How PawAddress verifies and ranks providers
This page explains every badge and paid label on PawAddress — what is checked, who checks it, how often, and whether the provider paid for it — and the exact order in which search results are shown.
Verification does not guarantee service quality. It tells you what PawAddress has checked, not how well a provider will look after your pet.
Basic Verified
Basic VerifiedFree
What is checked
- Identity: a selfie video holding Aadhaar and PAN, with a sworn declaration that the details given to PawAddress are true. Only the masked Aadhaar number is shown to pet parents; the number is stored for KYC and never shared.
- Phone number (OTP), bank details for payouts, and the services offered.
Who checks it
The PawAddress admin team, before the listing goes live.
How often
Once, at onboarding. Re-checked if the account details change.
Is it paid?
No. Every provider shown in search is at least Basic Verified.
What it does NOT mean
- The facility has not been inspected — not by video, not in person.
Facility Verified
Facility Verified₹9,999 a year, paid by the provider
What is checked
- A PawAddress inspector visits the facility in person and checks it against a 2-minute video tour the provider films and the photos on their profile.
- The video and photos are screened first; the physical inspection decides the badge.
- Everything in Basic Verified.
Who checks it
A PawAddress inspector, in person.
How often
One physical inspection a year. The badge shows the date of the last inspection and is valid for one year from it.
Is it paid?
Yes — a paid programme. The badge appears only after the provider passes the inspection; nothing is shown while an application is pending. Sold only to boarding and daycare providers in cities where PawAddress inspects.
What it does NOT mean
- It does not cover insurance, CCTV or vet arrangements — those are checked only for Premium Partner.
- An inspection is a snapshot of one day. Conditions can change between visits.
Featured
Featured · Paid₹2,999 for 30 active days, paid by the provider
What is checked
- Nothing about the facility. Featured is paid placement, not verification.
- To buy it and keep it running, the provider needs at least 3 reviews from online bookings and a rating of 3.5★ or above.
Who checks it
Checked automatically at every search.
How often
Bought for up to 3 pincodes within 15 km of the provider; at most 3 Featured providers per pincode.
Is it paid?
Yes. Labelled “Featured · Paid” on the card. It only works in the pincodes bought.
What it does NOT mean
- It never ranks above Premium Partner or Facility Verified providers.
Spotlight Boost
Spotlight Boost · Paid₹199 for 48 hours, ₹399 for 7 days or ₹799 for 14 days, paid by the provider
What is checked
- Nothing about the facility. Spotlight Boost is a short-term paid placement, not verification.
- Same rating rule as Featured: at least 3 reviews from online bookings and 3.5★ or above.
Who checks it
Checked automatically at every search.
How often
Bought for exactly one pincode within 15 km; at most 2 Spotlight providers per pincode.
Is it paid?
Yes. Labelled “Spotlight Boost · Paid” on the card. It only works in the pincode bought.
What it does NOT mean
- It never ranks above Premium Partner, Facility Verified or Featured providers.
How search results are ranked
The same rules apply to every provider. The order is decided on our server; nothing is re-sorted in your browser. Pro and Pro+ software subscriptions never affect ranking.
Boarding and daycare — “Recommended” (the default)
We show approved boarding and daycare providers that match your filters and are located in the pincode you searched, are within 15 km of it, or have paid for a Featured or Spotlight placement in that pincode.
Results come in four distance blocks, nearest first:
- Located in the pincode you searched (or paid for that pincode)
- Up to 3 km away
- 3 to 7 km away
- 7 to 15 km away
Inside every block, providers are grouped in this order:
- Premium Partner — inspected every quarter (paid programme)
- Facility Verified — inspected once a year (paid programme)
- Featured — paid for your pincode, rated 3.5★ or above
- Spotlight Boost — paid for your pincode, rated 3.5★ or above
- Rated 3.5★ or above — at least 3 reviews from online bookings
- New on PawAddress — fewer than 3 reviews
Inside a group, ties are broken by: higher rating, then more reviews, then more reviews in the last 90 days, then faster average response to booking requests.
- Providers rated below 3.5★ (with 3 or more reviews) are listed after everyone else — including Premium Partners and Facility Verified providers — nearest block first, then by rating.
- A Featured or Spotlight placement only works in the pincode it was bought for. In every other search, that provider ranks like everyone else.
- Premium Partner and Facility Verified always rank above Featured and Spotlight Boost.
- Each provider appears once, in their best position.
- If you search by city or area name instead of a pincode, there are no distance blocks and no Featured or Spotlight placement; the group order is the same.
Nothing within 15 km
If no boarding provider is within 15 km of your pincode, we widen the search to 25 km, then 100 km, and say so above the results. Widened results have no distance blocks and no paid placement; each card shows its distance. If nothing is found within 100 km, you can ask to be told when a provider joins your pincode.
Grooming, walking and sitting (at your home)
- You need to enter a pincode. We show providers vetted by PawAddress for that service whose service area covers you: each sets a radius of 1–10 km around their location.
- Order: rated 3.5★ or above (3+ reviews) → New on PawAddress (fewer than 3 reviews) → rated below 3.5★.
- Ties: higher rating, then more reviews, then faster response, then shorter distance.
- No badges, no paid placement and no tier effect. Prices are fixed, so there is no price filter or price sort.
Other sort orders and the Sponsored strip
You can also sort by distance, highest rated, most reviewed, price (boarding only) or latest reviews. These are plain sorts over the same providers. For a boarding pincode search with any sort other than Recommended, page 1 shows a “Sponsored” strip above the list: up to 5 providers who paid for that pincode and match your filters, Featured first, then by rating. They also appear in their normal place in the list.
The rules behind the groups
- New rule: a provider with fewer than 3 reviews is shown as “New on PawAddress” (“No reviews yet” at zero).
- New-tier rule: a Premium Partner or Facility Verified provider with fewer than 3 reviews keeps their tier position for 90 days from their first inspection pass, or until their third review, whichever comes first. While they have fewer than 3 reviews the card also says “Paid programme”.
- 3.5★ rule: Featured and Spotlight need 3+ reviews and 3.5★ or above. Any provider below 3.5★ with 3+ reviews moves to the end of the results.
- Pause rule: if a provider with a Featured or Spotlight placement drops below 3.5★ (with 3+ reviews), the placement is paused at once and its remaining time is frozen. It resumes, with the paused time added back, when the rating is 3.5★ or above again. After 30 days paused in a row it ends, with no refund.
- Premium Partner and Facility Verified badges stay when the rating drops (the inspection really happened), but the provider moves to the end of the results and our team reviews the account.
How reviews work
- Only reviews of bookings made and paid online on PawAddress count toward a provider’s rating. Reviews of walk-in or manually entered bookings are not counted.
- Star ratings count from the day they are given, good or bad.
- Review text: phone numbers, email addresses and street addresses are masked automatically, and so is profanity. An automated check then publishes clean text, masks clear abuse, and sends anything unclear to our team. Text still held after 5 days is published automatically, masked.
- Three or more reviews for one provider within 24 hours are held as a possible fake-review spike, and our team decides within 5 days.
- A provider can dispute a review. Our team decides within 5 days. If we miss that deadline, the review stays. If the dispute is upheld, the review is removed and the rating recalculated.
- Reviews are removed only for: abuse or hate; personal data that cannot be masked; not being about a real booking or the service; a conflict of interest; spam, duplicates or coordinated fake activity. Every removal is recorded with the reason, the team member and the time.
If a listing does not match what you find
If a facility does not match its video, its photos, or the badge it displays, tell us. We review every report, and a badge can be withdrawn where the facility was misrepresented.
Include the provider name, the date you visited or stayed, and anything you can show us.
Report a mismatchVerification does not guarantee service quality.