Frequently Asked Questions

Open the Radar screen and you will see jobs posted near you, closest first. Tap “I want this work” on any job and the contractor receives your profile straight away. Also switch on “I am available today” so contractors searching for workers can find you directly.

Every account is verified with an OTP sent to your mobile number, so fake profiles cannot get in. You can raise your trust level further by adding Aadhaar details — we store only the last four digits, never the full number or a photo of the card. Verified workers appear higher when contractors search.

The contractor pays you directly, normally on the same day the work ends, at the rate you agreed with them. When they send the money they mark it in the khata, and you tap “money received” to confirm — that closes the entry. Local Chowk never holds your wages.

Your khata keeps a dated record of every day you worked and the amount due, which you can show as proof. Use the reminder button first — it notifies the contractor that the payment is still unconfirmed. If it stays unpaid, report it to localchowk@gmail.com or on our helpline; we review the record and can reduce a contractor's trust score or ban them, though as a platform we cannot pay the money ourselves.

Yes, completely free. There is no joining fee, no charge to apply for jobs and no commission on your wages. The only deduction that can ever apply is a mukadam's commission from their gang's earnings, which is agreed between you and the mukadam.

Seven — Hindi, English, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Punjabi. The whole app changes to your language, including buttons and notifications, and you can switch whenever you like.

A smartphone is needed for the map and voice features, but you do not need to be able to read — you can receive your login OTP as a voice call instead of an SMS. Many workers use a family member's phone, or join a mukadam's gang so work still reaches them. A basic feature-phone version is not available yet.

After a job, the worker and the contractor can rate each other from 1 to 5 stars. That rating is combined with the on-time payment record and how many jobs were completed versus cancelled to give a trust score out of 5. A higher score puts you nearer the top of contractor searches, so finishing the jobs you accept matters.

No — applying is always your choice, and you can switch off “available today” whenever you are not looking for work. Try not to cancel after accepting, because cancellations count against your trust score.

Tap “Post job by voice” and simply speak what you need — how many workers, the type of work, the daily rate and the date. Local Chowk turns your voice into a job post and shows it to matching workers nearby. You can also browse the worker radar and book people directly without posting a job at all.

Open the khata for that job and tap “Send money (UPI)”. Local Chowk creates a UPI link and QR code for that worker's own UPI ID, which opens in your usual payment app — GPay, PhonePe, Paytm or any other. The money moves straight from your bank account to the worker's.

No. Local Chowk is not a payment gateway and never holds your money — every rupee goes directly from your UPI account to the worker's. What we do give you is a two-sided record: you mark the payment as sent, the worker confirms it was received, and the khata entry becomes “paid” only when both sides agree. That shared record is what protects you both if there is a disagreement.

Nothing is charged and there is nothing to refund, because you never deposit money with Local Chowk in the first place. Try widening the dates, raising the daily rate, or re-posting early in the morning when most workers look for work. For big requirements, booking a whole gang through a mukadam fills the job much faster.

State the number of workers when you post by voice and the job stays open until that many have applied. For larger sites you can book an entire gang through its mukadam in one step instead of hiring one by one. You can also book the same workers for several consecutive days.

Every worker on Local Chowk has a mobile number verified by OTP. On a worker's profile, check the verification badge, the trust score out of 5 and the number of jobs completed. Workers who have added Aadhaar details carry a higher verification tier.

Yes — posting jobs, searching for workers and hiring are all free at the moment, and we take no commission on the wages you pay. If any paid feature is introduced later, its price and terms will be shown clearly before you use it.

Yes. Mark workers you liked as trusted and they appear in your trusted people list for quick rebooking. You can also book a worker or a whole gang for a run of consecutive days when you post the job.

Yes. Local Chowk only generates a standard UPI link or QR code — the payment itself happens inside your own bank's UPI app and is authorised by your UPI PIN. We never see or store your PIN, card number or bank password.

Report it to localchowk@gmail.com or on our helpline, with the job date and the other person's name. Our team reviews the khata entries, attendance and ratings for that job and comes back with a decision. We can warn a user, reduce their trust score or ban the account — but because payments never pass through us, we cannot recover money on your behalf.

We collect only what the platform needs to work: your mobile number, name, photo, location and work records. We do not sell your data, and your location is used only to show nearby work or workers — you can switch it off in your phone settings at any time. The full details are in our Privacy Policy.

It is optional, and its only purpose is to raise your trust level so the other side knows you are a real person. We store just the last four digits — never the full Aadhaar number or an image of the card. You can use every feature of Local Chowk without providing it.

No. The full agreed wage passes from the contractor to the worker and Local Chowk takes nothing from it. The only commission that can apply is a mukadam's share of their own gang's earnings, which the mukadam sets and shows to the gang.

It is for emergencies at a worksite — an accident, unsafe conditions or a threat. Pressing it records an alert with your location and immediately notifies the people in your trust circle, even during your quiet hours, and our team sees it too. For a medical or police emergency always call 112 as well — SOS is not a replacement for the emergency services.

Agree the rate, the working hours and the payment date before you start, and keep the job in the khata so both sides hold the same record. Mark attendance at the site each day so that record stays accurate. Never pay an advance or a registration fee to anyone claiming to be from Local Chowk — we never ask workers for money.

Local Chowk runs in your phone's browser and installs from there, so there is no Play Store download. Open localchowk.in and tap “Install” when it appears, or use your browser menu's “Add to Home Screen”. After that it opens like any other app from your home screen and uses very little storage.

Screens you have already opened keep working without a network, and the app is built to run on a weak 2G connection. If you are fully offline you will see an offline screen instead of fresh data. Posting a job, applying for work and confirming a payment all need a connection.

Go to Profile, open Settings, tap Language and choose any of the seven languages — the app switches immediately. You can also change it from the language screen shown when you first open Local Chowk. Your choice is remembered on that phone.

Email localchowk@gmail.com from your registered address, or call our helpline, and ask us to delete the account. We remove your profile, photo and personal details; anonymised work records may be kept where the law requires it. Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone.

Check that the number you typed is correct and that you have network coverage, then wait for the resend timer and tap Resend. You can also choose “Call me with the OTP” to receive it as a voice call instead of an SMS. After several wrong attempts the login locks for a few minutes as a security measure.

In Profile → Settings you can switch on Large text and High contrast, which make the screen much easier to read in bright sunlight. The same screen turns on job notifications and lets you set quiet hours so you are not disturbed at night.