See the fare before you agree to it.
Your quote reflects route, time, ride class and stops. Any expired quote is shown again before booking.
A fare, not a guess
A Topsy fare is worked out from your actual route before you agree to it. Nothing is added afterwards for the distance you travelled, because the price you accepted is the price the trip runs at.
- Distance and time
- The route between your pickup and your drop-off is measured, then priced per kilometre and per minute for the vehicle type. If the road data cannot be reached, the quote falls back to a direct-line estimate and says so rather than pretending to be exact.
- The ride option you pick
- Okada, Economy, Comfort, Premium and XL each scale the same route differently. You see all of them for your route before you choose, so the comparison is on the screen instead of in your head.
- Extra stops
- Every stop you add to a trip adds a fee to the quote. It is added before you confirm, not discovered at the second address.
- Conditions on the day
- Heavy rain, an unusually busy pickup area and more requests than drivers nearby can each lift a fare. Topsy sets a ceiling on how far that can go, so a hard evening in Accra cannot become an unrecognisable number.
- A floor under short trips
- Very short routes are held to a minimum fare. It keeps a two-street run worth a driver's time, which is the difference between a ride arriving and nobody accepting.
From an address to a fare you can hold
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Enter both ends of the trip
Pickup and drop-off, plus any stops along the way. The route is measured from those points rather than estimated from the two neighbourhood names.
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Compare the options for that route
Every ride option available on your route is priced at the same time, with its fare and how many people it seats. You are choosing between real numbers, not booking blind and finding out after.
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The fare is held for ten minutes
Once you have a quote on the website, that fare is locked for ten minutes while you decide. The clock exists because a route priced an hour ago is not a price anyone should be held to.
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An expired quote is re-priced in front of you
If the hold runs out, Topsy prices the same route again and shows you the new figure to accept or reject. Even inside the hold, the fare is checked once more at booking, and any change is shown before the trip is created.
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You pay the fare you accepted
The trip is created from a settled payment for the amount you agreed. When the trip ends, the fare does not move because the road was slower than expected.
The charges Topsy does not make
Most of the mistrust around app fares comes from the lines nobody mentioned at booking. It is worth being plain about the ones Topsy does not add at all.
Two charges can appear after a trip, and both are tied to something that actually happened on the road.
- Booking fee
- None. There is no service or platform charge stacked on top of your fare.
- Tax on the fare
- No tax line is added to a ride invoice.
- Hidden extras
- Nothing is added between the fare you accepted and the fare you are charged.
- Waiting
- Free for the first minutes Topsy allows. Beyond that it is charged per minute, from the waiting the driver actually recorded.
- Cancelling
- Free for the first two minutes. After that, a charge only applies if a driver was already on the way, and it is worked out from the distance they had covered.
Four things that come off the fare
- A promo code
- Applied to the quote before you confirm, so the discounted figure is the figure you accept. A code works once per person, can require a minimum fare, and can cap how much it takes off. On a repeating booking it applies to the first trip in the series.
- Points you have earned
- Rides earn points, and points can be redeemed against a later fare. They expire a year after you earn them, which is why the app shows the balance rather than leaving you to find out.
- Your membership tier
- Riding regularly moves you up a tier, and a tier can carry a percentage off every quote. It comes off the fare automatically before any promo code is applied.
- A company account
- Trips taken on Topsy Business are billed to the company in cedis against one invoice, with a receipt behind each trip, rather than paid personally and claimed back later.
Pay the way you already pay
- MTN MoMo, charged to the number on your account
- Telecel Cash, on the same flow
- A debit or credit card
- Your Topsy wallet, topped up in advance
- Cash to the driver, where the trip allows it
Mobile money asks for the network as well as the number, and the two have to match. If they do not, Topsy stops the charge and says so, instead of failing quietly at the moment you need the ride.
Before you book
Can the fare go up during the trip?
No. The fare you accepted is what the trip runs at. Only rider-caused waiting after the driver arrives and the free waiting window expires can be added. A flat tyre, vehicle defect or other driver-side delay is recorded as an incident and never added to your fare.
Why is the same route a different price today?
Rain, a busy pickup area, or more requests than available drivers nearby will each move a fare. Topsy caps how far the combined effect can push it, and every quote shows the current number before you commit rather than after.
What happens if my quote expires?
Topsy prices the same route again and shows you the new fare to accept or reject. You are never booked onto a number you have not seen.
Is a Topsy fare in cedis?
Yes. Every quote, discount, receipt and wallet balance on the platform is in Ghana cedis (GH₵).
What does it cost to cancel?
Nothing in the first two minutes. After that, a charge applies only when a driver had already accepted and started towards you, and it is based on the distance they had covered. It is recorded against your account rather than taken from you on the spot.
Do delivery prices work the same way?
A Topsy Send price is quoted from the route, the vehicle, the weight and the number of drop-offs, and is confirmed before you book. You can also see the breakdown behind the figure.
Price your next trip.
Enter a pickup and a drop-off, and see every ride option for that route with its fare attached.