Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of these Terms

By accessing or using the Services, you confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Services.

We may update these Terms from time to time. Your continued use after an update means you accept the revised Terms.

2. Definitions

• "Karto", "we", "us" - the operator of the Services.
• "Merchant", "you" - the seller who creates a store on Karto.
• "Storefront" - the online store Karto hosts for a Merchant.
• "End Customer" - a buyer who places an order on a Storefront.
• "Order" - a purchase placed by an End Customer.
• "Platform Fee" - the fees Karto charges the Merchant, set out in "Fees".
• "Content" - products, images, text and other material a Merchant uploads or publishes.

3. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old and legally able to enter into contracts. The Services are for business use. If you accept these Terms for a company or firm, you confirm you are authorised to do so. You must give us accurate, current information.

4. Your account and onboarding

You are responsible for the information you provide during onboarding and for keeping your login credentials and one-time passwords secure. You are responsible for all activity under your account. Notify us immediately at support@karto.site if you suspect unauthorised use. We may verify your details and refuse or cancel an account where required.

5. The Services

Karto provides a storefront, product catalogue, cart and checkout, UPI/Paytm payment collection, growth and risk features (such as spin-the-wheel lead capture, RTO prevention, address confirmation, abandoned-cart recovery, discounts, combos and festive campaigns), domain options and related tools.

Paid add-on features are free for the first 90 days from store activation and are billed or gated afterwards, unless waived by your Account Manager. We may add, change or discontinue features, and will where reasonable give notice of material changes.

6. Your responsibilities as a Merchant

You are solely responsible for your store and your customers. In particular, you must:

• Sell only lawful goods and services, and comply with all applicable laws, including the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, tax and GST law, legal-metrology, food-safety and any category-specific rules.
• Display the seller details, contact information and grievance-officer details required by law on your storefront.
• Provide accurate product descriptions, prices, taxes, shipping charges and delivery timelines.
• Honour confirmed orders, and handle shipping, returns, refunds, replacements and warranties.
• Obtain all consents needed to collect and use your customers' personal data, and use it lawfully.
• Not sell prohibited or restricted items, including illegal goods, narcotics, weapons, counterfeit or pirated goods, wildlife products, and anything that infringes third-party rights.

7. Payments

Karto is a technology provider. We are not a payment aggregator, payment gateway or bank, and we do not hold or settle your funds.

Payments are collected directly into your own Paytm Merchant ID and business VPA (Mode A) or your own UPI VPA (Mode B). We generate the QR code or payment link and, where supported, verify the payment status. Refunds, chargebacks, reversals and settlement are your responsibility and are handled through your payment provider.

8. Fees, billing and taxes

Platform Fees are charged per Store per week (Monday to Sunday, IST):

• A flat fee of ₹12 per order for the first 5 approved orders in the week, and ₹5 per order thereafter;
• plus 0.45% of order value for the first 5 orders, and 0.25% thereafter;
• subject to a minimum of ₹100 per month per store.

Paid add-on features are free for the first 90 days and billed afterwards, unless waived. Fees are billed monthly. Your first partial month is free of the ₹100 minimum, and your first bill is due at least 7 days after activation.

We are currently exempt from GST as we are below the registration threshold; fees are exclusive of any tax that may become applicable. We may apply waivers or discounts on a store or period, and these are logged.

Refunds and cancellation: prepaid and monthly plan fees are non-refundable. You may cancel at any time, and cancellation takes effect from the next billing cycle; fees already due remain payable. We may suspend the Services for non-payment.

9. Data protection

We process personal data as described in our Privacy Policy and in accordance with the DPDP Act. For your end customers' data, you are the Data Fiduciary and we are the Data Processor; you must obtain valid consents and use that data only for lawful purposes. You cannot require us to delete customer records that we must retain for billing, support and compliance.

10. Intellectual property

Karto and its licensors own the Services, software, templates, design system, documentation and brand. You may not copy, modify, reverse-engineer or resell them except as allowed by law or with our written consent.

You own your Content. You grant Karto a worldwide, non-exclusive licence to host, store, display, transmit and process your Content as needed to provide the Services. You confirm you have the rights to your Content and that it does not infringe anyone else's rights. If you send us feedback, we may use it without restriction.

11. Third-party services

The Services rely on third parties such as Paytm and its SDK, WhatsApp Business API, SMS and email providers, domain registrars and hosting providers. Their own terms and policies apply, and we are not responsible for their acts or omissions.

12. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• use the Services for any unlawful, fraudulent, misleading or harmful purpose;
• sell prohibited items or infringe third-party rights;
• send spam or unsolicited messages, or breach messaging-provider rules;
• attempt to access, disrupt, overload, scrape or reverse-engineer the Services, or bypass security or usage limits;
• impersonate another person or misrepresent your affiliation.

13. Availability, support and changes

We aim to keep the Services available and secure, but we do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation. We may perform maintenance, and the Services are provided on an "as available" basis. Support is available at support@karto.site.

14. Disclaimers

To the extent permitted by law, the Services are provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any right or remedy you have under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 or any other law that cannot be excluded.

15. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Karto is not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential losses, or for loss of profits, goodwill, data or business, arising from your use of the Services. Our total aggregate liability for all claims relating to the Services is limited to the Platform Fees you paid us in the three months before the event giving rise to the claim.

Nothing in this section limits liability for fraud, wilful misconduct, or anything that cannot be limited under applicable law.

16. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold Karto harmless against claims, losses, liabilities and costs (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your Content, products or services, your orders and customers, your breach of these Terms, or your violation of any law or third-party right.

17. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate your access if you breach these Terms, fail to pay, create legal or security risk, or if the law requires it. You may stop using the Services and cancel at any time. On termination, your right to use the Services ends, fees already due remain payable, and we handle your data as described in the Privacy Policy.

18. Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of India. Subject to the grievance process below, the courts at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising from these Terms or the Services.

19. Grievance Officer and contact

In accordance with the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 and other applicable law, our Grievance Officer is:

• Name: [To be updated]
• Designation: [To be updated]
• Email: support@karto.site
• Phone: [To be updated]
• Address: [To be updated]

We will acknowledge and resolve complaints within the timelines required by law.

20. Notices

We may send notices to the email address on your account or post them on the Services. You may send notices to us at support@karto.site.

21. General

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and Karto on their subject. If any provision is found unenforceable, the rest remain in effect. A delay in enforcing a right is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without our consent; we may assign them to an affiliate or successor. Neither party is liable for failure caused by events beyond its reasonable control. Nothing here creates a partnership, agency or employment relationship.