Transfer Ownership

The group owner transfers ownership to one of the group's admins.

Who Can Do This

The group owner only.

Steps

  1. Go to the group settings screen.
  2. Select Transfer Ownership.
  3. Choose an admin from the list of current admins.
  4. Confirm to send the transfer request.

The chosen admin receives the request and must accept it. The admin can accept or decline.

Rules

  • Only the current owner can initiate a transfer.
  • The transfer target must be an existing admin of the group. A regular member cannot receive ownership directly — they must be promoted to admin first. See Manage Admins.
  • The transfer target must be a subscriber. Because every admin is already required to be a subscriber, all current admins are eligible targets.
  • If the group has no admins, the Transfer Ownership option is unavailable. The owner must promote at least one member to admin before initiating a transfer. Only subscribers can be promoted to admin.
  • Accepting a transfer counts toward the recipient's group ownership limit and reduces the former owner's count by one. If the target admin is already at their limit, they cannot accept the transfer. The transfer request remains pending; the owner can cancel it and choose a different admin.
  • Only one pending transfer request can exist at a time. The owner must cancel the current request before sending a new one.
  • The transfer is not immediate. It creates a pending transfer request that the chosen admin must accept.
  • The current owner remains owner until the admin accepts.
  • A pending transfer request expires after 30 days if the admin has not responded. The owner is notified when a request expires and can initiate a new one.
  • If the admin declines, ownership does not change. The owner can send a new request later.
  • The owner can cancel a pending transfer at any time before the admin responds. The admin is notified that the request was withdrawn.
  • If the target admin is demoted, removed, or voluntarily leaves the group while a transfer request is pending, the request is automatically cancelled. The owner is notified and must select a new admin to restart the process.
  • If the target admin's subscription lapses while the transfer request is pending, they are demoted to a regular member, which cancels the request. The owner is notified and must select another subscriber admin.
  • If the current owner's subscription lapses while a transfer request is pending to a subscriber admin, the transfer remains valid. The group enters the frozen (owner lapsed) state, but the target admin can still accept — and accepting restores the group to active. The eligibility check is on the recipient, not the sender. See Frozen (owner lapsed).
  • A lapsed owner whose group is read-only can still initiate and complete an ownership transfer. This is the primary way to restore the group to active.
  • After the admin accepts, the former owner becomes an admin only if they are still a subscriber. A former owner who has lapsed to free becomes a regular member instead (they cannot hold the admin role). They remain a member of the group in either case.
  • There is always exactly one owner. Ownership cannot be shared.

What Happens Next

The chosen admin is notified of the pending transfer request. When the admin accepts, the admin becomes the new owner and the former owner's role changes to admin (or to regular member if the former owner is no longer a subscriber). Both users are notified of the change. If the group was read-only because the former owner had lapsed, accepting ownership restores it to active — new joins and ride creation resume, and a public group reappears in discovery. If the admin declines, ownership stays with the current owner, who is notified.

Failure Cases

  • No admins in the group: The Transfer Ownership option is disabled. The owner must promote a subscriber member to admin first.
  • Target is not an admin: Only current admins appear in the selection list. Regular members cannot be selected.
  • Request declined: The chosen admin declines the transfer. Ownership stays with the current owner.
  • Target admin at group ownership limit: The admin cannot accept the transfer. The request remains pending and the owner must cancel it and select a different admin.
  • Target admin leaves, is removed, or is demoted while pending: The pending request is cancelled automatically. The owner must initiate a new transfer to a different admin.
  • Request expired: The transfer request was not accepted within 30 days. It is cancelled automatically. The owner must initiate a new transfer.

Status: partially-live. Backend API is complete. The groups module has not yet been built in the frontend.