Delivery cost and dispatch
The cost screen
Screen title: Delivery cost. It lists the sender, recipient, vehicle, pickup and drop-off in words, then:
Delivery fee is based on the verified road distance. If the distance exceeds the distance covered by the initial fee, an applicable distance charge is included in the calculated delivery fee.
Tap Calculate delivery cost. While IDM works you may see Checking route… Confirming delivery area… Calculating delivery fee… and then Delivery fee confirmed. with:
Total delivery cost — GHS 38.50 (example) and Quote valid until a time.
How the fee is calculated
- IDM measures the verified road distance between the two pins using an approved routing service. Not a straight line, not your phone's estimate, and never a figure anyone typed.
- The delivery company's current rate card sets a starting fee that covers a first stretch of distance, and a rate for each kilometre beyond it. The rate depends on whether the trip stays within one zone, crosses zones or crosses gateways, and on the vehicle.
- Peak times or seasons may apply where the company has set them up.
- The result is rounded once, to the pesewa, at the end.
The fee you see is the fee you pay. Once you dispatch, it is frozen: later price changes, a relay or a shared route never change it. The full calculation is kept as an unchangeable record in case anyone needs to check it later.
The calculating messages never count up to a number. Only the figure IDM's server returns is shown, and if the calculation fails the page says so: We could not calculate the delivery cost. Please try again.
Quote expiry
Each quote is valid until the time shown, by IDM's clock (not your phone's). After that: This delivery quote has expired. Calculate a new quote. Tap Calculate a new quote; the new figure may differ if the company's rates changed.
Dispatch
Tap Dispatch to authorise the delivery. At that moment IDM checks everything again from its records: your request, the recipient's confirmation, both locations, the vehicle, the delivery company and whether it can take work, and the quote and its expiry. Then it creates exactly one delivery.
Tapping Dispatch twice, refreshing, or opening the page in two tabs never creates a second delivery.
After dispatch, the page becomes your tracking view. See Handover and following your delivery.
When pricing is not available
| You see | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pricing unavailable — We could not price this delivery right now. Please try again shortly. | The route could not be measured. Try again shortly. |
| Pricing unavailable — Pricing configuration unavailable for this delivery route. Please try again or contact the delivery company. | The company's prices for this kind of route are not set up. IDM refuses to guess. |
| New deliveries are paused | The delivery company cannot take new work right now. Try later or use another company. |
| No delivery partner available | No rider or company can take it now. Try again later. |
Paying for the delivery
How you pay the delivery company (cash at the door, in their own app, or on account) is agreed with them. If payment is due on delivery, the rider records the cash in the app when you pay. A payment is never marked paid because a page redirected you; it is confirmed by the payment provider to IDM directly.