Acceptable Use Policy

Effective date: [[EFFECTIVE DATE]]

This policy tells merchants and everyone else what may not be done with Grind Shop, and how [[COMPANY NAME]] ("Grind Shop", "we", "us") deals with reports and breaches. It is part of our Terms of Service. A store that breaks it can be hidden, suspended or removed. It is also the notice of our rules for users that the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 ask us to publish.

1. Who this applies to

It applies to everyone who creates an account, runs or manages a store, installs an app, or uses the Service in any other way. Merchants are responsible for their staff and for every product, page, image, message and link in their store.

2. What may not be sold or shown

You must not use the Service to sell, advertise, offer or show:

• anything that is illegal in India, or that you are not licensed or permitted to sell, including narcotic and psychotropic substances, unlicensed prescription medicines, arms, ammunition and explosives, counterfeit currency, stolen goods, and products made from protected wildlife;
• counterfeit, fake or "replica" goods, and goods that infringe a trademark, copyright, design or patent;
• tobacco, electronic cigarettes and similar products, and alcohol, where the sale is prohibited or you do not hold the licence the law requires;
• online gambling, betting, lotteries and games played for money, where the law prohibits them;
• financial products or services you are not authorised to offer, "get rich quick", investment, chit-fund, pyramid and multi-level-marketing schemes, and anything that promises returns that cannot be real;
• sexual content involving minors in any form (we report it to the authorities), and obscene or pornographic material;
• content that is hateful, threatening, harassing or defamatory, that promotes violence or self-harm, or that targets people because of their religion, caste, gender, language, origin or any other protected characteristic;
• fake documents and identity papers, hacked or stolen accounts and data, and tools made to break into computer systems;
• personal data of other people that you were not allowed to collect or publish.

3. What may not be done

You must not:

• run a store that pretends to be another brand, business, person or government body, copy another store to mislead shoppers, or use a name or address designed to be mistaken for another brand (we block store addresses that imitate well-known brands);
• take payment for goods you do not intend to deliver, take payment and then not deliver, or use deceptive prices, fake discounts, fake reviews or fake urgency;
• collect card details, passwords, OTPs or other sensitive data outside the payment pages of a payment provider, or ask shoppers for them by message;
• send spam or unsolicited messages, or use the Service for phishing or to spread malware;
• upload viruses, or try to probe, scan, overload or break into the Service or into other merchants' stores or data;
• get around our limits, security measures or suspension, for example by opening a new account after a ban;
• resell or sublicense access to the Service, or share an account;
• use the Service to break the law, or to help someone else do so.

4. Licences and the law of your business

You are responsible for knowing which laws apply to your goods and holding the licences, registrations and permissions they need, for example food licences, medicine and cosmetics licences, and the declarations required for packaged goods. Show the information the law requires on your store, including your business name, address, contact details and grievance officer.

5. Reporting a store or content

Anyone can report a store using our report form. Please give the store address, say why you are reporting it, and add details that help us check it, such as the page or product, what happened and dates. You may give an e-mail address so that we can ask you for more information. You do not have to.

We review every report within [[X]] days. For reports about content that is illegal or that puts people in danger we act sooner.

Reports about copyright or trademark should say which work or mark is yours, where on our Service it appears, that you believe in good faith that the use is not allowed, and how we can reach you. Write to our grievance officer (section 10). The merchant can answer such a notice, and we may restore content if the dispute is settled or the claimant does not follow it up.

6. How we review and act

1. We look at the report and at the store. We may also act on our own checks, on complaints by authorities, and on court orders.
2. We decide. The possible outcomes are no action, a request to the merchant to fix something, hiding a product or page, suspending a store, ending a store or account, and passing information to the authorities where the law requires.
3. We tell the merchant what we found and which rule was broken, and give a chance to reply within [[MERCHANT REPLY PERIOD]]. We may skip the notice, or send it after the action, when the risk is serious (for example fraud, phishing, illegal content, a court or government order, or a threat to the Service) or when telling the merchant would harm an investigation.
4. The merchant may ask us to reconsider a decision by writing to the grievance officer within [[APPEAL PERIOD]]. A person who was not involved in the first decision looks at it.
5. Repeat or serious breaches lead to the permanent removal of the store and the account. Fees paid for a period after a removal for breach are not refunded.

We tell a reporter the outcome only as far as the law and the privacy of others allow. We do not tell the merchant who reported them, unless the law requires it.

7. Orders from courts and authorities

We act on lawful orders from courts and on notifications from the appropriate government or its agency under the Information Technology Act, 2000. This can mean removing content or blocking access at once, keeping records, and giving information to authorities as the law requires.

8. Keeping the Service safe

If you find a security weakness in Grind Shop, please tell us before telling anyone else, at [[SECURITY CONTACT EMAIL]]. Do not access other people's data, do not disrupt the Service, and give us a reasonable time to fix the problem.

9. Changes

We may change this policy. We will post the new version here with its effective date. At least once a year we remind merchants of the current rules.

10. Grievance officer

We acknowledge a complaint within [[GRIEVANCE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT PERIOD]] and aim to resolve it within [[GRIEVANCE RESOLUTION PERIOD]] of receiving it.