the renter’s payment.
• If a renter’s payment is late, the host is told only its status: before the trip, “do not hand over the car until the payment is confirmed”, then “payment confirmed”; during a trip, “the payment is late, Joldar is handling it”; or that the booking was cancelled and the car is free. Card details and the bank’s reasons are never shared with the host.

Prohibited actions

• Driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs or medication.
• Handing the car over to a third party, or using it for taxi, courier or other commercial transportation.
• Racing, drifting, off-road driving, towing a trailer, giving driving lessons.
• Leaving the Republic of Kazakhstan, unless the listing allows it.
• Smoking in the car, carrying animals (unless the listing allows it), damaging the interior.
• Making arrangements outside the platform, or handing over payment or the deposit in cash.
• Using forged documents, another person’s account or fake photos.
• Disconnecting tracking, telematics or GPS devices in the car.

Protection plans do not cover damage that occurs during a prohibited action: the renter pays for the loss in full.

Communication and content rules

• Joldar has no tolerance for objectionable content or abusive users, that is, people who insult, threaten or harass others. Such accounts are removed from the platform.
• In chats, booking requests, questions to hosts, reviews, listings and profiles, the following are prohibited: obscene language, insults, hate speech targeting ethnicity, religion, sex or sexual orientation, sexual content, threats, harassment, fraud and spam.
• Texts are checked automatically before they are published: a text with obscene language, insults, hate speech, sexual content or threats is not sent, and the attempt goes to Joldar moderation.
• You can report a message, review, listing or profile from the “…” menu; Joldar reviews every report within 24 hours. You can block any user; the chat of a confirmed or ongoing trip stays open until the trip ends.

The full rules are in section 6 of the Terms of use. If anyone’s life is in danger, call 112 immediately.

Paying for the trip

• When booking, the renter’s card is only saved and verified; the trip price is not charged at once.
• The trip price (rental, service fee, protection plan, delivery fee) is charged to the saved card 3 days before the trip starts.
• If the trip starts within 3 days of the request, the amount is held on the card when the request is sent and charged when the host confirms the booking (at once with instant booking). If the host declines or does not reply within 60 minutes, the hold is released.
• A trip of 14 days or more is paid weekly: it is split into 7-day parts (the last one covers the remaining days), and each part is charged 3 days before its week starts. The delivery fee is part of the first payment.
• The amount and date of each payment are shown when booking and on the trip page.
• If the bank declines the trip charge, the renter is notified at once and must pay in the app (on the trip page, with any saved card or after adding a new one) no later than 12 hours before the trip starts; adding a new card or changing the main card retries the charge automatically. One reminder is sent 6 hours before that deadline. Check-in does not open until the payment goes through.
• If a charge is declined less than 12 hours before the start (for example, at check-in), the renter has 1 hour to pay.
• If the trip is still unpaid at the deadline, the booking is cancelled automatically as a cancellation by the renter. Since this is less than 24 hours before the start, the first day’s rental is owed under the 24-hour rule (see “Cancellations and no-shows”). The car is freed, and the renter and the host are notified.
• If a weekly payment is declined during the trip, the trip is not stopped: the renter pays it in the app in the same way, and the restriction below applies until it is paid.
• While the renter has an open debt (an unpaid Joldar invoice for an extra charge, the part of a claim beyond the deposit or a cancellation fee, or a traffic fine not paid by its deadline, 48 hours after the fine notice) or a booking whose trip payment is overdue or whose deposit hold the bank did not renew (on a long trip the deposit hold is renewed while the trip runs), they cannot make new bookings or extend trips. A trip already under way is never stopped.
• As soon as everything is paid (or, for the deposit, a card that passes the hold is added), the restriction lifts by itself; there is no need to ask anyone. The app shows the reason and where to pay.

The deposit is not part of the trip price: it is held separately, at check-in.

Conduct during the trip

Check-in opens in the app 3 hours before the trip starts. Both parties inspect the car together, take photos in the app, record the odometer reading and fuel level, and confirm. Only then is the trip considered started and the deposit held on the card.

During the trip the renter is fully responsible for the car. Any incident (an accident, a scratch, broken glass, a breakdown) must be reported through the app within 24 hours. In a traffic accident, first call the police and get an official police report; a claim without a police report may not be considered.

The photo report is repeated at check-out. A fuel shortfall is calculated at 290 ₸/l, distance beyond the daily km limit at the extra-km rate stated in the listing, and late return at the daily price; these amounts are charged to the renter’s card.

Ending a long trip early

• Weeks of a weekly-paid trip that have already started are not refunded.
• Returning early with notice: on the trip page in the app (“Return early”), the renter sets a new return time at least 24 hours ahead. The host is notified, the trip’s end moves to that time, and the car’s calendar is free after it. Weekly payments whose week starts at or after the new return time are cancelled; a weekly payment already charged for such a week is refunded to the card.
• Without notice: if the renter brings the car back early and checks out without having given notice, weekly payments whose week starts within 24 hours after the check-out are still charged; later ones are cancelled (refunded if already charged).
• Re-pricing: a trip priced with a length discount (weekly −10% from 7 days, monthly −25% from 30 days, when the host offers them) that ends early is re-priced: the days actually billed (the weeks that started and are not refunded) are priced at the discount that number of days earns. For example, 21 days earn the weekly −10% if the host offers it, otherwise no discount. The service fee follows the rental; the protection plan and delivery do not change.
• The difference is charged to the saved card at check-out, as a separate line together with the check-out extras (mileage, fuel). If the card declines, it is taken from the deposit like unpaid extras.

Example: the host offers weekly and monthly discounts; a 30-day trip booked at −25% is ended with notice on day 20. Weeks 1–3 (21 days) stay charged and weeks 4–5 are cancelled (if week 4 was already charged, it is refunded to the card). The 21 days are re-priced at −10%, and the difference is charged at check-out.

Cancellations and no-shows

The renter cancels more than 24 hours before the trip

If the trip has not been charged yet, nothing is charged; if it has, a full refund (rental price, service fee, protection plan).

The renter cancels less than 24 hours before the trip

The rental price for the first day is kept; the rest and the service fee are refunded. Weekly payments of a long trip that have not been charged yet are not charged. If the trip money was not charged (the bank declined it), the first day’s rental is charged to the saved card; if that charge fails too, it becomes a debt: a “cancellation fee” invoice the renter pays in the app.

The trip is not paid by the deadline

The booking is cancelled automatically 12 hours before the trip starts (1 hour after a later decline) as a cancellation by the renter, and is treated as a cancellation less than 24 hours before the trip: the first day’s rental is owed. The car is freed and both parties are notified.

The host cancels

The renter pays nothing: any amount charged is refunded in full. The host gets a mark on their rating; repeated cancellations lead to the listing being temporarily closed.

The host does not reply to the request within 60 minutes

The request closes automatically and no money is charged.

The renter does not show up for check-in (no-show)

The host waits 2 hours and marks “did not show up” in the app. This is treated as a cancellation less than 24 hours before the trip.

The host does not show up for check-in

After 30 minutes the renter contacts support; full refund and action against the host.

The amounts kept and the refund times are described in full in the Help center. Refunds reach the card within 3–10 business days, depending on the bank. A refund made more than 14 days after the charge is sent to the same card as a payout: the renter receives the full amount and Joldar pays the payout fee.

Fines and extra charges

By law, fines issued during the trip by the Sergek traffic camera system, the police or a parking operator are sent to the car’s owner. Joldar matches the time and place of the fine against the trip data and re-issues it to the renter. The renter has 48 hours from the moment the notice is sent to dispute it; if they don’t, the amount is charged to their card.

If the fine is paid within the discount period set by law, the discount is kept: Joldar sends the notice immediately so that payment can be made on time. The host can issue a fine within 90 days after the trip ends; later fines are not handled through the platform.

Charges for fuel, extra km, late return, cleaning and smoke odor are deducted on the basis of an invoice the host issues in the app, supported by a receipt or photos.

Measures for breaking the rules

Warning

A minor first-time breach: late return, an incomplete photo report, an inaccuracy in the listing.

Mark on rating

An unjustified cancellation by the host, repeated late returns by the renter.

Temporary block (7–30 days)

A false invoice (first time). An unpaid debt does not block the account: until it is paid, only new bookings and extensions are closed (see “Paying for the trip” above).

Off-platform deal

First confirmed case: a written warning. Second: account suspension (no new bookings, listings hidden; trips already under way can be finished).

Objectionable content, insults, harassment

The message, review or listing text is hidden and the user is warned; if it happens again, the account is suspended (no bookings, messages or listings; a trip already under way can be finished). For threats or violence, the account may be suspended at once.

Permanent removal from the platform

Handing the car to a third party, drunk driving, forged documents, fraud, a second false invoice, threatening safety.

Report to law enforcement

Theft, failure to return the car, violence, threats, fraud.

Disputes and deadlines

All disputes are handled through the “Claim” section in the app. Key deadlines: damage report within 24 hours after check-out; the host’s invoice, supported by a receipt, within 72 hours; the renter’s reply or dispute within 48 hours; additional documents within 15 days.

Joldar support makes the decision based on the photo report, metadata, receipts and the parties’ explanations. The outcome is communicated to both parties in writing (in the app and by email). A party who disagrees with the decision may go to court in the manner set out in the Terms of use.

Late reports, claims without photos or receipts, and disputes about arrangements made outside the platform are not considered.