Terms & Conditions

01 Company Details

Disclosure under Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, Rule 5(1): Panipaali Technologies Private Limited operates as an e-commerce entity providing a digital service marketplace platform through its website and mobile application. Users engaging in financial transactions (credit purchases and wallet payouts) are governed by these terms and applicable RBI guidelines on prepaid payment instruments.

02 Eligibility

To use Panipaali, you must:

• Be at least 18 years of age;
• Be a resident of India or otherwise legally permitted to use Indian digital platforms;
• Possess the legal capacity to enter into a binding contract under the Indian Contract Act, 1872;
• Not be barred or disqualified from receiving services under any applicable law;
• Provide accurate, complete, and current registration information;
• Not have had a previously terminated Panipaali account due to policy violations.

Panipaali does not knowingly collect data from minors. If we learn that a minor has created an account, we will immediately delete the account and all associated data. If you believe a minor has registered, please report to grievance@panipaali.in.

03 Platform Services

Panipaali provides a peer-to-peer audio calling platform ("Platform") that enables:

• Callers: Registered users who purchase credits to initiate live anonymous audio calls with Listeners for the purpose of emotional expression and venting;
• Listeners: Registered users who make themselves available to receive calls from Callers and earn credits redeemable as monetary payments for providing listening services.

The Platform operates on a credit-based economy:

• 1 Credit = ₹1 (one Indian Rupee) in notional value;
• Callers are charged 10 credits per minute of call time;
• Listeners earn 5 credits per minute of call time received;
• Panipaali retains 5 credits per minute as a platform service fee (50% commission);
• Minimum payout to Listeners: ₹50 (fifty rupees).

04 User Accounts & KYC

To access Platform services, users must register an account using a valid email address or Indian mobile phone number (verified via OTP). You are responsible for:

• Maintaining the confidentiality of your password and account credentials;
• All activities that occur under your account;
• Notifying Panipaali immediately of any unauthorised use at support@panipaali.in.

KYC for Payouts: In compliance with RBI Master Directions on Prepaid Payment Instruments, Listeners requesting payouts exceeding ₹10,000 (ten thousand rupees) per month must complete a Know Your Customer (KYC) process, including:

• Government-issued photo ID (Aadhaar, PAN card, Passport, or Voter ID);
• Bank account or verified UPI ID for fund transfer;
• Any additional documents required by our payment partners.

One person may register only one account. Creating multiple accounts is prohibited and will result in immediate suspension of all associated accounts.

05 Credits & Payments

Credits are a virtual currency within the Panipaali Platform. They have no monetary value outside the Platform and cannot be transferred between accounts.

• All prices are inclusive of applicable Goods and Services Tax (GST) at 18%;
• Payments are processed via Razorpay, a RBI-licensed payment aggregator;
• Panipaali accepts UPI, Net Banking, Debit/Credit cards, and supported wallets;
• Credits are credited to your account instantly upon successful payment confirmation;
• Credits do not expire and have no cash redemption value for Callers;
• Panipaali reserves the right to modify credit pack pricing with 7 days' prior notice.

06 Wallet & Payouts (Listeners)

• Listener earnings accumulate in a Panipaali wallet at a rate of 5 credits per minute of completed call time;
• Payouts are processed to the Listener's verified UPI ID or bank account;
• Minimum payout: ₹50. Processing time: 1–3 business days;
• Panipaali reserves the right to withhold payouts pending fraud investigation or policy compliance review;
• TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) under Section 194O of the Income Tax Act, 1961 may be deducted on payouts exceeding ₹5,00,000 (five lakh rupees) in a financial year at the applicable rate. Listeners are responsible for their own income tax compliance;
• Disputed earnings from calls that were reported, flagged, or terminated due to policy violations will not be paid out;
• Panipaali is not a bank or financial institution. Wallet balances do not accrue interest.

07 Refund & Cancellation Policy

7.1 Credit Purchases

• No Refunds after 24 hours: Credits are a digital good consumed immediately upon use. Once credits are purchased and used in any call, they are non-refundable;
• Refund within 24 hours: If you purchased credits and have not used any of them, you may request a full refund within 24 hours of purchase by contacting support@panipaali.in;
• Technical failure: If credits were deducted due to a technical error on our Platform (e.g., call failed to connect, credits deducted for a call that did not complete), you may file a complaint within 7 days. We will investigate and restore credits within 5 business days if the error is confirmed;
• Payment failure with amount debited: If your payment was debited but credits were not added, this will be automatically resolved within 3 business days. If not resolved, contact support with your transaction reference number.

7.2 Listener Earnings

• Earnings once credited to the wallet are final and cannot be reversed except in cases of platform error or fraud investigation;
• Wallet amounts once withdrawn via UPI/bank transfer cannot be reversed.

7.3 How to Request a Refund

Email support@panipaali.in with:

• Your registered email/phone number;
• Transaction ID / Razorpay payment ID;
• Date and amount of transaction;
• Reason for refund request.

Acknowledgement: We will acknowledge your request within 48 hours. Resolution: Within 30 days of acknowledgement, as required under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

08 User Conduct & Prohibited Content

Pursuant to Rule 3(1)(b) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, users must not use Panipaali to host, transmit, communicate, or share any content that:

• 🚫 Belongs to another person without right;
• 🚫 Is harmful, harassing, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, or sexually explicit;
• 🚫 Violates any person's privacy, including sharing personal information without consent;
• 🚫 Harms minors in any way, including by sharing CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) — which is a criminal offence under the POCSO Act, 2012;
• 🚫 Is hateful, racially or ethnically objectionable;
• 🚫 Constitutes threats, intimidation, or incites violence against any person or group;
• 🚫 Infringes any patent, trademark, copyright, or intellectual property right;
• 🚫 Impersonates another person or entity;
• 🚫 Promotes, encourages, or facilitates suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders;
• 🚫 Contains viruses, malware, or any harmful code;
• 🚫 Involves solicitation for commercial sexual services;
• 🚫 Promotes illegal activities or violates any applicable Indian law;
• 🚫 Is used to record or distribute call content without consent of all parties (violation of Indian Telegraph Act and IT Act);
• 🚫 Involves use of automated bots or scripts to generate fake calls or earnings;
• 🚫 Involves collusion between a Caller and Listener to artificially generate earnings.

Violation of the above may result in immediate account termination, forfeiture of credits and wallet balance, and reporting to law enforcement as required under applicable Indian law.

Important notice: Panipaali periodically (at least once annually) reminds users of their obligation to comply with these rules. Continued use of the Platform constitutes acknowledgement of and agreement with these rules.

09 Safety, Moderation & Crisis Protocol

9.1 AI Moderation

Panipaali employs automated systems to detect patterns indicative of abuse, harassment, or crisis situations during calls. This is done for safety purposes only. No calls are recorded or stored in identifiable form.

9.2 Crisis Keyword Detection

If our systems detect language associated with suicide, self-harm, or immediate danger, we will display crisis helpline information in-app. Our systems may also flag the session for safety review. This is not a substitute for professional emergency services.

9.3 Listener Rights

Listeners may drop a call at any time, for any reason, without penalty. Listeners are not required to continue a call that makes them uncomfortable. Repeated abusive callers may be blocked by listeners and will be subject to account review.

9.4 Reporting Mechanism

Users can report violations directly in the app during or after a call. Reports are reviewed by our Trust & Safety team within 48 hours.

10 Data Privacy & DPDP Act 2023

Panipaali is committed to protecting your personal data in accordance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) and the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011 under the IT Act, 2000.

10.1 Data Collected

• Account data: Name, email address, mobile number, gender (optional), date of birth (for age verification);
• Payment data: Transaction IDs, payment instrument type (processed and stored by Razorpay — we do not store card details);
• KYC data (Listeners, if applicable): Government ID documents, bank account/UPI details;
• Usage data: Call duration logs, credit usage, earnings, device type, IP address, session data;
• Safety data: Reports filed, moderation flags (anonymised).

10.2 Purpose of Processing

• Account creation and authentication;
• Processing credits and payouts;
• Fraud detection and platform safety;
• Customer support;
• Legal compliance (tax, law enforcement requests);
• Service improvement (aggregated, anonymised analytics only).

10.3 Your Rights (DPDP Act 2023, Sections 11–14)

• Right of Access: Request a copy of personal data we hold about you;
• Right of Correction: Request correction of inaccurate personal data;
• Right of Erasure: Request deletion of your personal data (subject to legal retention obligations);
• Right to Grievance Redressal: Lodge a complaint regarding data processing (see Section 16);
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Withdraw consent for processing at any time via account settings or by emailing privacy@panipaali.in (withdrawal does not affect prior lawful processing).

10.4 Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the stated purposes or as required by law. Account data is deleted within 30 days of account closure request, subject to retention obligations under GST Act (5 years), Income Tax Act (7 years), and any regulatory obligations.

10.5 Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures including TLS encryption for data in transit, AES-256 encryption for sensitive data at rest, and role-based access controls. However, no system is 100% secure and you use the Platform at your own risk.

10.6 Third-Party Processors

• Razorpay Software Pvt Ltd: Payment processing;
• Agora.io: Real-time audio infrastructure (calls are encrypted in transit; Agora does not store call content);
• Firebase / Google LLC: Authentication and analytics;
• AWS / GCP: Cloud hosting and data storage.

All third-party processors are bound by data processing agreements and applicable data protection laws.

For detailed privacy practices, please refer to our Privacy Policy.

11 Intellectual Property

All content on the Panipaali Platform — including but not limited to the name "Panipaali", logo, design, software code, user interface, graphics, and documentation — is the exclusive property of Panipaali Technologies Private Limited or its licensors and is protected under the Copyright Act, 1957, Trade Marks Act, 1999, and other applicable Indian intellectual property laws.

You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the Platform solely for its intended personal purposes. You may not:

• Copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease any part of the Platform;
• Reverse engineer or attempt to extract source code;
• Use any Panipaali trademark or brand elements without written permission;
• Scrape, spider, or data-mine the Platform.

12 Limitation of Liability & Indemnification

12.1 Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable Indian law, Panipaali, its directors, employees, affiliates, agents, and partners shall not be liable for:

• Any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages;
• Emotional distress, psychological harm, or mental health impacts arising from calls;
• Actions, statements, or conduct of any user on the Platform;
• Loss of credits due to account hacking resulting from your failure to secure credentials;
• Service interruptions, technical errors, or data loss beyond our reasonable control;
• Third-party payment processing failures.

In no event shall Panipaali's total liability exceed the amount you paid us in the 3 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

12.2 Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Panipaali Technologies Private Limited and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including legal fees) arising out of or in any way connected with: (a) your use of the Platform; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) your violation of any applicable law; or (d) your infringement of any third-party rights.

13 Intermediary Disclaimer

Panipaali operates as an intermediary as defined under Section 2(1)(w) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Panipaali provides a platform for user-to-user communication and does not initiate, select recipients of, or modify the content of communications between users.

Panipaali's liability for third-party content is limited in accordance with Section 79 of the IT Act, provided Panipaali:

• Does not initiate the transmission;
• Does not select the receiver or modify the information contained in the transmission;
• Observes due diligence and follows prescribed guidelines.

Panipaali shall, upon receiving actual knowledge (or upon being notified by a competent authority) that any content on the Platform is being used to commit unlawful acts, expeditiously remove or disable access to such content in accordance with the IT Rules 2021 and applicable court orders.

Compliance Officers:

• Chief Compliance Officer: [Name], compliance@panipaali.in
• Nodal Contact Person: [Name], nodal@panipaali.in

14 Termination

Panipaali reserves the right to suspend or permanently terminate your account and access to the Platform, with or without notice, for:

• Violation of these Terms & Conditions or any applicable law;
• Fraudulent, abusive, or harmful conduct;
• Non-compliance with KYC requirements (for Listeners);
• Inactivity exceeding 24 months;
• Any action that may harm Panipaali, its users, or third parties.

Upon termination: unused purchased credits will be refunded on a pro-rata basis within 30 days (subject to fraud investigation); any pending Listener wallet payouts will be held for 60 days pending review; data will be handled per our retention policy (Section 10.4).

You may delete your account at any time via account settings. Deletion is subject to any outstanding transaction obligations.

15 Governing Law & Jurisdiction

These Terms & Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of India. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Platform shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

Before initiating legal proceedings, parties agree to make reasonable efforts to resolve disputes through the Grievance Redressal Mechanism (Section 16). For disputes involving amounts less than ₹10 lakh, users may also approach the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

16 Grievance Redressal Officer

Grievance Process

• Step 1: Submit your complaint to grievance@panipaali.in with your name, registered contact, description of the issue, and any supporting evidence;
• Step 2: You will receive an acknowledgement with a ticket number within 48 hours;
• Step 3: The Grievance Officer will resolve or respond to the complaint within 30 days of receipt;
• Step 4: If dissatisfied, you may escalate to the Data Protection Board of India (under the DPDP Act 2023) or the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

17 Amendments to These Terms

Panipaali reserves the right to modify these Terms & Conditions at any time. Changes will be notified to registered users via:

• Email to the registered email address;
• In-app notification on next login;
• Banner on the website/app for 7 days prior to the change taking effect.

Continued use of the Platform after the effective date of any modification constitutes your acceptance of the modified Terms. If you do not agree with the changes, you must discontinue use and may request account deletion.

As required under IT Rules 2021, Rule 3(1)(c), we will notify all users of changes to these rules at least once annually regardless of whether changes have occurred.

18 Contact Us