Terms of Service

Effective date: [[EFFECTIVE DATE]]

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a contract between you and [[COMPANY NAME]] ([[COMPANY REGISTRATION DETAILS]]), whose registered office is at [[REGISTERED ADDRESS]] ("Grind Shop", "we", "us"). They apply when you create a Grind Shop account, open or run a store on Grind Shop, or otherwise use the Grind Shop website, the merchant admin and the related services (together, the "Service").

If you use the Service for a business, you confirm that you can bind that business to these Terms. Read them together with our Privacy Policy, Acceptable Use Policy, Refund Policy and, for merchants, the Data Processing Terms. Those documents are part of these Terms.

1. What the Service is

Grind Shop is software that lets a merchant build and run an online store: a storefront on a Grind Shop address, a product catalogue, a checkout, an order dashboard and apps that connect other tools. We provide the software and the hosting.

The merchant is the seller. When a shopper buys from a store, the sale is a contract between the shopper and the merchant. We are not a party to it. We do not sell, ship, inspect or guarantee the merchant's goods or services, and we do not hold shoppers' money.

Some features on our website are marked "coming soon". We do not promise a date for a feature that is not live.

2. Who can use the Service

• You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into a binding contract under Indian law.
• The information you give us (name, e-mail, mobile number, business details, GSTIN) must be accurate, and you must keep it up to date.
• You may not use the Service if we have suspended or ended your account for breaking these Terms, unless we agree in writing.

3. Your account and its security

• Keep your sign-in details confidential. You are responsible for everything done under your account, including by staff you invite.
• Owners and admins must turn on two-step verification (an authenticator app) before they can use the admin. Keep your backup codes safe.
• One account is for one person. Invite your staff with their own accounts instead of sharing yours.
• Tell us at once if you think someone used your account without permission. Use the details on our Contact page.
• We may ask you to verify your e-mail address and mobile number.

4. Your store and your responsibilities as a seller

You alone are responsible for your store, your products and everything you tell shoppers. In particular you must:

• have the right to sell what you list, and hold every licence, registration and permission the law requires for your business and products (for example food licences, drug and cosmetics licences, and the declarations required for packaged goods);
• follow the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, including showing the information the law requires on a store (such as your legal name, address, contact details and grievance officer), showing prices that include all charges, and keeping your return, refund and cancellation promises;
• charge, collect, report and pay GST and any other tax that applies to you, and issue the invoices the law requires. Grind Shop gives you tools such as HSN code and GST rate fields. They are aids, not tax advice, and we do not decide your tax treatment;
• deliver orders and answer shoppers' questions and complaints promptly;
• look after your shoppers' personal data and use it only as the law allows (see section 9 and the Data Processing Terms);
• follow our Acceptable Use Policy. Stores that sell prohibited goods or run scams are removed.

5. Payments

• Merchants connect their own payment accounts. When online payments become available, you connect your own account with a payment gateway or payment aggregator that is authorised to operate in India. Shoppers' payments go to that account under the provider's terms. Grind Shop does not collect, hold, pool or settle shoppers' money, and does not act as a payment aggregator, payment gateway or escrow agent.
• We are not responsible for the services, fees, settlement delays, refunds or chargebacks of your payment provider. Those are between you, the provider and your shopper.
• Cash on delivery is collected by you or your courier. The order data we show is a record, not proof of payment.
• We do not ask for or store shoppers' card numbers, UPI PINs or net-banking passwords. When online payments are available, shoppers pay on the payment provider's own pages.

6. Fees

• The Service is free during the launch period. We may introduce paid plans later. Plans, prices and billing terms will be published on the Pricing page and shown to you before anything is charged.
• If you buy a paid plan, fees are in Indian rupees, are billed in advance for [[BILLING PERIOD]], and are exclusive of GST and other taxes unless we say otherwise. Refunds follow the Refund Policy.
• We will give you at least [[FEE CHANGE NOTICE DAYS]] days' notice before a fee that applies to you changes.

7. Content and licences

• Your content. You keep ownership of what you upload (product details, images, text, settings). You give us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, copy, process, resize, display and transmit it as needed to run the Service for you, for example to show your store to shoppers and to keep backups. The licence ends when you delete the content or close your account, except for backup copies we keep for up to [[BACKUP RETENTION PERIOD]] and records the law requires us to keep.
• Your promise. You own or have permission to use everything you upload, and it does not infringe anyone's rights or break the law.
• Our property. We own the Service, including the software, design, built-in themes, documentation and the "Grind Shop" name and logo. While these Terms apply you may use the Service for its intended purpose. You may not copy it, resell it, build a competing service from it, or use our name or logo to suggest we endorse you without our written permission.
• Feedback. If you send us ideas or suggestions we may use them without obligation to you.

8. Apps, themes and other services

Apps and integrations (for example cash on delivery, order alerts, payments, shipping and messaging tools) may be built by us or by others. If you connect a third-party service you decide to share data with it, and its own terms and privacy policy apply to that relationship. We are not responsible for third-party services. Do not give us API keys or credentials that you are not allowed to use. We store integration secrets encrypted.

9. Personal data

• For our own account and website data (your details, visitors to our website, people who report stores) we decide the purposes, so we are the data fiduciary. See the Privacy Policy.
• For the personal data of your shoppers and customers that passes through your store, you are the data fiduciary and we are your data processor. The Data Processing Terms apply and form part of these Terms.
• You must have a lawful ground for the data you collect, give your shoppers the notices the law requires, honour their rights, and give us only data you may lawfully collect.

10. Acceptable use, reports and enforcement

You must follow the Acceptable Use Policy. Anyone can report a store with the report form. We may remove content, hide products, and suspend or end stores and accounts as that policy describes, including at once where that is needed to stop harm, to comply with a law or an order of a court or government, or to protect the Service.

11. Availability and support

We work to keep the Service running, but it is provided "as is" and "as available". We do not promise uninterrupted or error-free service, a particular level of uptime, or any sales result. We may change, add or remove features. If we remove a feature of a paid plan we will tell you in advance. Support is given by e-mail on a reasonable-efforts basis.

12. Suspension and ending the agreement

• You can stop using the Service and close your account at any time. Fees paid in advance are refunded only as the Refund Policy says.
• We may suspend or end your access if you break these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy, if a fee is overdue, if the law or an order requires it, or if your use puts shoppers, other merchants or the Service at risk. Where it is reasonable we will give you notice and a chance to respond first. We may act at once when the risk is serious.
• After your account ends you may ask for an export of your data within [[DATA EXPORT PERIOD]]. After that we delete it as the Data Processing Terms describe, except where the law requires us to keep it.
• Terms that by their nature should continue (ownership, unpaid fees, disclaimers, liability, indemnity, governing law) continue after the agreement ends.

13. Disclaimer

To the fullest extent the law allows, we give no warranty of any kind, express or implied, including any warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. Nothing in these Terms excludes a liability that the law does not allow us to exclude.

14. Limit on our liability

To the extent the law allows:

• we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive loss, or for loss of profit, revenue, goodwill or data;
• our total liability to you for all claims arising out of or relating to the Service is limited to [[LIABILITY CAP]];
• we are not liable for the acts or omissions of merchants, shoppers, payment providers, couriers, app developers or other third parties.

15. Indemnity

You will defend and compensate us, our officers and our employees against claims, losses and costs (including reasonable legal fees) that arise from your store, your products, your content, your breach of these Terms, or your breach of a law or of someone else's rights.

16. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. For a material change we will tell you by e-mail or in the admin at least [[TERMS CHANGE NOTICE DAYS]] days before it takes effect, where that is practical. If you keep using the Service after the change takes effect, you accept the new Terms. If you do not agree, stop using the Service and close your account.

17. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of India. The courts at [[GOVERNING COURTS CITY]], India have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute about them. Before you start a proceeding, write to us and give us [[INFORMAL RESOLUTION PERIOD]] to try to resolve the matter.

18. Grievance officer

As the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 require, you can send complaints to our grievance officer:

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

19. General

• Whole agreement. These Terms and the documents they refer to are the whole agreement between you and us about the Service.
• If a part is invalid. If a part of these Terms is unenforceable, the rest stays in force.
• No waiver. If we do not enforce a right straight away, we have not given it up.
• Assignment. You may not transfer your rights under these Terms without our written consent. We may transfer ours as part of a merger, sale or reorganisation.
• Events beyond control. Neither side is liable for a delay or failure caused by events beyond its reasonable control.
• Electronic contract. You agree to these Terms electronically. This is a valid electronic contract under the Information Technology Act, 2000.
• Notices. We may send notices to the e-mail address on your account or show them in the admin. Send legal notices to us at [[LEGAL NOTICES EMAIL]] and at our registered office.
• Language. If these Terms are translated, the English text prevails.

20. Contact

Questions about these Terms: see our Contact page. Legal notices: [[LEGAL NOTICES EMAIL]]. GSTIN: [[GSTIN]].