1Welcome — what is STARS?

STARS — the Smart Tanker Activity Recording System — is a simple way to record, verify and reconcile every water-tanker delivery, for the organisations that buy water and the businesses that supply it.

The problem STARS solves

Many housing societies, factories, hotels and hospitals in India rely on water delivered by tanker. Counting those tankers by hand — a register at the gate, a diary in the guard's pocket, a WhatsApp message to the manager — is easy to lose, easy to dispute, and hard to reconcile against a supplier's monthly bill. Was it a 10,000-litre tanker or a 20,000-litre one? Did it actually arrive? Who approved it?

STARS replaces the paper register with a shared, tamper-evident record. A guard photographs each tanker live at the gate; the delivery is stamped with the time, the vehicle, the quantity and who recorded it; the organisation's admin approves it; and at month-end the supplier's bill can be reconciled against the exact deliveries everyone agreed on. Nobody argues about a number that both sides watched being recorded.

Two sides: Consumers and Suppliers

Everyone on STARS belongs to one of two kinds of organisation:

Consumer

The organisation that receives water — a society, factory, hotel, hospital, commercial site and so on. (You will see the word Consumer throughout the app; internally a consumer is still called a "society", which is why some codes and older labels read that way.)

Supplier

The business that supplies water. A supplier's type is either a Vendor (supplies water directly to consumers) or a Distributor (supplies water to vendors). The two are only a label — both use the same supplier console.

Behind both sits Simplify Planet Labs LLP, which runs STARS — it verifies new organisations and looks after platform billing.

Your Code

Every organisation on STARS has a short Code — for example PGCHS or OCEAN. Your Code identifies your organisation when you sign in: on the login screen you type your Code in the Your Code field, then your username and password. Everyone in your organisation shares the same Code but has their own username.

How billing & verification work — in brief

STARS carries two separate money conversations, and it helps to know they are different:

• Supplier ↔ Consumer (water): the supplier proposes a rate (for example ₹500 per 10,000 litres); the consumer approves it; deliveries are counted; at month-end each side reconciles the bill against the agreed deliveries.
• Platform ↔ Organisation (the STARS service): Simplify Planet Labs LLP bills each organisation for using STARS. This is Platform Billing, and is entirely separate from the water bill above.

"Verification" refers to a delivery being approved — confirmed as genuine by the consumer's admin — and to your organisation being verified by Simplify Planet Labs LLP (moving from a free pilot to a live account, explained next).

TEST vs REAL — pilots & SAMPLE invoices

When you first register, your organisation starts as a TEST (pilot) account. It is fully functional — you can invite your team, record real deliveries and explore every feature — but it is understood to be a trial while Simplify Planet Labs LLP gets you set up.

The one visible difference is billing: while you are a pilot, every invoice is stamped SAMPLE. A SAMPLE bill is a preview that shows you exactly how billing will look — it is never a real amount to pay, and it is watermarked "not a demand for payment". Once Simplify Planet Labs LLP verifies your organisation and switches it to REAL, invoices become live.

2Getting started

STARS is a paid product with one simple promise: recording water is never behind a paywall — every plan logs deliveries with a gate photo; what grows with your plan is the billing and insight around it. To get started you choose a plan, pay by UPI, and register your organisation — or you are onboarded by a supplier who already uses STARS. Either way, you sign in with your Code and get to work.

2.1  Choosing a plan

Both sides of STARS — consumers (who buy water) and suppliers (who sell it) — pick a plan that matches how much they lean on STARS. Plans are prepaid: an annual plan is a flat fee for a locked 12-month term, or you can pay pay-as-you-use and be charged only in the months you actually buy water.

Suppliers choose between Starter (one user) and Pro (many users), both with the full supplier console. The live plans page always shows current pricing and exactly what each plan includes.

2.2  Paying by UPI

When you sign up (or add a plan), STARS shows a payment step: the exact amount for your plan as a UPI QR. Pay with any UPI app, then paste the transaction reference to finish. For now, payment is by UPI and confirmed by our team; STARS is onboarding a payment gateway, after which more payment options will be available and faster validation of payment.

1. Scan the QR (or use the UPI ID shown) and pay the exact amount with any UPI app.
2. Copy the UPI reference / UTR from your payment app and paste it into UPI transaction ID.
3. Tap I've paid — finish. You can start using STARS right away — there is no wait.

2.3  Register your organisation

Open the STARS home page in a web browser. You will see two choices: Register your organization and Sign in. Choose to register.

1. Under I'm registering as, choose Consumer (a society, factory, hotel, hospital…) or Supplier (a water vendor or distributor).
2. Fill in your organisation details: Organization name, Type (for a consumer: Society, Factory, Hotel, Hospital, Commercial or Other; for a supplier: Vendor or Distributor), City / area, and a Contact number (a valid 10-digit mobile).
3. Under Owner account, enter your Full name, choose a Username, give a Work email (a 6-digit code is sent here to verify it), and set a Create password / Confirm password (at least 8 characters).
4. Tick I agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, then choose Create account.

2.4  Verify your email

STARS emails a 6-character verification code to the address you gave. On the next screen:

1. Note your new organisation code, shown on screen (also remembered for the sign-in page).
2. Type the code from your email into Verification code and choose Verify & continue.
3. If it does not arrive within a minute or two, check spam, then use Resend code.

When the code is accepted you see You're all set: your email is verified, your organisation code is confirmed, and your account starts as a free pilot that our team will verify to go live. Choose Sign in to continue.

2.5  Accept the Terms

The first time you sign in — and again only if our Terms or Privacy Policy later change — STARS asks you to review and accept them before you reach the app.

1. Open Read the Terms and Conditions and Read the Privacy Policy (each opens in a new tab).
2. Tick I have read and agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
3. Choose Agree and continue. (Choosing Not now — sign out returns you to the login screen without entering the app.)

2.6  Sign in with your Code

On the sign-in screen, enter three things:

1. Your Code — your organisation's code (remembered on this device after the first time).
2. Username — your personal username.
3. Password — use Show to check what you typed, then choose Sign in.

After signing in you land on your home screen automatically — the Overview dashboard for consumer roles, or the supplier Dashboard for supplier roles.

2.7  Being onboarded by a supplier

You do not have to register yourself. A supplier who already uses STARS can add your organisation for you (see §5.7). When they do:

• Your organisation is created with its own auto-generated Code.
• The owner/admin you nominated receives a one-time activation code (by email, or shared by the supplier) to set their own password.
• A supplier can also send a request to connect to an organisation that is already on STARS; your admin approves it from the Approvals screen, after which your deliveries for that supplier sync to them (from a date you agree). Your bills, payments and residents are never shared.

2.8  Activate your account (first-time users & reset codes)

Team members who are added by an admin — and anyone given a reset code — set their own secret through Activate your account (linked from the sign-in screen as First time, or given a reset code?).

1. Enter Your Code, your Username, and the Activation code you were given.
2. STARS shows the right fields automatically: office staff set a password (at least 8 characters); security guards set a 6-digit PIN.
3. Confirm it and choose Activate account — you are taken to sign in.

2.9  Install the mobile app

Guards, caretakers and field staff run STARS on their phones. Once signed in on the web, open Get the mobile app from the bottom of the sidebar.

• Android: choose Download for Android to get the app file (APK), then follow the on-screen install steps. You will need to let your browser or Files app "install from this source" once — this is normal for a direct install and it is the same signed STARS app.
• iPhone / iPad: the iOS app is distributed through Apple TestFlight; an invite link will be shared on this page when it is open.

2.10  The environment badge

Near the version label — on the login screen, and in the sidebar once you are signed in — STARS shows a small coloured environment badge so it is always obvious which system you are using:

STARS sets this badge automatically from the web address you are on (and, on the app, the server it is connected to), so everyday users on the live app should always see PROD. If you ever see orange or blue where you expect your live app, you are on a test build — check the link you used to sign in.

3Understanding roles & permissions

What you can see and do in STARS depends on your role. Each person has exactly one role in their organisation. STARS shows only the screens your role is allowed to use — so two people in the same organisation may see different menus.

3.1  Consumer roles

A consumer organisation has up to four roles. The display names adapt to your organisation type — a housing society sees society wording, while a factory or hospital sees wording that fits it (for example Factory Admin instead of Society Admin, Supervisor instead of Care Taker, Gatekeeper instead of Security Guard, Management Reviewer instead of Committee Viewer). The permissions are identical; only the label changes.

3.2  Supplier roles

A supplier organisation has two roles. Both use the same web supplier console; the difference is approval authority.

3.3  Web vs mobile at a glance

STARS is one product on two screens. As a rule of thumb:

• The gate happens on the phone. Recording a delivery and confirming an incoming tanker (both need a live photo) are done in the mobile app. Security Guards work only on mobile.
• Office work happens on either. Care Takers, Consumer Admins and Committee viewers can use the web or the mobile app.
• The supplier console runs on both. Supplier staff get the full console on the web and in the mobile app — signing in as a supplier takes you straight to the supplier Dashboard on either device.

4For Consumers

This section is for the people who receive water — societies, factories, hotels, hospitals and commercial sites. Your menu depends on your role (Section 3); the tasks below note who can do each one.

4.1  Your Overview dashboard

After signing in you land on Overview. It greets you by name, shows your organisation and role, and gives one clear next action for your role — for example Review approvals for a Consumer Admin, or Log a delivery for a Security Guard. Below sit your key numbers: Today's deliveries, This month, and (for admins and care takers) Est. cost, Pending approvals, Unresolved mismatches, a 14-day deliveries chart, spend reconciled, and top suppliers.

4.2  Place an order Care Taker · Consumer Admin

Order water from a supplier you are connected to. Open Place order.

1. Choose the supplier. If you are connected to just one, it is shown for you. If you have more than one, pick who this order goes to from the dropdown.
2. Set the quantity with the − / + steppers — water is ordered in steps of 10,000 litres.
3. Add an optional Note for the supplier (for example, "Fill both underground tanks").
4. Choose Send to supplier. A green confirmation shows your order code, and the order appears under Your orders with its status.

Order statuses read Placed → Accepted → Partly delivered → Fulfilled (or Declined / Cancelled).

4.3  Incoming — confirm a delivery at the gate Security Guard · Care Taker · Consumer Admin

When a supplier dispatches a tanker for one of your orders, it appears under Incoming. This is the gate hand-off: someone confirms each tanker as it arrives, with a live photo as proof.

Two lists are shown: Arriving now (tankers already in transit — these can be confirmed) and Assigned (queued; "Attached — the supplier will dispatch it shortly").

1. On an Arriving now card, choose Confirm delivered.
2. In Confirm delivery, check or edit Litres received (pre-filled with the tanker's capacity).
3. Take the Gate photo — on a phone this opens the rear camera. A gate photo of the tanker is required as proof of delivery.
4. Choose Confirm delivered. The tanker moves off Incoming and into your Deliveries report, marked Delivered.

4.4  Approvals Consumer Admin (Care Taker: limited)

Approvals is one queue for everything that needs a yes/no decision: a new supplier, a new tanker, a rate change, and deliveries that need sign-off. (The pending count also shows as a red badge on the menu.)

Which deliveries need approving?

A delivery recorded with the live camera by a Care Taker or Consumer Admin is approved automatically. Deliveries recorded by a Security Guard, and any delivery added from an uploaded (gallery) photo, wait here for a Consumer Admin to sign off. Because the web has no live camera, deliveries logged on the web are uploads and follow the same rule.

Approve or reject

1. On the Pending tab, review each row: its Type (VENDOR / TANKER / RATE / TANKER_DELIVERY), who raised it, and any photo.
2. For a delivery, click its photo to open the review window — enlarge the picture, check the tanker, quantity and whether the photo was Camera or Library (upload), then choose Approve or Reject. Use Prev / Next to work through the queue.
3. To act on many at once, tick the rows and use Approve selected or Reject selected.

A suspected duplicate is flagged with a ⚠ Possible duplicate badge and held for the admin's decision. The Past Approvals tab shows what was decided, by whom and when, with a date filter.

4.5  Reviews — catching duplicates & odd entries Consumer Admin

Where Approvals handles requests people raise, Reviews handles problems STARS spots on its own — the same tanker logged twice within a few minutes, or a cost that looks out of pattern. Each review shows the flagged entry next to the one it clashes with, side by side with their photos.

1. Open a review under the Open tab and compare the two entries and photos.
2. Choose Delete wrong entry to remove the mistaken one (pick a reason — duplicate, wrong tanker, wrong volume, or Other with a note), or Dismiss (legitimate) if it was a genuine separate trip.
3. Use ↻ Re-scan (90 days) to check recent deliveries again at any time.

4.6  Deliveries & Reports

Deliveries is your delivery register — every tanker, with quantity, rate, amount, how it was captured (Live or Upload), its approval status and photos. It opens on the current month.

1. Set the From / To dates and, if you wish, filter by Supplier or Tanker, then choose Run report.
2. Choose Download CSV to export the rows (for example, to share with your committee or accountant).
3. Click 📷 View on any row to see the delivery's photos and details.

A completed delivery shows as Delivered; in-flight order tankers read In Queue or In-Transit.

Removing a wrong delivery (Care Taker → Consumer Admin approves)

A Care Taker can select rows and choose Request deletion, pick a reason, and send them to a Consumer Admin. Flagged rows show Delete pending and stay in the totals until the admin approves. Admins can also Show deleted and Restore a delivery.

4.7  Bills & reconciliation

At month-end you match each supplier's paper/PDF bill against what STARS recorded, then get it approved and paid. Open Bills. There are two money conversations here: your supplier's water bill, and (if applicable) your STARS platform bill from Simplify Planet Labs LLP — each handled the same maker-and-checker way.

Reconcile a supplier bill (Care Taker prepares)

1. Under Bills to Reconcile, either open a bill In process or choose Create bill for a past month that is Still to bill.
2. Browse… to attach the supplier's actual bill (PDF or photo), then Upload.
3. For each material, STARS shows its own subtotal (trips, quantity, cost). Enter the figures From physical bill — the app highlights any mismatch and notes it for the approver.
4. Tick the per-material confirmations and the final "I confirm this is the correct bill", then choose Send for Approval.

Approve a bill (Consumer Admin)

Under Bills awaiting action, choose Review, read the comparison, then either Approve Bill (a comment is required) or Resend for correction. Once approved, the Care Taker uploads the payment proof to complete the cycle. Completed bills live under Historical Bills.

When your supplier sends the bill (new — Care Taker confirms, Consumer Admin approves)

Some suppliers now raise the monthly bill for you, straight from the deliveries they recorded. Instead of typing figures off a paper bill, you receive it already itemised — every delivery with its date, tanker and litres, plus the totals for Litres, Trips and Cost — and automatically matched against the deliveries in your own records.

1. Care Taker — review & forward. Open the bill under Bills. The supplier's figures sit beside your own records with a green ✓ Matches your records line (litres, trips and cost) and the month's deliveries listed below. Give it a glance, then choose Confirm & Forward to mark it reviewed and send it to your admin.
2. Consumer Admin — approve. Review the confirmed bill and choose Approve (or Resend for correction with a note). If a supplier bill has not been reviewed by the care taker yet, STARS asks you to confirm before you approve it — a safe fallback, never a silent skip.
3. Keep the invoice. Every supplier bill comes with a proper PDF invoice you can view, download and keep — handy when someone needs the bill but would rather not sign in.

4.8  Suppliers — and their tankers & rates Care Taker · Consumer Admin

Open Suppliers to manage who supplies your water. You can add a supplier of your own, or connect to a supplier that already uses STARS.

Add a supplier

1. Choose + New Vendor and enter the name, contact person and 10-digit mobile.
2. Set an Initial Rate (₹ per 10,000 litres — enter 0 for free) and a start date, then choose Create Vendor.

View a supplier's tankers & rates

Each supplier row has View tankers and View rates. From there you can add tankers, and add or edit rates (rate history is kept, with statuses such as Approved, Pending, or locked when a rate has been used in a bill).

Connect an existing STARS supplier (Consumer Admin)

Two things can happen here:

• They ask you: when a supplier requests to serve you, it appears as "wants to connect their STARS account" — pick which supplier in your list it maps to and choose Connect & share (or Decline).
• You ask them: choose + Invite a supplier by code, enter their supplier code and a start date, and Send invite. Once they accept, their deliveries show up here from that date.

4.9  Team Consumer Admin (Care Taker: guards only)

Open Team to add members and issue one-time sign-in codes. Nobody — not even you — ever sees a member's password or PIN.

1. Choose + Add member and pick the Role (a Security Guard sets a 6-digit PIN; other staff set a password).
2. Enter the name and username; add an email or mobile if you want the code sent there too.
3. Choose Create & get code, then share the one-time code once — the member sets their own secret with it (see §2.8).

Per member you can also Reset PIN / Reset password (issues a fresh code), Deactivate / Reactivate, and add or edit an email.

5For Suppliers

This section is for water suppliers — vendors and distributors — and their staff. Signing in as a supplier opens the supplier console, available on both the web and the mobile app. Both supplier roles run day-to-day operations; a few actions are reserved for the Supplier Supervisor (adding a tanker, proposing a rate), and the Supplier Owner additionally approves your STARS bill.

5.1  Dashboard

The supplier Dashboard greets you and surfaces orders that need attention, then shows this month's business: New orders, In progress and Fulfilled counts, plus Deliveries, Volume delivered, Est. earnings and Awaiting confirmation. Charts include Deliveries — last 30 days (each bar is a day; the number above is in units of 10,000 litres), an earnings trend, earnings by customer, and a confirmed-vs-awaiting split. Choose Go to Orders to act.

5.2  Orders — Accept & allocate

Open Orders to see orders from the customers you serve. By default the Status filter shows Active orders; you can also filter by Customer and date. Order status reads Placed → Accepted → In Progress → Delivered.

1. On a Placed order, choose Accept & allocate (or Decline with an optional reason).
2. In Allocate tankers, pick a ready-made option under Suggested combinations (fewest trips first) — for example a 20,000 L order might suggest one 20K tanker, or 10K + 10K.
3. Or Pick tankers manually: add a tanker once or several times (×N) until the running total exactly fills the order. STARS only lists tankers that fit and stops you exceeding the order.
4. Choose Attach & accept. The tankers are attached as trips and the order moves to Accepted.

5.3  In Progress — dispatch your tankers

In Progress lists every delivery still on the move: queued and in-transit trips, plus gate captures awaiting the customer's confirmation. When a queued tanker leaves your yard, choose Mark for Transit on it — the customer then sees it under Incoming as Arriving now and confirms it at their gate.

5.4  Delivered

Delivered is your completed-deliveries report across every customer you serve, confirmed by the customer. Rows are grouped by order (with a "Direct deliveries" group for gate captures with no order); each amount is computed from the rate that was effective on the delivery's date. Filter by date, customer, tanker or material; see the Trips / Litres / Total cost summary; and Download CSV. The All toggle widens the view to full history including rejected rows; click 📷 View to see any delivery's photos.

5.5  Fleet Add: Supervisor

Fleet is your list of tankers. A Supplier Supervisor can + Add tanker (enter the tanker number and a capacity in multiples of 10,000 L). Either role can Edit a tanker, or Disconnect / Reconnect it — a disconnected tanker drops out of the customer's gate picker.

5.6  Rates Propose: Supervisor

Rates shows what each customer pays. A Supplier Supervisor can + Propose rate:

1. Pick the Customer, enter the Rate ₹ per 10,000 L, and set Effective from.
2. Choose Propose. The customer approves it before it applies — you will see "Rate proposed — awaiting the customer's approval."

5.7  Customers — add or connect

Customers lists the organisations you serve, with a "{used} of {max} used" limit. You need at least one active tanker in your fleet before you can add customers. You can bring a brand-new customer on board, or connect to one already on STARS.

Onboard a new customer

1. Choose Add customer, enter the customer name and type (Society, Factory, Hotel, Hospital, Commercial), and the admin's username (add their name, email and mobile if you have them).
2. Choose Create customer. STARS creates the organisation with its own code and gives you a one-time activation code to pass to the customer's admin (also emailed if you added an email).

New customers start as a pilot — they get SAMPLE invoices only — until Simplify Planet Labs LLP verifies them.

Request to serve an existing STARS society

Under Already using STARS?, enter the society's Society code and the Share data from date, then Send request. Their admin must approve before any data reaches you — and only tanker/delivery data is shared, never their bills. You will also see Invitations from consumers (accept or decline) and the status of My requests.

5.8  My bills Approve: Owner

My bills holds your own invoices from Simplify Planet Labs LLP for using STARS — processed exactly like a customer bill, in a maker-then-checker flow. The Supervisor reconciles each invoice (Reconcile → confirm the figures → Send for approval); the Owner reviews and chooses Approve bill or Resend for correction; then the Supervisor records payment by attaching the transaction screenshot. Status chips run from To reconcile through Approved — pay to Completed.

5.9  Customer Bills — bill your customers Raise: Supervisor · Owner

Once your deliveries for a customer are confirmed (§5.4), turn them into that customer's monthly bill — no spreadsheets, no re-typing. Open Customer Bills.

1. Generate the bill. Pick a Customer and a Month and choose Generate. STARS builds the bill from the deliveries you recorded that month — every trip, its litres and its cost, with the totals worked out — as a Draft only you can see.
2. Send for approval. Review the draft and choose Send. The bill reaches the customer itemised and auto-matched against their own records, so approvals are faster and disagreements rarer.
3. Track & resend. Every bill you raise shows its status — Draft, Pending approval, Approved, Needs correction or Completed. If a customer asks for a change, choose Resend for correction, fix it, and send again.

Each bill also generates a clean PDF invoice your customer can download and keep. The mobile supplier console has the same Customer Bills tile, so you can raise and track bills from your phone too.

5.10  Off-app customers — record & invoice deliveries for customers not on STARS Raise: Supervisor · Owner

Some customers you supply are not on STARS at all. You can still keep their deliveries and bill them — one-sided — from Off-app billing (on the web supplier console, and the Off-app tile in the mobile app). Everything is per-customer: add the customer, set a price, record each supply, then raise an invoice from all the un-billed deliveries.

1. Add the off-app customer. Choose Add off-app customer and give their name. They get no login — you record and bill on their behalf.
2. Set the rate. Open the customer and set the Rate (₹ per 10,000 L). Because there is no consumer to confirm it, an off-app rate is approved straight away and applies to the deliveries you record.
3. Record each delivery. Choose Record, pick one of your fleet tankers (its capacity sets the litres), and capture the Tanker and/or Challan photo. The entry time is read from the photo and can be back-dated to a missed delivery within the allowed window. Each delivery is self-attested and saved approved immediately.
4. Generate the invoice. When it is time to get paid, choose Generate. STARS gathers all the customer's un-billed deliveries into one invoice — every trip, its litres and cost, with the total — issued approved on the spot (no approval round-trip, because the customer is not on STARS). It comes with a clean PDF invoice to hand over.
5. Mark it paid. Once the customer settles up, choose Mark paid. The invoice also appears in your Customer Bills list alongside your on-app bills.

6The mobile app

The gate is where STARS earns its keep, and the gate is a phone. This section covers what is special about the mobile app: recording deliveries with a live photo, working with no signal, and syncing safely. Everything in Sections 4–5 that your role can do is also here; the tasks below are the ones that are best (or only) done on the phone.

6.1  Signing in on the phone

The mobile sign-in is the same three fields as the web — Your Code, Username, and one Password or PIN field (staff type a password; guards type their 6-digit PIN). Two things to know:

• Guards are not remembered on a shared gate phone — the session drops after use, so the next guard signs in with their own PIN. Office staff stay signed in for weeks.
• There is no "Forgot password" link. If you are locked out, your admin or caretaker issues you a one-time code and you set a new secret through Set your password / PIN (Activate).

6.2  Recording a delivery at the gate

Open New delivery (also called Log a delivery). Capture is vehicle-first — you choose the tanker and STARS fills in its supplier, material and capacity — and a photo is required.

1. In the Tanker field, search your fleet and pick the vehicle. If the number is not listed, tap Tap to register a new tanker to add it (it lands pending approval). A green card confirms the material, vendor and quantity.
2. Under Entry Photo, choose Live Camera to photograph the tanker at the gate. The moment you press the shutter becomes the delivery's entry time.
3. Review the preview (it carries a 📷 Camera badge) and tap Submit Entry. You will see "delivery saved — will sync shortly".

Live camera vs Upload

If you cannot take a live photo, Upload Photo lets you pick one from the gallery — but an uploaded photo carries an orange "requires Consumer Admin approval" banner, and a caretaker must add a Justification for why a live photo was not taken. In short: a live-camera delivery by a caretaker or admin is trusted immediately; a guard's delivery and any uploaded photo go to Approvals first.

6.3  Offline capture & sync

STARS is built to work where the signal isn't. Deliveries are saved on the phone first, then uploaded — so capture never fails at the gate. Your fleet list is cached too, so you can pick vehicles offline (a banner tells you whether it is synced or using the saved copy).

STARS syncs on its own — every 30 seconds while the app is open, the moment connectivity returns, and periodically in the background. A synced delivery is removed from the phone. The Sync status card shows All synced or Sync in progress with Pending / Failed / Synced counts and a Sync now button; the dashboard also has an Un-synced tile for this device.

6.4  Signing out safely while syncing

Signing out asks you to confirm (Sign out?). Crucially, if any deliveries on the phone have not yet uploaded, STARS refuses to sign out and shows Finish syncing first — "You have N unsynced deliveries on this device. Please reconnect and let them finish syncing before signing out." This protects a shared gate phone from losing records when the next person signs in.

6.5  Notifications

STARS can notify approvers when something needs their sign-off; tapping the notification opens the Approvals screen. Push notifications are currently available on Android; the app asks permission after you first sign in. On iPhone, and any time, the pending-approval badge on your dashboard keeps you current.

6.6  Prepaid balance on the mobile app

If your organisation pays pay-as-you-use — a prepaid wallet that a small percentage of each tanker's cost is drawn from (see §7 Your wallet & account) — the mobile app now keeps everyone aware of the balance, so a delivery is never lost to an empty wallet.

• Everyone sees the balance. Caretakers and guards see the current prepaid balance on the phone — healthy, running low, or empty — so there are no surprises mid-shift.
• Submit is protected. When the balance is used up, Submit Entry is disabled with a clear message. This matters most on the gate phone: because deliveries sync later, a capture made against an empty wallet could otherwise get stuck unsynced — so STARS stops it up front instead.
• Only admins & owners recharge. STARS is a business account, so staff can't pay from the app — a guard or caretaker is asked to contact their administrator, while an admin or owner gets a Recharge prompt that opens the top-up page. Recharging is covered in §7.1.

7Your wallet & account

Two controls keep a live account running: your pay-as-you-use wallet — the prepaid balance each tanker is drawn from — and the settings for your organisation’s account. Choosing a plan and paying are covered earlier, in §2 Getting started.

7.1  Pay-as-you-use — the prepaid wallet

Prefer to pay only when you buy water? Pay-as-you-use keeps a prepaid balance and draws a small percentage of each tanker's cost from it (1% / 2% / 3% on Starter / Standard / Pro) — and nothing in the months you do not buy. It suits seasonal buyers; year-round buyers usually save more on an annual plan.

• Your Overview shows the current balance, and a banner warns you when it is running low.
• Recharge tops it up by UPI — the same scan-and-paste flow as above — from ₹1,000 up.
• Recharging is limited to admins and owners; staff are guided to contact them (see §6.6 for the gate view).

7.2  Managing your account

Everything about your own account and membership lives in one place — Manage account, at the bottom of the menu. What you see there depends on your role.

• Download my data (ZIP) — keep a copy of your organisation's records: deliveries, a bills summary, and every bill's document (uploaded files and supplier PDFs).
• Manage team members — admins and owners add, remove or hand over to team members here (this folds in what used to be the separate Team page).
• Hand over — an admin or owner can hand leadership to a successor, choosing whether to leave afterwards or stay on in a lesser role.
• Delete my account — staff can delete their own account themselves. An organisation's sole leader cannot simply vanish — instead they hand over, or request closure.
• Request organisation closure — winds the whole organisation down. A platform reviewer confirms it, every linked supplier or customer is moved to off-app, and there is a short retention window before anything is removed.

8FAQ & troubleshooting

I forgot my password / PIN. How do I reset it?

STARS has no self-service "forgot password". Ask your admin or caretaker (for a supplier, your owner or supervisor) to issue you a one-time reset code from the Team screen. Then open Activate your account / Set your password / PIN, enter your Code, username and the reset code, and set a new secret. Guards set a 6-digit PIN; staff set a password.

My one-time or verification code doesn't work.

One-time codes are single-use and expire after a short time. If yours has expired or been used, request a fresh one — on the registration screen use Resend code; for an activation/reset code, ask whoever issued it to re-issue. Type the code exactly (they are not case-sensitive but spaces matter).

I didn't receive the email verification code.

Give it a minute, then check your spam/junk folder. Make sure the email address you entered is correct. Use Resend code to send a new one. If it still doesn't arrive, the address may be mistyped — start the step again with the correct email.

My username and password are correct but I can't sign in.

The usual cause is the wrong Your Code. Your device remembers the last Code used, which may not be yours. Clear the Your Code field and type your own organisation's Code, then sign in.

The web shows "No web screens for your role."

Your role is mobile-only (Security Guards work at the gate on the phone). Install the STARS mobile app from the Get the mobile app page (§2.9) and sign in there.

Android warns about "installing from unknown sources".

That warning is expected for a direct (pilot) install. When you open the downloaded .apk, allow installs from your browser or Files app, then tap Install. It is the same signed STARS app distributed by Simplify Planet Labs LLP; the Play Store listing comes later.

I can't sign out of the app.

If you see Finish syncing first, some deliveries on the phone haven't uploaded yet. Reconnect to the internet, wait for the sync card to read All synced (or tap Sync now), then sign out. This prevents lost records on a shared phone.

What is the difference between TEST and REAL?

A TEST organisation is a free pilot: fully usable, but its invoices are non-binding samples and it can be removed cleanly. A REAL organisation is verified and live, with real billing. Simplify Planet Labs LLP moves you from TEST to REAL when you're ready; you don't do it yourself.

My invoice says SAMPLE. Do I have to pay it?

No. A SAMPLE invoice is a preview shown while your organisation is a pilot — it demonstrates how billing will look and is explicitly "not a demand for payment". Real invoices appear only after your organisation is verified as REAL.

A tanker I recorded isn't showing as "Delivered".

Deliveries that need sign-off wait in Approvals — this includes anything a guard recorded and any uploaded (gallery) photo. Ask your Consumer Admin to approve it. Ordered tankers become Delivered only once confirmed at the gate with a photo (§4.3).

How do I pay for STARS?

You pick a plan and pay by UPI — scan the QR for the exact amount, then paste the transaction reference to finish (§2.2). Our team confirms the payment, and you can use STARS right away in the meantime. STARS is in the process of onboarding a payment gateway, after which more payment options will be available and faster validation of payment.

What is "pay-as-you-use"?

It's an alternative to an annual plan: instead of a flat yearly fee, you keep a prepaid wallet and STARS draws a small percentage of each tanker's cost from it — and nothing in the months you don't buy water (§7.1). Top it up by UPI from the Recharge page. It suits seasonal buyers.

My balance ran out (or my subscription expired). What now?

Access is paused until you recharge (pay-as-you-use) or renew (annual). STARS shows exactly what's needed; admins and owners can pay from the link shown, and staff are asked to contact an administrator. Nothing you recorded is lost — everything is there again the moment payment is confirmed.

How do I export my data, hand over, or leave STARS?

All of that is under Manage account at the bottom of the menu (§7.2). You can download a ZIP of your records, hand leadership to a successor, delete your own account, or (for an organisation's leader) request the whole organisation be closed. A counterparty's shared records are always preserved for them.

9Glossary

Consumer

An organisation that receives water — a society, factory, hotel, hospital or commercial site. (Internally still called a "society".)

Supplier

A business that supplies water. Its type is either a Vendor (supplies consumers) or a Distributor (supplies vendors) — a label only, with no difference in how the app works.

Your Code / Tenant Code

The short code that identifies your organisation at sign-in (for example PGCHS). Auto-generated when the organisation is created.

Order

A request for water that a consumer places on a supplier. Runs Placed → Accepted → In Progress → Delivered.

Delivery

One physical tanker arriving. It may belong to an order, or be recorded directly at the gate.

Trip

One tanker-load allocated against an order. A big order is filled by several trips, numbered like 1/3, 2/3, 3/3.

Allocation

The supplier's step of choosing which tankers (and how many trips) will fill an order.

In Queue / In-Transit / Delivered

The lifecycle of an ordered tanker: attached (In Queue) → dispatched (In-Transit) → confirmed at the gate (Delivered). "Delivered" is how an approved delivery is shown.

Gate photo

The live photo of a tanker taken at the gate as proof of delivery. Required when recording a delivery and when confirming an incoming ordered tanker.

Live vs Upload capture

A photo taken with the in-app camera (Live) versus one picked from the gallery (Upload). Uploads always need admin approval.

Approval

A human yes/no decision — on a delivery, a new supplier or tanker, a rate change, a team member, or a supplier link.

Review

A problem STARS flags automatically — a suspected duplicate or an out-of-pattern delivery — for an admin to clear or dismiss.

Reconciliation

Matching a paper/PDF bill against what STARS recorded, then approving and paying it.

Rate

What a supplier charges a customer (for example ₹500 per 10,000 litres), effective from a chosen date; the customer approves it.

TEST / REAL

A pilot organisation (TEST, sample invoices, removable) versus a verified live one (REAL, real billing).

SAMPLE invoice

A non-binding preview invoice raised for a pilot (TEST) organisation — "not a demand for payment".

Outbox / Sync

Deliveries captured on the phone are held in an outbox and uploaded ("synced") automatically when there's a connection.

Activation code

A single-use code that lets a new or reset user set their own password or PIN.

Platform Billing

Simplify Planet Labs LLP billing each organisation for using STARS — separate from the water bill between supplier and consumer.

10Support

We're here to help you count every tanker.

A few things that solve most questions quickly:

• What's new — tap the version label (v3.0.0 · Vega) in the sidebar or on your mobile dashboard to see the latest features for your role.
• Check your environment badge — make sure you're on the live app (deep-green PROD) before reporting a problem (§2.10).
• Note your Code and username — quoting your organisation's Code helps support find you fast. Never share your password or PIN with anyone, including support — STARS staff never need it.