OkBell for payers and members

Your class, gym, PG, society or club uses OkBell to remind you when a fee is due, to give you a receipt when you pay, and, if they use them, for notices, meetings and gate passes. You do not need an account or an app: everything opens from the link in a message, on pay.okbell.app.

This guide is shown on okbell.app/guides/payer and in OkBell's admin console, so support reads the same words you do. Examples use Lakshmi, who pays ₹1,500 a month for her son Ravi's class at "Sunrise Music Classes" in Indiranagar, Bengaluru; a resident of "Green Leaf PG" in Kondapur, Hyderabad; and a flat owner at "Palm Grove Society" in Dubai (AED 350 a month).

In one minute

The business sends the reminders, through OkBell. Messages say "Sent by OkBell on behalf of the business". The business decides what you owe; OkBell only sends its reminders and receipts.
You pay the business, never OkBell. The pay link takes you to the business's own payment page. Money goes straight to the business. You can also pay them in cash, by bank transfer or by UPI, as before, and they mark it paid.
A receipt for every payment, cash included, by link.
You stay in charge of the messages. Reply STOP and that business sends you no more reminders. Reply PAID (or tap Already paid) and the reminders pause while the business checks.
OkBell never asks for your PIN, password or OTP, and an OkBell QR code never asks you to pay.
Your details belong to the business. Ask them to change or remove them.

Your reminders

The business adds you as a payer with your name, a reference (a roll or flat number) and your phone or email. If the fee is for a child, only the child's first name is added: "Monthly fee for Ravi". OkBell then sends you messages for each fee:

A few days before the due date: "This is a reminder from Sunrise Music Classes. The fee of ₹1,500 for Monthly fee for Ravi is due on 5 Dec." with a button to pay.
On the due date.
A few days after, if it is still not marked paid, with an Already paid button.
A last reminder about a week after.

After that, OkBell sends nothing more about that fee by itself; the business may call you. If you gave the business a second contact (a parent, a spouse) and that person agreed, they may be told a few days after the due date. A second contact is never messaged until they agree themselves, from the request OkBell sends them once.

How the reminders come:

By WhatsApp first, then SMS, then email, as the business has your details. An SMS carries a short link like `pay.okbell.app/s/…`.
Only in the business's reminder hours (often 09:00 to 20:00 in the business's time zone), never on its closed days or national holidays.
At most one reminder a day from the same business. If you owe two fees, one message covers both.
A payment stops them. A part payment pauses them for a week.
Some businesses use their own WhatsApp number; the rules are the same.

What you can reply:

PAID (or tap Already paid): the reminders for those fees pause for 3 days and the business is asked to check. If they find the payment, they mark it paid. If not, the reminders start again.
STOP: that business sends you no more reminders through OkBell, on any channel. Receipts can still reach you. STOP ALL stops every business that uses OkBell. START turns reminders from that business back on. Nobody else can turn them back on for you.

A short link (`pay.okbell.app/s/…`, in an SMS or a message the business sent you from its own WhatsApp) opens the same page as the long link: your pay page, a receipt, a notice, a meeting, your member page or a pass. It lasts as long as the page it stands for. If it no longer works, the page says "This link is not valid or has expired. Please ask the business for a new one."

Stop reminders (the stop link at the bottom of an email): the page says "You will not get reminders from Sunrise Music Classes through OkBell any more. Payment receipts can still reach you." Tap Stop reminders. It says "Done", and you can still contact the business directly. A stop link works for a year. One-click unsubscribe in your email app does the same.

Automated calls. Some businesses can make one automated reminder call, as the very last reminder. It calls you only if you said yes to calls yourself, on your pay page (see Paying a due). It says how much is due and when. Press 9 during a call to stop the calls.

Paying a due

Your pay page opens from Pay in a reminder. It shows:

"Pay Sunrise Music Classes" and "Hello Lakshmi".
Each fee you owe, with its due date and amount, already ticked. Untick a fee to pay the rest later.
The Total and a button such as Pay ₹1,500.
Fees already being collected by Direct Debit, marked "You do not need to pay it again".
Automated calls, when the business offers them: tick "Yes, Sunrise Music Classes may call me with an automated reminder about money due" and tap Save my choice, or Stop these calls if you said yes before. The page shows the number the call would go to. You can only agree from a link sent to your own phone.

What you may see instead:

"Nothing is due right now. Thank you." when every fee is paid.
"Online payment is not available right now. Please pay Sunrise Music Classes directly." when the business has not connected an online payment account. Pay them the usual way; they mark it paid.
"Please wait for the check to finish, then try again." A short check stops robots; wait a second and tap again.
"These fees are in different currencies. Please pay them one at a time."
"This link is not valid or has expired." A pay link lasts 60 days; ask the business for a new one, or use the link in your latest reminder.

How you pay depends on the business's country and its payment provider:

India (Razorpay): a page says "You will pay ₹1,500 to Sunrise Music Classes on Razorpay's secure page." Tap Continue to payment and pay by UPI, card or net banking on Razorpay's page.
UAE (Ziina, Mamo or Telr): you go straight to the provider's own page for the business.
UK and euro countries (GoCardless): the button says Pay £45 by Direct Debit. You set up a Direct Debit on GoCardless's page, and the business then takes what you owe from your bank account.

You type your card or UPI details only on the provider's page, never on OkBell. OkBell never sees them.

After paying on Razorpay's page you come back to OkBell, which says:

"Thank you. Sunrise Music Classes has received your payment." with View your receipt.
"Your payment is being confirmed. You do not need to pay again. We will send your receipt when it is done." Wait for the receipt; do not pay twice.
"The payment did not go through. No money was taken. You can try again." with Try again.
"You left the payment page. Nothing was paid." with Try again.

After paying on Ziina's, Mamo's or Telr's page you come back to the same kind of page: paid (with your receipt), being confirmed, did not go through, or you left the page. OkBell asks the provider itself, so what the page says is what the provider confirmed.

After setting up a Direct Debit the page says, for example, "Your Direct Debit is set up. Palm Grove Society will take AED 350 from your bank account on 5 Dec. You do not need to pay again." GoCardless emails you before the money is taken, and you can cancel the Direct Debit with your bank at any time.

When a payment is confirmed, the reminders for that fee stop, you get a "Thank you" message with your receipt number, and your second contact, if they were told about it, hears that it is paid.

Paid in cash or straight to the business? Tell them, or reply PAID. Only the business can mark it paid; OkBell cannot see payments made outside its pay page.

AutoPay

Some businesses in India let you pay your next fees automatically with UPI AutoPay, from your UPI app, into the business's own account.

On your pay page, tap Pay now and set up AutoPay. The page says, for example, "You will pay ₹1,500 now and allow Sunrise Music Classes to collect future fees up to ₹15,000 each by UPI AutoPay."
Approve it in your UPI app.
Before each later payment you get a message with the amount and the date, and a button to skip that one payment.

If a payment does not go through, you get a message with a link to pay the usual way, and the reminders take over for that fee. To stop AutoPay for good, cancel the AutoPay (the mandate) in your UPI app; your later fees then come with ordinary reminders.

Skip one AutoPay payment (from the button in the message before a payment): the page says "₹1,500 to Sunrise Music Classes is set for 5 Dec. Skip this one payment? Your AutoPay stays on for later fees." Tap Skip this payment. Skipping is free. The page then says "Done. This payment will not be collected. Please pay Sunrise Music Classes another way." Once the payment is too close or already taken, it says "This payment can no longer be skipped." The skip link lasts 7 days.

Receipts and statements

Your receipt opens from View your receipt after paying, or from the link in the "Thank you" message. It shows:

The business's name, the receipt number (like `RCPT-BLR1-000041`) and the date.
"Received from Lakshmi", each fee paid and the Total received.
How you paid (online payment, UPI AutoPay, Direct Debit, cash, bank transfer, UPI, cheque or other) and the payment reference, when there is one.
"Issued by Sunrise Music Classes. OkBell (okbell.app) is the software used to send this receipt."

To keep a copy, use your browser's Print and choose Save as PDF. The receipt link works for two years. If the business cancels a payment, the receipt says "This receipt has been cancelled."

In the UAE, a business registered for VAT may give a "Simplified tax invoice" with its TRN and the VAT included. If you are registered for VAT yourself, ask the business for a full tax invoice. In other countries a receipt says it is not a tax invoice, or has no tax lines.

Statements. There is no statement page for payers. If you want a statement of what you owed and paid over some months, ask the business: if they use statements, they can print one for you.

Notices, meetings and your member page

Some businesses, such as societies and clubs, share notices, polls and meetings with their members. Each member (a flat, a member, a student's family) gets their own link, sent by someone at the business from their own WhatsApp. Anyone in your household who has your link answers for you.

Your member page

Your own page (`pay.okbell.app/h/…`), sent to you by the business, shows your flat or member number and:

Notices, with "please answer" next to a decision you have not answered.
Meetings, with their dates.
Gate passes this week, when the business uses the gate: make A pass for a visitor and send it on WhatsApp (see below), or Cancel this pass.
Your daily help: when your cook or cleaner came in and went out over the last 7 days, when the business keeps regular passes.

The link lasts 90 days. If you lost your phone or sent the link to the wrong chat, ask the business for a new one: the old link stops working at once.

Reporting a problem

A fee looks wrong, or you already paid. Only the business can change what you owe. Reply PAID if you paid, and contact the business about the amount. OkBell support cannot change a fee or mark it paid.

You get reminders you did not ask for. Reply STOP to that business, or STOP ALL. If you are not a member of that business at all, also tell OkBell support (the address is on okbell.app/contact) with the business's name, so we can look at it.

A message or page asks for your PIN, password, OTP or card number. It is not from OkBell. OkBell's pages are on pay.okbell.app and okbell.app only, and they never ask for these. Payment details are typed only on the payment provider's own page.

A payment went through but the page still shows it as due. Do not pay again. Wait for the receipt; if none comes within an hour, contact the business with the payment reference from your bank or UPI app.

Your data

The business owns your record. It decides what to keep: your name, a reference, your phone or email, your language, a child's first name, your second contact, your dues, payments and receipts. OkBell keeps them for the business and acts only on its instructions.
To see, correct or remove your details, ask the business. OkBell support passes your request to the business; it does not change a business's records on its own.
Staff see your phone masked (`+91 98•••••210`). A team member allowed to see the full number opens it, and each time is recorded.
Your choices are your own. Only you agree to automated calls, and only your second contact agrees to their reminders. A STOP is kept as your record.
No marketing. OkBell never sends you offers, never sells your data and never uses it for ads. If you pay two businesses on OkBell, they are two separate records.
Payment details (card, UPI, bank) stay with the payment provider. OkBell never sees them.
Notices and polls: your answer goes to the business. In a private poll only the fact that you answered is kept with your name. Shared pages show flat or member numbers and counts, never your name or phone.
The gate: a visitor's name is deleted 90 days after the visit, and no phone, photo or ID number is kept. A worker's checks are kept as dates, never documents.

Questions

Is this message really from my class or society? Messages say the business's name and "Sent by OkBell on behalf of the business". Links go to pay.okbell.app. If in doubt, ask the business before you pay.

Does my money go to OkBell? No. You pay the business directly, on its own payment page or the usual way. OkBell never holds your money.

I paid in cash. Why do I still get reminders? The business has not marked it paid yet. Reply PAID: the reminders pause for 3 days while they check.

Can I pay only one of the fees on the page? Yes. Untick the fees you do not want to pay now, then pay.

The pay link says it is not valid. Pay links last 60 days. Use the link in your latest reminder, or ask the business for a new one.

I paid but the page says "being confirmed". Do not pay again. Your receipt comes when the payment is confirmed.

How do I stop the reminders? Reply STOP to that business's message, or use the stop link in an email. Reply START to turn them back on.

My mother got a message about my fee. Why? You (or the business) named her as your second contact, and she agreed. She is told only when a fee is late, and she can stop at any time.

Can I get a receipt again? Open the link in your "Thank you" message; it works for two years. Or ask the business.

How do I stop AutoPay? Skip one payment from the message before it, or cancel the AutoPay in your UPI app to stop it for good.

Who can see my answer to a society poll? The business sees each member's answer, unless the poll is private; then it sees only that you answered. Other members see counts, never your name.

My visitor's pass does not work at the gate. Check its times: a pass works only inside its window, and a one-entry pass works once. Make a new one from your member page, or ask the guard to call you.

How do I delete my details? Ask the business. They hold your record, and OkBell acts on their instructions.