Terms of Service & Master SaaS Agreement

• “Platform”, “We”, “Us”, or “Nidhi Arpan” refers to the proprietary multi-tenant software-as-a-service (SaaS) cloud infrastructure, progressive web applications (PWA), point-of-sale (POS) modules, APIs, cryptographic verification engines, and databases owned, operated, and maintained by Nidhi Arpan.
• “Organization” refers to any religious Trust, Mandal, Samiti, Temple Committee, Society, Ashram, Gaushala, Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Section-8 Company, or seasonal festival committee onboarded onto the Platform.
• “Devotee” / “Donor” refers to any individual or entity contributing religious donations, booking seva offerings, purchasing entry/darshan passes, or interacting with an Organization's public portal or POS terminals powered by the Platform.
• “User” refers to any individual assigned an operational role by an Organization, including Organization Owners (ORG_OWNER), Administrators (ADMIN), and Field/Counter Volunteers (VOLUNTEER).
• “Tier 0 Organization” refers to unregistered, informal, or seasonal festival samitis collecting contributions via direct peer-to-peer (P2P) static UPI or physical cash without formal Section 133 (formerly Section 80G) tax exemptions.
• “Tier 1 Organization” refers to formally registered non-profit trusts possessing verified government registrations, Trust PAN, Section 332 (formerly 12A / 12AB) certificates, and Section 133 (formerly 80G) tax deduction credentials.
• “Payment Aggregator” refers to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) authorized third-party payment gateways and aggregators (including Razorpay) integrated to facilitate multi-tenant split settlements.
• “Statutory Tax Provisions” refers collectively to the provisions of the Income-Tax Act, 1961 and the Income-Tax Act, 2025, specifically governing charitable donation deductions (Section 133 — formerly Section 80G), trust registration and exemptions (Section 332 — formerly Section 12A / 12AB), and annual donation statements (Form 113 — formerly Form 10BD; Form 114 — formerly Form 10BE).

• Electronic Execution: This Agreement is an electronic contract executed under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Information Technology (Electronic Service Delivery) Rules, 2011. It does not require physical or digital signatures.
• Authority to Bind: If you register an account on behalf of an Organization, you expressly warrant and represent that you are a Chairman, President, Trustee, Secretary, Treasurer, or legally authorized office-bearer with full constitutional and legal authority under your Trust Deed, Society By-laws, or Corporate Memorandum to bind the Organization to this Agreement.
• Role Enforcement: Access privileges are strictly isolated via Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and database-level Row-Level Security (RLS). Users agree not to access modules outside their assigned permissions, share credentials, or facilitate unauthorized multi-login access.

• Technology Infrastructure Only: Nidhi Arpan operates strictly as a multi-tenant technology SaaS provider and intermediary. Nidhi Arpan is not a bank, non-banking financial company (NBFC), payment aggregator, custodian, or fiduciary.
• No Custody of Funds: At no point does Nidhi Arpan take custody of, hold in escrow, commingle, or process devotional funds through its own balance sheet. All digital transactions are processed directly by RBI-authorized Payment Aggregators or via direct P2P UPI rail settlements between the Devotee and the Organization.
• Intermediary Protection: Pursuant to Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, Nidhi Arpan claims full statutory safe-harbor protection and is not liable for any content, financial appeals, seva listings, or regulatory declarations published or collected by Organizations using the Platform.

A. Tier 0 (Unregistered / Seasonal Organizations)

• Direct P2P Settlement: Collections utilize direct static UPI transfers or counter cash logging. Funds settle directly into the designated bank account or UPI handle configured by the Organization administrator.
• Full Personal Liability: Tier 0 administrators accept full personal, civil, and criminal liability for the collection, safety, utilization, and local tax exposure of all public funds collected.
• Payment Routing Disclaimer: Nidhi Arpan bears zero liability for funds misrouted due to typographical errors in entered UPI IDs, frozen bank accounts, PSP network blackouts, or National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) infrastructure downtimes.

B. Tier 1 (Statutory Registered Trusts)

• Automated Split Settlements: Digital collections are processed through Payment Aggregator multi-tenant routing (e.g., Razorpay Route). Net donations are settled directly into the Trust's verified institutional bank account per the standard settlement cycle.
• KYC & Regulatory Maintenance: Tier 1 Organizations warrant that their Section 332 (formerly 12A / 12AB), Section 133 (formerly 80G), PAN, and banking credentials remain active, lawful, and valid. Any revocation, suspension, or lapse of government registration must be updated on the Platform immediately.

• Paid SaaS Platform: Access to Nidhi Arpan's multi-volunteer management, shift reconciliation, automated compliance reporting, and business delivery infrastructure is governed strictly by paid subscription plans or agreed commercial fee structures.
• Subscription Plans & Non-Refundability: Subscription fees are billed on a recurring monthly or annual basis as selected during onboarding or checkout (/subscription). All subscription payments are strictly non-refundable once processed.
• Platform Technology Convenience Fees: Where configured, a technology convenience fee (e.g., 1.5% to 2% or agreed fixed rate) is appended at digital checkout or split via the Payment Aggregator API to cover cloud hosting, DLT SMS routing, and WhatsApp delivery costs. Devotee donation receipts for tax purposes will strictly reflect the base donation amount remitted to the Trust.
• Unilateral Price & Tariff Modifications:
  • Nidhi Arpan reserves the absolute right and discretion to revise, modify, or restructure subscription tariffs, platform convenience fee percentages, and billing models at any time.
  • Notice via Dashboard: The Platform is not obligated to provide individualized advance written notice for tariff modifications. Any forthcoming or effective price adjustments shall be communicated simply via an informational notice message or banner displayed directly within the Platform's subscription dashboard (/subscription).
  • Continued Use as Acceptance: Continued utilization of the Platform, renewal of a subscription, or processing of collections following the posting of such notice constitutes complete and unconditional acceptance of the revised commercial terms.

• Automated Formatting Tool Only: The Platform provides dynamic data compilation, real-time PAN syntax validation, and CSV/JSON export tools formatted to match the Income Tax Department's Form 113 (formerly Form 10BD) requirements.
• No Legal or Chartered Accountancy Advice: Nidhi Arpan does not provide tax, legal, financial, or audit advice. The Platform does not certify, validate, or guarantee the tax-exempt status of any Organization or donation.
• Trustee Filing Responsibility: The Organization remains solely responsible for:
  • Ensuring cash donations do not breach statutory limits (e.g., the ₹2,000 ceiling for Section 133 — formerly Section 80G — cash deductions).
  • Timely filing of annual Form 113 (formerly Form 10BD) statements with the Income Tax Department before statutory deadlines.
  • Issuing valid Form 114 (formerly Form 10BE) certificates to donors.
• Tax Indemnity: The Organization shall fully indemnify and hold Nidhi Arpan harmless against any tax penalties, reassessments, show-cause notices, or litigation arising from inaccurate donor records, forged tax registrations, or default in statutory filings.

• Cryptographic QR Issuance: All entry passes generated via /self-serve-pass or /pos contain a mathematically signed cryptographic token (JWT/HMAC) uniquely binding the ticket ID, transaction reference, allowed person count (pass_count), and primary holder verification photo.
• Photo Verification Agreement: Devotees agree that photo capture via mobile/webcam during ticket checkout is mandatory for high-security darshan and VIP entry. Gate security personnel utilizing /scanner are instructed to perform visual facial matching against the primary ticket holder's image displayed on the scanner interface. Physical entry may be denied if the person presenting the pass does not match the captured photo on record.
• Single-Use & Anti-Transferability: Entry passes are strictly non-transferable. Attempting to scan an already redeemed ticket will trigger a visual and auditory YELLOW (“ALREADY SCANNED”) alert, barring entry.
• Gate Supervisor Force Voiding: Authorized Admins and Owners hold full operational authority to “Force Void” tickets directly from the /scanner interface in cases of gate disturbances, fake identification, or security violations. Force-voided tickets at physical gates are invalidated immediately with zero right of financial refund.

• Privacy Policy Incorporation: All personal data collected through the Platform is processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy, which is fully incorporated into these Terms by reference.
• Roles under the DPDP Act, 2023: The Organization is the Data Fiduciary, and Nidhi Arpan operates as the Data Processor.
• Progressive Web App (PWA) Offline Storage: The Platform caches transaction queues and cryptographic ticket tokens locally in browser-level IndexedDB during cellular network jams. Users agree to maintain hardware battery and network connectivity to permit the Background Sync Manager to drain offline queues to the cloud. Users are barred from clearing browser cache or logging out while offline transactions remain pending sync.
• Statutory 7-Year Retention Override: Requests for account closure or data erasure are subject to mandatory direct tax preservation rules. All financial ledgers, audit trails, and donor PAN records must be preserved for a minimum of 7 to 8 financial years under Indian law and cannot be expunged prior to statutory expiry.

• Maker-Checker Protocol for Expenses: Expense claims submitted by Volunteers or Admins (/expenses) require explicit digital approval by the Organization Owner or designated Treasurer. Self-approval of expense claims is structurally blocked at the software layer.
• Shift Handovers & Blind Count Reconciliations:
  • Field volunteers must complete a Blind Cash Count Reconciliation (/shift-summary) at the end of each physical POS shift.
  • The Organization assumes full legal, physical, and financial liability for cash-box custody, physical currency safety, volunteer embezzlement, or counter shortfalls. Nidhi Arpan accepts zero liability for discrepancies between software logs and physical cash counted.
• Administrative User Kill Switch: Organization Owners hold the capability to immediately revoke volunteer or admin credentials (is_active = false), terminating active sessions instantly.

• Direct Sponsorship Contracts: Commercial advertising agreements managed via /sponsorships are direct commercial arrangements between the Mandal/Trust and the corporate advertiser.
• GST Invoicing: The Platform automatically applies statutory Goods and Services Tax (18% GST) to platform mediation and software service invoices. Corporate sponsors may claim Input Tax Credit (ITC) against invoices issued by the Platform for its technology facilitation components.

• Proprietary IP: All software architecture, database schemas, API interfaces, Progressive Web App designs, trademarks (“Nidhi Arpan”), logos, and cryptographic verification algorithms are the exclusive intellectual property of Nidhi Arpan.
• Whitelabel License: Premium whitelabel add-ons grant the Organization a revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable right to deploy the public interface under a custom domain name while operating on Nidhi Arpan's core SaaS infrastructure.
• No Code Transfer: Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as transferring source code ownership, database designs, or underlying patents to any Organization or third party.

• Devotional Contributions Non-Refundable: Religious donations, seva offerings, and charity contributions, once successfully captured and settled, are strictly non-refundable.
• Ledger Void Workflow: If an Organization Admin initiates a “Void Transaction” on an Entry Pass before event commencement, the system will trigger an automated refund API call to the Payment Aggregator only if the transaction was processed via digital gateway.
• Gateway Chargebacks: Any chargeback or payment dispute raised by a cardholder/devotee through their issuing bank will be managed per the Payment Aggregator's standard dispute framework. Any disputed sums, chargeback fees, or penalties will be debited directly from the Organization's future settlement balance.

• “As-Is” Provision: The Platform and its POS/PWA services are provided strictly on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis without warranties of uninterrupted uptime during third-party telecom blackouts or banking rail collapses.
• Exclusion of Consequential Damages: To the maximum extent permitted by applicable Indian law, Nidhi Arpan, its founders, directors, employees, and infrastructure partners shall NOT be liable for any indirect, special, incidental, consequential, punitive, or exemplary damages, including loss of religious contributions, operational downtime, reputational harm, or regulatory fines.
• Aggregate Liability Cap: In all circumstances, Nidhi Arpan's total cumulative financial liability arising out of or related to this Agreement, whether in contract, tort, negligence, or strict liability, shall be strictly capped at the total subscription fees actually received by Nidhi Arpan from the claimant Organization during the three (3) months immediately preceding the event giving rise to liability, or ₹10,000 INR, whichever is lower.

The Organization agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Nidhi Arpan, its parent entity, directors, officers, engineers, and agents against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, penalties, tax demands, or legal expenses (including reasonable attorney's fees) arising out of:

• Any misrepresentation of the Organization's legal registration, Trust Deed authority, or Section 332 / Section 133 (formerly Section 12A / 12AB / 80G) tax exemption validity.
• Disputes between devotees, donors, trustees, or committee factions regarding fund allocation, election disputes, or seva scheduling.
• Embezzlement, cash shortfalls, theft, or misconduct committed by organizational volunteers or administrators at physical counters.
• Default in timely filing of Form 113 (formerly Form 10BD) with the Income Tax Department.
• Breach of any third-party intellectual property or privacy rights by content uploaded by the Organization.

• Immediate Suspension (The Kill Switch): Nidhi Arpan reserves the right to immediately suspend an account (is_suspended = true) without prior notice if the Platform reasonably suspects financial fraud, money laundering, regulatory forgery, cyber interference, or material breach of these Terms.
• Post-Termination CA Audit Window: Following subscription expiration or voluntary deactivation, Organizations shall retain read-only access to /history, /expenses, and /compliance for a mandatory period of ninety (90) days to permit Chartered Accountants to extract statutory audit records.
• Statutory Retention: After ninety (90) days, operational access is closed, but raw financial ledger entries remain preserved in an encrypted archival state to satisfy the mandatory 7-year statutory audit obligations under Indian tax laws.

Neither party shall be held liable for failure or delay in performance resulting from acts beyond reasonable control, including but not limited to: acts of God, pandemics, natural disasters, localized cellular network congestion at festival pandals, NPCI / UPI network downtime, Payment Aggregator settlement outages, telecom cable disruptions, state-mandated internet shutdowns, or cyber attacks on global cloud hosts.

• Governing Law: This Agreement shall be interpreted and governed exclusively in accordance with the substantive laws of the Republic of India.
• Amicable Resolution: In the event of any controversy, claim, or dispute, the parties shall first attempt to resolve the matter amicably through good-faith executive discussions within thirty (30) days of written notice.
• Binding Arbitration: Any dispute not resolved through amicable discussions shall be referred to and finally resolved by Binding Sole-Arbitrator Arbitration in accordance with the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
• Seat & Venue: The seat and venue of arbitration shall be Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
• Language: The arbitration proceedings shall be conducted exclusively in the English language.
• Arbitral Award: The decision of the sole arbitrator shall be final, conclusive, and binding on both parties.
• Court Jurisdiction: Subject to the arbitration clause above, the competent civil courts located in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any interim relief or enforcement proceedings.

In compliance with the Information Technology Act, 2000, the IT (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules, 2021, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, the contact details for the designated Grievance Officer are:

The Creator Network Programme (the “Programme”) governs individuals or entities that register on /collaborator to introduce Organizations to the Platform in exchange for a performance-based commission. Registration in the Programme creates a direct legal relationship between the Creator and Nidhi Arpan; it does not create any employer-employee, partnership, franchisee, or fiduciary relationship, and Creators are engaged strictly as independent contractors.

A. Commission Rate — Flat 10 %

• Nidhi Arpan shall pay the Creator a flat commission of ten percent (10 %) of the net subscription fee (exclusive of taxes and payment-gateway charges) actually received by the Platform for every first-time paid activation of an Organization that (i) reaches the Platform via the Creator's unique referral link and (ii) successfully completes a Tier 0 Festival Pass or a Tier 1 SaaS subscription within the attribution window recorded in the referral log.
• The prevailing rate at any point in time is authoritatively displayed in the Creator dashboard under “Active Commission Rate” and is stored in the referral_configregistry. In the event of a conflict between this clause, marketing copy on the Platform, or third-party channel material, the value stored in the registry (currently 10 %) shall prevail.
• Individually negotiated overrides (a “Custom Rate”) recorded on the Creator's account by the Nidhi Arpan finance team will supersede the standard 10 % rate for that Creator only.

B. Payout Mechanics, TDS & Banking Fees

• Minimum Withdrawal: A withdrawal may be requested only once the Creator's available wallet balance reaches or exceeds the platform-configured minimum payout threshold displayed in the Creator dashboard.
• Statutory TDS: Nidhi Arpan is obliged to deduct Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) at the prevailing statutory rate — currently 10 % — on aggregate commission earnings in each Financial Year only after total FY-cumulative gross payouts to a Creator exceed the statutory threshold (currently ₹50,000). Every subsequent withdrawal in the same FY continues to attract 10 % TDS on the taxable slice.
• Bank Transfer Fee: A fixed ₹5 banking-rail fee (or the then-prevailing configured amount) is debited per successful withdrawal to cover IMPS / UPI settlement charges levied by the Payment Aggregator.
• Time-to-Cash: Approved withdrawals are settled to the Creator's verified bank account or UPI handle within twenty-four (24) hours of initiation by Nidhi Arpan finance.
• Form 26AS / Statement: A signed TDS-inclusive payout statement is generated for every successful withdrawal and is downloadable from the Creator dashboard for the Creator's Chartered Accountant.

C. Eligibility, KYC & Attribution

• Creators warrant that they are Indian residents at least eighteen (18) years of age and shall submit a valid PAN, verified mobile number, and bank / UPI credentials for payout.
• Attribution is recorded via the Creator's unique referral link at the moment the Organization completes its first paid activation. Manual back-attribution is at Nidhi Arpan's sole discretion and only where a bona-fide first-click record exists.
• Nidhi Arpan reserves the right to refuse, delay or claw back a commission for any activation that is later found to be fraudulent, self-referred, duplicated, chargeback-reversed, or generated by prohibited techniques (spam, incentivized clicks, mis-representation of the Platform).

D. Programme-level Variations & Termination

• Nidhi Arpan reserves the right to revise the commission rate, minimum payout threshold, TDS treatment, banking fee, or any other Programme parameter at any time, with the revised parameters becoming binding on posting to the /collaborator dashboard.
• Continued use of the referral link, sharing of Platform screenshots, or receipt of a payout after such an update constitutes complete and unconditional acceptance of the revised Programme Terms.
• Nidhi Arpan may suspend or terminate a Creator's participation in the Programme without prior notice for material breach of these Terms, misconduct, brand misrepresentation, or non-completion of KYC — accrued but unearned commissions may be forfeited in such cases.

A print-ready copy of these Programme Terms is available at /collaborator/agreement and may be downloaded as a PDF from the Creator dashboard.