The rules

You cannot list a coupon for more than the price printed on it. This is not a guideline — the site refuses the listing. Selling for less is fine and happens a lot near the end of a meal.

It works this way on purpose. A market that lets people mark up a mess coupon during exam week stops being useful to the students it is for.

Payment goes straight from the buyer's UPI app to the seller's UPI id. It does not pass through this site and there is no wallet, no balance and nothing to top up. We could not take your money if we wanted to.

The flip side: a payment that goes wrong is between you and the other student, the same as handing over cash. The reference number you type when you pay is there so both of you can check the same thing.

When you upload a coupon, the site reads its QR and remembers it. The same QR cannot be put up a second time, by you or by anyone else.

Selling a coupon and then using it yourself before the buyer gets to the counter is the one thing that will get you removed quickly and without much discussion.

Sign-up needs a college email address. There is no way in without one, and accounts are one per student.

After a trade the buyer answers one question: did the coupon work? A no becomes a complaint on your record, and other students can see it before they buy from you.

Three complaints that stand and you stop being able to sell. You can still buy. If you think a complaint is unfair, write to the address below — complaints do get thrown out, and the block comes off when they do.

This site is a noticeboard. Students list their own coupons and arrange their own payments. We do not own the coupons, set the prices, or take a cut.

What we can do: take a listing down, look at a complaint, block someone, and tell you what our records show about a trade. What we cannot do: reverse a UPI payment, or get a coupon back once it has been used.

Use Report a problem, on your profile page once you are logged in. Say which mess, which meal and roughly when. Your roll number comes through on its own.

It goes to whoever runs the site and nobody else can see it. Expect a reply within about two days. You can check on it from the same page.