Glossary
The terms every Indian fitness operator should know.
Tax, payments, compliance, ops — defined in plain English. If your CA uses a term you don't recognise, it's probably here.
Payments
- UPI
- Unified Payments Interface — India’s real-time bank-to-bank transfer system. Auto-mandates allow recurring debit without re-entering details.
- UPI Mandate
- A NPCI-issued recurring authorisation linking a member’s bank to your gym for auto-debit. Used for monthly memberships.
- No-cost EMI
- Members pay in 3-12 monthly instalments at zero interest cost — gym absorbs the bank discount as marketing spend.
Tax
- IRN
- Invoice Reference Number — generated by the GST Network for every B2B invoice once your turnover crosses ₹5 Cr.
- GSTIN
- 15-character GST identification number assigned to every registered business.
- GSTR-1
- Monthly outward sales return. Filed by the 11th of the next month. Lists every B2B & B2C invoice.
- GSTR-3B
- Monthly summary return reconciling sales tax collected vs input credits claimed. Filed by the 20th.
- TDS
- Tax Deducted at Source. For trainer commissions > ₹30k/year, gyms must deduct 10% TDS and remit to the government.
- HSN Code
- Harmonised System of Nomenclature — the 6-8 digit code that classifies what you’re selling. Fitness services usually fall under 9985 or 998314.
Compliance
- DPDP Act 2023
- Digital Personal Data Protection Act — India’s primary data privacy law. Mandates consent, data localisation, breach disclosure.
- Aadhaar e-KYC
- Government-issued identity verification using Aadhaar number + OTP. Used for member onboarding & corporate KYC.
Operations
- NPS
- Net Promoter Score. (Would members recommend you on a 0-10 scale?) Industry benchmark: 50+ is good, 70+ is exceptional.
- PT Marketplace
- A model where trainers list availability, members pick & pay, gym takes a commission. Common at scale; legally cleaner than informal arrangements.
- WAU / MAU
- Weekly / Monthly Active Users. For gyms: members who checked in or attended a class in the period.
Clinical
- SOAP Note
- Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan — the standard structure for clinical documentation in physio & medical contexts.
Tech
- White-label app
- A mobile app shipped under your brand & domain on iOS/Android, but powered by AskFitness behind the scenes.
- p99 latency
- 99th-percentile response time. The number that matters for slow-day worst-case experience. AskFitness: 124ms in India.
Analytics
- Cohort retention
- Tracking how many members from a sign-up month are still active 30/60/90/180 days later. The single most predictive number for gym health.
Finance
- GMV
- Gross Merchandise Value — total transaction value flowing through the platform. Reported monthly, before refunds.