Documentation

Guest Payments

How guests pay your restaurant directly at the counter, by cash on delivery, or by UPI to your own UPI ID, and how staff confirm a UPI payment.

Guests pay your restaurant directly. Zesty never collects, holds or settles a guest's money, on any plan. Zesty's own payment account is used only for your Zesty subscription and Zesty credit.

How a guest can pay

Method	When it is offered
At the counter	Always. Cash, card on your own terminal, or UPI at the counter, recorded by staff.
Cash on delivery	For delivery orders. The rider records the cash at the door.
UPI to your UPI ID	When the Location has a UPI ID set. The guest pays from their UPI app and tells Zesty they have paid.

The same rule applies on every guest surface: the web menu, a table or counter QR code, the customer app, and a payment link a staff member sends.

Setting up UPI

On the QR menu plan, open Settings → Payments, enter your UPI ID and the name guests see, and save. Leave the UPI ID empty for counter only.
On other plans, choose the payment mode for the Location: Counter only or Counter or UPI, and enter the UPI ID guests pay.

Guests pay that UPI ID, and you approve the payment on Orders. Check the UPI ID carefully: money sent to a wrong ID is between the guest, you and the bank.

Confirming a UPI payment

When a guest says they have paid by UPI, the order shows a UPI claim:

Guest says paid ₹X by UPI, with the UTR the guest entered (or "No UTR given")
a UPI claim chip on the order lists
a Needs attention row on the Location dashboard

Open your UPI app or bank statement. When the money has arrived, tap Approve. If it has not, tap Reject payment; the guest can pay another way.

Nothing starts until you approve

A pending UPI claim holds the order:

Accept still works, but only accepts the order. The kitchen does not start it until you approve the payment.
A UPI-paid delivery cannot be dispatched: no rider can be assigned, and it cannot be picked up or started, until you approve.
Cash on delivery never waits. The rider collects at the door.

An order paid by an approved UPI claim before the food is ready stays on the live list until it is ready, and the guest keeps seeing its kitchen step (Preparing, Ready) rather than a closed order.

Payment links

Staff can text a guest a UPI payment link for an order. The link pays your UPI ID. If the Location has no UPI ID, Zesty refuses to send one.

Because the money went to you, refunds come from you. Pay the guest back from your UPI app, bank or cash drawer, then record the refund against the order in Zesty so your records match. Zesty cannot refund a guest's payment. See the refund policy.

What changed

Zesty used to offer an online "Pay now" checkout for guests through Zesty's own payment account. It is gone. Locations that had chosen online payment now offer the counter plus UPI to their own UPI ID. Letting a restaurant connect its own payment gateway may come later.