Terms of Use | Home Maintenance Company

Acceptance of terms

These Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy form a legally binding agreement between Home Maintenance Company ("we", "us") and you. They define your rights and obligations when you use:

our website and mobile application, including listings, forums, email functions and links, and all content and services available through our domain and sub-domains (the "Website"); and
the online transactions between users offering services (each a "Service Professional") and users obtaining services (each a "Service User") through the Website (the "Services").

The Website serves as a venue for the online distribution and publication of user-submitted information between Service Professionals and Service Users. By using, visiting or registering on the Website, or by clicking "I have read and agree to the terms of use", you certify that you accept these terms.

Age requirement: by using the Website you confirm that you are at least 18 years old and competent under law to enter into a legally binding and enforceable contract. If you use the Website on behalf of a business, you confirm you have authority to bind that business, and "you" then refers to the business.

Changes to these terms

We may change or amend these Terms of Use, and any documents incorporated by reference, at any time and in our sole discretion, to comply with legal and regulatory requirements and for other legitimate business purposes. The amended terms will be posted on this page. It is your responsibility to review them regularly. Your continued use of the Website after any amendment means you accept the revised terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Website.

Your account

You do not need to register just to visit and view the Website. To access certain features you must create a password-protected account ("Account") by providing your name and mobile number or email address. You may provide extra optional information to get a more customised experience. Use of the Website is available only to individuals who are at least 18 years old and can form legally binding contracts under applicable law.

You agree that all registration information is truthful and accurate, that you will keep it up to date, and that your use of the Website does not violate any law or regulation. We may terminate your Account without warning if we believe you are under 18 or are not complying with applicable laws, rules or regulations.

You are solely responsible for keeping your passwords and OTPs secure and for all activity on your Account. Tell us immediately about any breach of security or unauthorised use. You are liable for your own losses caused by unauthorised use of your Account and may be liable for our losses or the losses of others caused by it. Never use another person's Account without our permission, and never misrepresent yourself as another user.

Account policies

Do not copy, distribute or alter any part of the Website in any medium without our prior written consent, except as reasonably necessary to use it as intended.
Provide true, accurate, current and complete information, and keep it that way.
Do not use robots, spiders, scrapers, offline readers or any other automated system to access the Website without our prior written approval.
Do not collect, manually or automatically, information about Service Professionals or Service Users, including names, addresses, phone numbers or email addresses, or use Website content on a mirrored, competing or third-party site.
Do not send more requests to our servers in a given period than a human could reasonably produce with a conventional web browser. Public search engines may index the site for the sole purpose of creating publicly available searchable indices, but not caches or archives.
Do not recruit, solicit or contact Service Professionals or Service Users for employment or contracting for a business not affiliated with us without our written permission.
Do not take any action that unreasonably burdens our infrastructure, interferes with the proper working of the Website, or bypasses measures we use to prevent or restrict access.
Do not use our communication systems for commercial solicitation.

You must also follow all additional policies, guidelines and restrictions we publish on the Website. If you fail to follow these terms, we may terminate your Account at any time without notice and start legal proceedings if necessary.

Bookings

A booking is confirmed once you receive your booking ID and our team confirms the visit slot. You must give a correct address and a working mobile number. By registering, you consent to be contacted by phone call, SMS, email or any other electronic communication about your booking and our services, on the mobile number you shared, even if it is registered with the National Customer Preference Register (NCPR) and you have opted out of promotional calls and messages.

Pricing and payment

Prices shown on the website are starting prices. The final price depends on the work found at the visit and is agreed with you before work begins. Payment is due after the service is completed, using the payment method you selected at checkout.

If applicable, you agree to pay all fees and charges based on the fees, charges and billing terms in effect, together with applicable taxes. If a payment fails or is not made on time, we may suspend or terminate your access. You must not fail to pay for Services you have booked, unless the professional has materially changed the agreed service description, a clear typographical error has been made, or you cannot authenticate the professional's identity.

Rescheduling and cancellation

Cancellations made more than 12 hours before the service are free. A fee may be charged for later cancellations. You can reschedule or cancel a booking before the professional leaves for your address. Repeated last-minute cancellations may limit future bookings.

Service Users must not commit to a Service without intending to follow through with its use and payment, or book a Service with the intention of disrupting another user's posting.

Warranty

Repairs and spare parts carry the service warranty stated at the time of booking. Damage caused after the visit by misuse is not covered.

Your responsibilities

Please give safe access to the work area and treat our professionals with respect. You are responsible for your decision to use any Service Professional and for the accuracy of the information you give.

Member conduct

Content you submit

You must not upload, post or transmit any content, including text, images, video, sound, data or software, to any part of the Website, including your profile, service listings, requests or feedback ("Submitted Content"), that:

misrepresents its source, impersonates another person or entity, or contains false or inaccurate biographical information;
is intended to harm or exploit anyone under 18, or collects personal information of a minor;
invades anyone's privacy by harvesting or publishing private or personally identifiable information, such as phone numbers, passwords, account details or home addresses, without their knowledge and consent;
contains falsehoods or misrepresentations that could damage us or any third party;
is pornographic, harassing, hateful, obscene, defamatory, threatening, discriminatory, or offensive on grounds of race, culture, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation, or incites violence or any criminal offence;
infringes copyright, trade secret, privacy, publicity or other third-party rights, unless you own those rights or have permission;
harms or disrupts another user's computer, bypasses security, distributes viruses, or is spam, chain letters, pyramid or Ponzi schemes, affiliate marketing or unsolicited advertising;
advertises a business not related to or appropriate for the Website, promotes discount cards, online surveys or contests, or is non-local or irrelevant;
duplicates other open postings you have made, or is submitted through automated means without our written consent.

Messages

You must not send messages to other users that offer money transfers above the asking price of a service with a request to refund the difference, or that contain unsolicited advertising for services not offered on the Website.

No discrimination

Indian law prohibits preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or other protected class. We will not knowingly accept any posting that violates the law and may remove any such posting immediately and without notice. See also our Anti-discrimination policy.

Other prohibited actions

While using the Website you must not post content in an inappropriate category, manipulate prices or interfere with other users' postings, circumvent or manipulate our fee structure or billing, post false or misleading content, or undermine the feedback and ratings system.

Feedback

Use careful and prudent judgement when leaving feedback. It is inappropriate to threaten negative feedback unless a user provides services outside the agreed scope, to leave feedback to make a user look better or worse than they are, or to set conditions that stop a user from leaving feedback. If you break these rules, we may cancel your feedback or postings, limit or suspend your Account, or reduce your status. Report misuse of feedback to [email protected]. In any dispute about feedback we are the final arbiter and may remove feedback or take any action we consider reasonable, without liability.

These lists are examples and are not complete. We may terminate access, refuse, delete, move or edit any posting, with or without cause or notice, and may report illegal activity to law enforcement and cooperate with their investigations. We cannot review every posting and are not required to monitor or remove postings.

Rules for service professionals

Service Professionals must not:

list services in an inappropriate category, misrepresent where they will provide a service, use brand names or misleading titles, or include fraudulent information in a profile;
circumvent our fees, including by offering a catalogue or link to a third-party site where users can obtain the service directly, offering to take the transaction outside the Website, using a profile or user name to promote services not offered through the Website, or charging fees for travelling further than agreed;
ask users to mail cash or use payment methods we have not approved, promote raffles, prizes or games of chance, use profanity, include third-party endorsements, or use certain types of HTML and JavaScript in postings.

If we find a professional doing any of the above, we may blacklist them and withhold outstanding credits or payments. We may also cancel the posting, limit or suspend the Account, make the professional forfeit fees earned on a cancelled posting, or reduce their status.

Rules for service users

Service Users must not commit to using a Service without paying, sign up or negotiate a price with no intention of following through, agree to a Service when they do not meet the professional's stated terms, or misuse any options we make available. We may cancel the posting, limit or suspend the Account, or reduce the user's status if these rules are broken.

Submitted content and licence

No confidentiality

We do not guarantee confidentiality for any Submitted Content, whether or not it is published. Content you make searchable by registered users is provided on a non-proprietary and non-confidential basis, and we may use or share it without restriction to provide the Services. Information you give while looking for a professional who is ordinarily bound by confidentiality, such as a doctor or lawyer, is not protected in our hands.

We may disclose user information, including personal information, if we reasonably believe it is necessary to comply with legal process or a government requirement, to limit our liability in an actual or potential lawsuit, to protect our rights or property or those of others, to enforce this agreement including collecting fees, or to deter illegal behaviour such as fraud.

Your promises about your content

You are solely responsible for your Submitted Content. You confirm that you own it or have all the rights, licences, consents and permissions needed to let us use it, and that you have the written consent of every identifiable person shown in it. You agree to pay any royalties or fees owed because of your content.

Ownership and licence

You keep ownership of your Submitted Content. By submitting it, you give us a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable and transferable licence to link to, use, reproduce, distribute, reformat, translate, adapt, display and perform it in connection with the Website and our (and our successors') business, including promotion and redistribution, in any media. You also give each user a non-exclusive licence to access your content through the Website as its functionality permits. This licence ends when you remove the content, which you may do at any time.

Our disclaimers and right to remove

We do not endorse any Submitted Content or any opinion or advice in it, and we disclaim liability for it. You may see content that is inaccurate, offensive, indecent or objectionable, and you waive any claim against us in that respect. We may review and remove any content that violates these terms or that might be offensive, illegal or a threat to the rights or safety of users, without notice or liability. We will terminate the access of repeat infringers, meaning users who have been notified of infringing activity, or had content removed, more than twice.

Suggestions

Any suggestions or ideas you send us about the Website are non-confidential and non-proprietary. You assign all rights in them to us, and we may use them freely, without credit or payment. We have no duty to use any suggestion.

Copyright and trademark complaints

We respect intellectual property and expect our users to do the same. If you believe your copyrighted or trademarked work has been copied and posted on the Website, email [email protected] with:

identification of the work claimed to have been infringed;
identification of the infringing material and enough information for us to locate it;
a written statement that you believe in good faith that the use is not authorised by the owner, its agent or the law;
your contact details, such as address, telephone number and email;
your electronic or physical signature, as the owner or the person authorised to act for the owner; and
a statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and that you are the owner or authorised to act for the owner.

Only the intellectual property owner may report potentially infringing items. If you are not the owner, please ask the owner to contact us.

Intellectual property

The content on the Website, excluding Submitted Content, including text, software, scripts, graphics, photos, sounds, videos and interactive features ("Data"), and our trademarks, service marks and logos ("Marks"), belong to us. Other trademarks and logos belong to their respective owners. Data is provided as is, for your information and personal use only, and may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, displayed, sold, licensed or otherwise exploited without written consent. If you download or print Data for personal use, you must keep all copyright and proprietary notices.

We grant you a limited, revocable, non-transferable, non-sublicensable licence to reproduce and display our Data, excluding source code, solely for your personal use in connection with the Website. You must not circumvent or interfere with security features of the Website. The Website may also contain data of other users or licensors, which you must not copy, modify, publish, distribute or sell.

Fees and refunds

Service professionals

Joining, opening an Account, posting services and viewing posted services is free. We may charge fees for other services in future. In some categories, professionals may be required to pay a fee ("Lead Fee") to follow up on job leads and contact the Service User, whether or not the lead results in a transaction. To pay Lead Fees, professionals make advance payments ("Credits") from which the fee is deducted, and are prompted to refill Credits when they fall below a set threshold.

Credits are credited back to the professional's wallet when the customer cancels the request, or when the customer has not viewed the quote and has not cancelled the request 4 days after the professional's response. The Lead Fee is also reimbursed if the lead is found to be non-genuine, if the Service User withdraws the request within 48 hours of posting it through the Website or app, or if the Service User does not open the professional's response. Our decision on these matters is final and binding.

Commissions payable by professionals on completed transactions are final and non-refundable. Credits do not earn interest. Unused Credits expire and are forfeited 364 days after the date of purchase, and no refund is given after expiry.

Service users

Joining, opening an Account and viewing services is free, and we currently charge Service Users nothing for transactions completed through the Website. We may introduce a fee in future, effective thirty (30) days after we post notice on the Website. If you cancel your Account you will not receive a refund of any fees paid.

Taxes

We act solely as an intermediary. You are responsible for working out your own tax obligations with your tax advisor, and we are not responsible for the tax liability of any Service User or Service Professional.

Dealings between users

To help users negotiate, we may provide a general framework, such as a negotiation worksheet. Users are solely responsible for all issues that arise from a Service and may enter into a signed written contract if they wish. Do not rely on anything on the Website as a substitute for professional, financial, legal or other advice.

We are not a party to any service contract. We only provide a platform where Service Users and Service Professionals can meet, and we have no role in carrying out the Services themselves. No agency, partnership, joint venture or employment is created between you and us. Service Professionals are independent contractors, and nobody may direct the other's day-to-day activities or bind the other.

Your dealings with other users, including payment and performance of any Service, are solely between you and them. Take reasonable precautions and make whatever enquiries you consider appropriate before any transaction. We cannot vouch for the suitability of any user or the accuracy of their advice. We may try to learn about a professional's background through an interview, past customer feedback or their online presence, but professionals may register themselves, and any such check is not exhaustive and does not establish criminal history. The final decision to use a professional is yours.

We are under no obligation to become involved in any dispute between users, or between a user and a third party. If a dispute arises, you release us, our officers, directors, employees, agents and successors from claims, demands and damages of every kind, known or unknown, arising from the dispute or related to the Website or any Service.

Dispute resolution and governing law

If a dispute arises between you and us, we want to resolve it quickly and cost-effectively. Before filing a formal lawsuit, please contact us at [email protected]. Disputes will be resolved through alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation or arbitration, rather than litigation.

These Terms of Use are governed by the laws of India, and any legal proceeding arising out of this agreement will take place exclusively in the courts located in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Advertisements and third-party links

The Website may be supported by advertising, and the presence of an advertisement does not mean we endorse the product or service advertised. We are not liable for any loss arising from your dealings with advertisers.

The Website may contain links, contact forms or phone numbers that take you to third-party sites or resources. We have no control over them, are not responsible for their availability or content, and do not endorse them unless we say so. Their terms and privacy policies apply when you use them, even if it appears you are still on our Website. Direct any complaints about third-party materials to that third party.

Disclaimer of warranties

Your use of the Website is at your own risk. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we and our officers, directors, employees, affiliates, service professionals, suppliers and agents disclaim all warranties, express, implied or statutory, relating to the Website, the Services, Data and Submitted Content, including their quality, suitability, truth, accuracy or completeness.

The Website and Services are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis, without any implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. We give no warranty against errors or inaccuracies, unauthorised access to our servers or the information stored on them, bugs or viruses transmitted by third parties, interruption of service, or any defamatory, offensive or illegal conduct of any third party, user or professional. We do not endorse, warrant or take responsibility for any product or service offered by a third party through the Website.

Limitation of liability

In no event shall we or our officers, directors, employees, affiliates, service professionals, suppliers, attorneys or agents be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, punitive, consequential or exemplary damages, including loss of business, revenue, profits, use, data or other economic advantage, resulting from your access to or use of the Website or any Service, errors or inaccuracies in content, unauthorised access to our servers or your information, viruses, interruptions, failed negotiations or disputes between users, or the defamatory, offensive or illegal conduct of any third party. This applies whether the claim is based on warranty, contract, tort including negligence, or any other legal theory, and whether or not we were advised of the possibility of such damages, to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Our total aggregate liability arising from or relating to the Website or Submitted Content will not exceed the total fees you have actually paid to us. This does not limit the service warranty we give for repairs and parts at the time of booking.

Force majeure

Neither you nor we are liable for a delay or failure to perform, other than payment obligations, arising from a cause beyond our control and without fault or negligence, such as fire, flood, earthquake, strike, utility failure, blackout, act of God, war, acts of regulatory agencies or national disasters.

Indemnification and release

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless us and our officers, directors, employees, affiliates, service professionals, suppliers and agents from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities and expenses, including attorneys' fees, arising from your use of the Website, your violation of these terms or the Privacy Policy, your violation of any third-party right, or any claim that your Submitted Content caused damage to a third party. This obligation survives your use of the Website.

If you have a dispute with one or more Website users, you release us and the persons listed above from all claims, demands and damages of every kind, known and unknown, connected with your use of the Website or any Submitted Content. You may not transfer or assign these terms, but we may assign them without restriction.

Changes to or ending the Website

We may modify or discontinue the Website, or any part of it, temporarily or permanently, with or without notice, and we are not liable to you or anyone else for doing so.

We may delete, terminate or deactivate your Account, block your email address or IP address, or remove any Submitted Content, immediately and without notice, for any reason, including inactivity or a suspected breach of these terms. You may end your use of the Website at any time by choosing "Deactivate Account" under Account Preferences.

When your Account ends, your right to offer or buy Services and to receive any fees or compensation, including referral discounts and incentive bonuses, ends automatically, and all licences granted to you end. You must destroy all copies of our Data and Marks in your possession. We are not obliged to return any Submitted Content, and residual data may remain in our systems. We may keep using data collected from your use of the Website for internal analysis and archival purposes. If you gave a valid email address, we will notify you of the termination. The sections on intellectual property, fees, disputes, disclaimers, liability, indemnity and general information survive termination.

General information

Entire agreement. These terms, the Privacy Policy and any other legal notices or policies on the Website are the entire agreement between you and us about the Website. If a court finds a provision invalid, the rest remain in force. Failing to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it.
Notices. We may give you notices, including changes to these terms, by email, regular mail or a posting on the Website.
Third parties. Except where expressly stated, nobody else has any rights under these terms as a third-party beneficiary.
Time limit. Any cause of action arising out of or related to the Website must start within one (1) year after it arises, or it is permanently barred.
Headings. Section headings are for convenience only and have no legal effect.

Contact us

For any question about these terms, write to [email protected] or visit the contact page.