Introduction

At BUDGET TOURS ONLINE (India) (hereafter referred to as "BTO"), we understand the significance of safeguarding our users' privacy and keeping their information confidential. As a responsible data controller and processor, we have implemented practices for handling and securing Personal Information (defined below) of our users and affiliates. This Privacy Policy applies to anyone (‘User’) who intends to purchase, purchases, or inquires about any of BTO's products or services via any of the Sales Channels, including the website, mobile site, mobile app, call centers, and offices. In this Privacy Policy, "you" or "your" refers to the User, and "we", "us", "our" refers to BTO. "Website" means BTO's website(s), mobile app(s), and mobile site(s). By accessing the Website or other Sales Channels, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with this Privacy Policy, please refrain from accessing or using our Website or other Sales Channels. Please note that this Privacy Policy does not apply to any third-party websites, mobile apps, or sites of BTO's business partners, advertisers, or sponsors, even if their websites/products are linked to our Website. You are advised to review the privacy statements and policies of any such third parties before interacting with them. This Privacy Policy is an integral part of your User Agreement with BTO, and all capitalized terms used herein shall have the respective meanings as ascribed to them in the User Agreement.

Thank you for visiting Budget Tours Online ("the Website"). By accessing or using our website, you acknowledge and agree to the following disclaimer. Please read it carefully before proceeding.

User outside the georaphical limits of india

Kindly note that any personal data shared with BTO will be primarily processed in India or other jurisdictions where a third party engaged by BTO may process the data on their behalf. By accepting this policy, you are providing BTO with your explicit consent to process your personal information for the purposes outlined in this policy. It is important to note that data protection regulations in India or other jurisdictions may differ from those of your country of residence. In the event that you have concerns regarding the processing of your personal data and wish to withdraw your consent, you may do so by writing to the following email id: info@budgettoursonline.com. However, please note that if processing of your data is essential for BTO to provide services to you, we may not be able to serve or confirm your bookings after your withdrawal of consent. For example, if you wish to book an international holiday package in fixed departures (group bookings), certain personal information of yours such as contact details, gender, dietary preferences, choice of room with smoking facility, any medical condition requiring specific attention or facility, etc. may have to be shared by us with our vendors in each city where you will stay. They may further process this information to make suitable arrangements for you during the holiday. Such sharing and processing of information may extend to the hotel where you will stay or the tour manager who will be your guide during the travel. If you withdraw your consent for us to process your information, it may severely inhibit our ability to serve you properly, and in such case, we may have to refuse the booking altogether or unreasonably restrict us to service your booking (if a booking is already made) which may further affect your trip or may compel us to cancel your booking.

Type of information we collect and its legal basis

We collect certain information from users to provide the services they choose and to comply with legal and contractual obligations. This "Personal Information" includes data shared by users and collected by us for various purposes, such as registration on the website, which may include information about your personal identity, contact details, banking details, payment history, and other lifestyle-related information. We may also collect transactional history, security-related information, data created by users or third parties, data available in the public domain, information about other travelers for whom you make a booking, and documents related to visa services. If a user requests visa-related services, we may collect copies of their passport, bank statements, and other information required by the respective embassy to process the visa application. For international bookings, users may be required to provide details such as their PAN information or passport details number. If users choose contactless check-in at hotels, we may collect their government identification, self-declaration, and other information required by the hotel to honor the booking. Additionally, we may collect a user's Covid-19 vaccination status and certificate if they wish to access services that require such information. We will use this information only for the specified purposes and will share it with service providers or third parties as necessary to facilitate the desired booking. We will always redact sensitive and confidential information contained in documents submitted for availing services or booking a product on the website.

How we use your personal information

We collect personal information from our users for various reasons, including making bookings and keeping users informed of transaction statuses. When making a booking, we may use payment details, including cardholder name, encrypted credit/debit card numbers, banking details, and wallet details. We may also use the information of travelers linked to your account to enable quick bookings. We may contact you via SMS, WhatsApp, or other messaging services to confirm bookings, send updates or changes, and request product or service reviews. We value user opinions and frequently conduct surveys to improve our services and develop appealing content, features, and promotions. Participation in these surveys is optional, and user identities are kept anonymous unless otherwise stated. Marketing promotions, research, and programs help us identify user preferences and improve user experience. We may sponsor promotions to give users the chance to win travel-related prizes, and personal information collected for such activities may include contact information and survey questions. We occasionally send marketing emails, newsletters, and exclusive promotions offering special deals or updates on our services. If you email us with a question, we will use your personal information to respond and may store it to improve our website's usability. We may launch reward programs that require personal information to enroll users, and we may share it with a third party responsible for fulfilling rewards. You may opt-out of such programs by contacting us. We may verify customer information, including credit information, on a selective basis for fraud detection and offering bookings on credit. We may also share anonymized and/or aggregated data with third parties for tasks such as payment processing, data hosting, data processing, and assessing creditworthiness.

How long do we keep your personal information?

According to our privacy policy, BTO will keep your Personal Information on its servers for as long as it is necessary to achieve the purposes listed in the policy. However, there may be instances where we may need to retain your Personal Information for longer periods of time, such as complying with legal, regulatory, tax or accounting obligations. We also ensure that once your personal data is no longer needed, it will either be securely deleted or stored in a way that it is not used by the business anymore.

If you want to delete your account, you can do so by mailing us to info@budgettoursonline.com

Cookies and session data

BTO utilizes cookies to enhance your experience on the website and ensure that the displayed advertisements are personalized. The use of cookies by BTO is similar to that of other reputable online companies. Cookies are small pieces of information that are stored by your browser on your device's hard drive. These cookies enable us to serve you better and more efficiently. They also allow quick and easy access by logging you in without having to enter your login name each time (only your password is needed). Additionally, we may use cookies to display advertisements on the website or send offers focusing on destinations that may be of your interest (provided you have not opted out of receiving such emails). Advertising servers or third-party advertising companies may also place cookies for tracking the effectiveness of advertising served by us on any website. They may also use aggregated statistics about your visits to the website to provide advertisements on the website or any other website about services that may be of potential interest to you. The anonymous information so collected through the use of a pixel tag is an industry-standard technology and is used by all major websites. No personal information is collected during this process.

Most web browsers automatically accept cookies. However, you can control how and whether cookies will be accepted by your browser by changing the options on your web browser or using certain software programs. While BTO supports your right to block any unwanted Internet activity, blocking BTO cookies may disable certain features on the website and hinder an otherwise seamless experience to purchase or use certain services available on the website. You can block cookie activity from certain websites while permitting cookies from websites you trust. Each time you access the website, your session data gets logged, including the IP address, operating system, type of browser software being used, and the activities conducted by you on the website. We collect session data as it helps us analyze your choices, browsing pattern, including the frequency of visits and duration for which you are logged on. It also helps us diagnose problems with our servers and administer our systems better. The collected information cannot identify you personally, but it may be possible to determine your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and the approximate geographic location of your point of connectivity through the session data.

With whom your personal information is shared

When you book a service with us, we may share your information with the service providers responsible for fulfilling your booking, such as airlines, hotels, bus or cab rental companies, railways, or other suppliers. By making a booking with us, you authorize us to share your information with them. Please note that we only authorize the service providers to use your information for the purpose of fulfilling their services, and we cannot be held accountable for how they use your information beyond that. As they process your personal information independently, we advise you to review their privacy policies before choosing to avail of their services. We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties, except for sharing it with our business partners or vendors who provide referral services and promotional benefits to our customers based on their booking history with us. For the purpose of improving personalization and service efficiency,

we may share your personal information with our affiliate or associate entities, under secure circumstances. This enables us to provide you with information about various products and services related to leisure or travel, as well as address your queries and requests in relation to your bookings. If we decide to sell, transfer, or assign our business or any part of it, including subsidiaries or business units, we may transfer the collected personal information accordingly. We may also share filtered personal information with our corporate affiliates or business partners, such as entities offering co-branded credit cards, travel insurance, or banking services. If you choose to avail of such services, they will be governed by the privacy policy of the respective service provider. We may engage third parties to perform certain tasks on our behalf, such as payment processing, data hosting, and data processing platforms, and may share your personal information with them. We use non-identifiable personal information in aggregate or anonymized form to perform statistical analysis of our customers and visitors, and to measure demographics and interests regarding specific areas of our website. We may provide anonymous statistical information to suppliers, advertisers, affiliates, and other business partners, and use it for our legitimate purposes, including commercial sale to third parties. We may also hire third parties for market research or surveys, and provide them with information solely for completing the specific project, in compliance with applicable regulations and confidentiality agreements.

Disclosure of information

Please note that BTO may disclose your Personal Information under certain circumstances. This may include situations where BTO is required to do so by law, such as when it is required by an enforcement authority for investigation, by court order or in reference to any legal process. Additionally, BTO may disclose your Personal Information to conduct its business, for regulatory, internal compliance and audit exercise(s), to secure its systems, or to enforce or protect its rights or properties, as well as the rights and properties of its affiliates, associates, employees, directors or officers. BTO may also disclose your Personal Information if it has reason to believe that it is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may be causing interference with its rights or properties, intentionally or otherwise, or if anyone else could be harmed by such activities. Please note that such disclosure and storage of your Personal Information may take place without your knowledge. In such cases, BTO will not be liable to you or any third party for any damages arising from such disclosure and storage.

User generated content

At BTO, users can share their experiences with others by posting reviews, ratings, and poll questions. Additionally, customers can ask questions about BTO's services and answer questions from other users. BTO may also hire a third party to gather feedback on recent bookings, but participation in this feedback process is entirely optional. You may receive emails, notifications, or messages from various platforms asking for your review or answer to a question. Reviews can be written or in video format and may appear on other travel-related platforms. The UGC collected by BTO includes reviews and ratings, Q&A, and crowd-sourced data collection through poll questions. Each user who posts reviews, ratings, or photographs will have a profile that other users can access. Other users may see how many trips a user has taken, the reviews they've written, and the questions they've asked and answered

Privacy Policy (EU and UK)

We, BUDGET TOURS ONLINE (India) (also known as ‘BTO’, ‘the Company’, or ‘we’), value and prioritize the privacy and security of our clients. We understand that personal and financial information should be kept confidential, and we take all necessary measures to ensure the safety and privacy of your details when you share them with us. Our commitment to protecting your personal information is unwavering. This document outlines how we utilize and process your personal data, and we have presented it in a clear and transparent manner. It also highlights the rights that you possess with regard to your personal data, and how you can exercise them. Moreover, we urge you to read our Cookie Statement, which provides information on how we use cookies and other similar tracking technologies. As a client, you have the following rights regarding your personal data: the right to information, access, correction, deletion, restriction of processing, objection to processing, and data portability. If processing is based on your consent, you have the right to revoke it at any time.

Rights to object to processing of data based on legitimate interests

Under Article 21(1) of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679, you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data when it is processed under Article 6(1)(e) or Article 6 (1)(f) GDPR for reasons arising out of your particular situation. This also includes profiling. If you choose to exercise this right, we will cease processing your personal data unless we have compelling and legitimate reasons for doing so that outweigh your interests, rights, and freedoms, or if the processing is necessary for legal claims.

Rights to object to direct marketing

If we use your personal data for direct marketing purposes, you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data at any time under Article 21(2) of the GDPR. This includes profiling, as long as it is related to direct marketing. If you choose to object, we will stop processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes.

The processing of personal data when using the services

At BTO, we value the information you provide to us and use it to ensure the best possible experience for you. When you make a reservation, we collect your name and email address as a minimum. Depending on your reservation, we may also ask for your home address, telephone number, payment information, date of birth, current location (in the case of on-demand services), the names of the people travelling with you, and any preferences you might have for your trip/stay. Moreover, in some cases, you may also be able to check-in online with the Booking agency, for which we will ask you to share passport information or a driving license and signatures. If you need to contact our customer service team, contact your booking agency through us, or reach out to us in a different way (such as social media or via a chatbot), we will collect information from you there too. This applies whether you are contacting us with feedback or asking for help using our services. Furthermore, we may invite you to write reviews to help inform others about the experiences you had on your trip/stay. When you write a review on the BTO platform, we will collect any information you have included, along with your display name.

If you create a user account, we will also store your personal settings, uploaded photos, and reviews of previous bookings. This saved data can be used to help you plan and manage future reservations or benefit from other features only available to account holders (such as incentives or other benefits). If you are making a reservation for someone else, you will provide their details as part of the reservation. In some cases, you might use BTO to share information with others, such as sharing a Wishlist, taking part in a travel community, or participating in a referral program. Whether or not you end up making a reservation, we automatically collect certain information when you visit our websites or apps. This includes your IP address, the date and time you accessed our services, and information about your computer's hardware and software (such as the operating system, the internet browser used, software/application version data, and your language settings). We also collect information about clicks and which pages have been shown to you. If you're using a mobile device, we collect data that identifies the device, as well as data about your device-specific settings and characteristics, app crashes, and other system activity. When you make a booking arrangement using this kind of device, our system registers how you made your reservation (on which website), and/or which site you came from when you entered the BTO website or app. In addition, we may receive information about you from other sources, such as business partners, of the corporate group, and other independent third parties. Anything we receive from these partners may be combined with information provided by you. We use the information collected about you for a variety of purposes, including managing your reservation, improving our services, and communicating with you. Your personal data may also be used to comply with legal and regulatory requirements or to protect our rights and property.

Share data with third parties

When necessary, we may need to share your personal data with third-party entities. These may include the following: - Booking agencies: To complete your booking, we will provide relevant reservation details to the booking agency you have chosen. This is a critical aspect of our service to you. Depending on the booking arrangement and agency, we may share your name, contact and payment details, the names of your companions, and any other information or preferences you specified during booking. We may also provide additional historical information about you, such as a confirmation of past bookings with the agency, the percentage of bookings you've cancelled previously, or any reviews you've left about past bookings. In cases where you have a query about your trip or stay, we may contact the booking agency to handle your request. If you have not made payment through the BTO website, we will forward your credit card details to the booking agency for further handling, provided you have provided us with those details. In the event of claims or disputes relating to your booking, we may provide the booking agency with your contact details and other information about the booking process to resolve the situation. - Connectivity Providers: Some booking agencies may require us to share your personal data with a contracted Connectivity Provider to finalize and administrate your reservation. Connectivity providers act on behalf of booking agencies and help them to manage their reservations. - Local BTO office:

To support the use of BTO services, your details may be shared with subsidiaries of the BTO corporate group, including for customer service. - Third-party service providers: We use external service providers to support us in providing our services. These include customer support, market research, fraud detection and prevention (including anti-fraud screening), insurance claims, and payment processing. When a chargeback is requested for your booking arrangement, either by you or by the holder of the credit card used to make your reservation, we need to share certain reservation details with the payment service provider and the relevant financial institution so they can handle the chargeback. We may share information with relevant financial institutions if we consider it strictly necessary for fraud detection and prevention purposes. - Marketing services: We share personal data with advertising partners, including your email address, as part of marketing BTO services via third parties.

We use techniques such as hashing to enable the matching of your email address with an existing customer database so that your email address cannot be used for other purposes. For information on other personalized advertisements and your choices, please read our cookie policy. - Advertising partners: We use advertising partners such as metasearch providers to allow you to compare our offers with offers from other Online Travel Agencies (OTAs). When you make a reservation on BTO after using an advertising partner, we will send the details of the reservation that you made on BTO to that partner. - Competent authorities: We disclose personal data to law enforcement to the extent that it is required by law or is strictly necessary for the prevention, detection or prosecution of criminal acts and fraud, or if we are otherwise legally obliged to do so. We may need to further disclose personal data to competent authorities to protect and defend our rights or properties, or the rights and properties of our business partners. - Business partners: We work with many business partners around the world. These business partners distribute and advertise BTO services, including the services and products of our booking agencies. When you make a reservation on one of our business partners’ websites or apps, certain personal data that you give them may be shared with us to complete your booking.

When you decide to share your information, your social media provider will inform you of what details will be shared. For instance, if you sign in to your BTO user account using your social media account, certain information from that account may be shared with BTO. This may include your email address, age, and profile pictures depending on what you authorize in your social media account. If you register with a BTO social media app or connect to a social media messaging service without having a BTO user account, the information you choose to share with us may include the basic information available on your social media profile such as your email address, status updates, and the list of your contacts. We use this information to provide the service you requested, such as forwarding a message to your contacts or creating a personalized user experience in the app or on our websites. With this information, we can tailor our services to fit your needs, connect you with your friends, and analyze and improve our travel-related services.

Your social media provider can give you more information about how they use and process your data when you connect to BTO through them. They may also combine the personal data they collect when you use BTO with information they collect when you use other online platforms that you have linked to your social media account. If you decide to connect using your Facebook or Google account, please review the following links for information about how these parties use the data they receive: Facebook and Google. To safeguard your personal data, we have procedures in place to prevent unauthorized access and misuse of your data. We use appropriate business systems and procedures to protect and safeguard the personal data you provide us. We also use security procedures and technical and physical restrictions to access and use the personal data on our servers. Only authorized personnel are permitted to access personal data in the course of their work. We will keep your personal data for as long as it is necessary to enable you to use our services or to provide our services to you. We also retain your data to comply with applicable laws, resolve any disputes, and conduct our business, including detecting and preventing fraud and illegal activities. All personal data we keep about you as a BTO customer is covered by this Privacy Statement.

For added protection, we strongly recommend that you set up two-factor authentication for your BTO user account. This adds an extra authentication step to make sure that anyone who gets hold of your username and password won't be able to access your account. You can set this up in the Security section of your account settings. We do not collect personal data from children under the age of 16 unless it's provided by and with the consent of a parent or guardian. If we become aware that we've processed the information of a child under the age of 16 without the valid consent of a parent or guardian, we will delete it. You are in control of your personal data and can ask us for a copy of the personal data we hold about you. You can also inform us of any changes to your personal data, and we will make the necessary corrections. In certain situations, you can ask us to erase or block the processing of the personal data we hold about you, or you can object to ways in which we are using your personal data. Additionally, you can ask us to send the personal data you have given us to a third party. If we are using your personal data based on your consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time, and if we process your personal data based on legitimate interest or public interest, you can object to that use of your personal data at any time. We rely on you to ensure that your personal information is complete, accurate, and current, so please inform us of any changes or inaccuracies in your personal information as soon as possible.

Use of cookies

Cookies will be stored on your device during the use of our website. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your hard drive assigned to the browser you use, and through which the place where the cookie is set accrues certain information. They serve to make the website more user-friendly and efficient overall. We also use cookies to be able to identify you in subsequent visits.

This website uses the following types of cookies, whose extent and function are explained in the following:

Persistent / Permanent cookies

Persistent cookies helps us recognise you as an existing user, so it’s easier for you to return to our sales channel without signing in again. After signing in, the persistent cookies stay on your browser and will be read when you return to our sales channel. These remain on your computer/device for a pre-defined period.

Session cookies

Session cookies only last for as long as the session exists, (they are erased when the user closes the browser).

Notice for Individuals Located in Europe

It's important to note that the following policies apply only to individuals accessing or using our services within the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and/or Switzerland. We may request you to identify your location when using our services, or we may determine your location based on your IP address. However, if you mask or hide your location information, we may not be able to apply the policies in this section to you. We act as a controller for any personal information collected from individuals using our services. We rely on legitimate interests or consent to contact individuals located in Europe by electronic means, including email or SMS, for marketing purposes. If you don't want us to use your personal information for such purposes, you can object to it at any time, free of charge.

Our legal bases for processing your information are: - We rely on our contract with you to provide and maintain our services, provide customer support, enforce compliance with our terms, agreements, or policies, and share your information with service providers. - We rely on your consent or legitimate interests to send you marketing and promotional emails, advise you of other services, and share your information with business partners, sponsors, or within our corporate organization. - We rely on legitimate interests to personalize your experience, conduct research and development, and share your information with board members or volunteers, or in relation to business transfers or bankruptcy. If you have any questions or concerns about your personal information, or want to contact us for any reason, you can email our Data Protection Officer at Info@budgettoursonline.com Finally, we may update our cookie statement from time to time, and we suggest you visit this page regularly to stay up to date on any updates.