Terms of Use

1. Acceptance, eligibility and accounts

Acceptance. By accessing or using the Services, creating an account, or ticking the acceptance box, you agree to these Terms, our Privacy Policy and our Refund Policy. These are an electronic record under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and need no physical signature. If you do not agree, do not use the Services.

Eligibility. You must be 18 or older and capable of entering a binding contract under the Indian Contract Act, 1872. A person under 18 may use the Services only through a parent or lawful guardian, who accepts these Terms on the minor's behalf and is responsible for their use. You must not be barred from using the Services under applicable law.

Your account. Give accurate, current information and keep it updated. You are responsible for your password and for all activity under your account. Tell us at once at support@theengineerowl.com if you suspect unauthorised use. One person may hold one account. We may suspend accounts that are duplicate, false or abusive.

Changes. We may change these Terms. We will post the updated version with a new "Last updated" date and notify you of material changes. Continued use after the change means you accept it.

2. Quests, contests and prizes

• Skill-based, not gambling. Our quests and contests are competitions of skill, knowledge and effort. Winners are decided by merit under published rules, not by chance. They are not betting, wagering, lotteries or online money games, and you must not treat them as such.
• Quest rules. Each quest has its own rules covering dates, eligibility, tasks, scoring, prizes and judging. These rules form part of these Terms. If they conflict, the quest rules apply to that quest.
• Judging. Our decisions on scores, rankings, disqualification and winners are final, subject to your rights under law. We may verify results and ask for proof of identity or work.
• Fair play. Cheating, bots, scripts, multiple accounts, collusion, sharing answers during a live quest and exploiting bugs lead to disqualification, loss of prizes and a ban. Report bugs to us instead of using them.
• Prizes. Prizes are as described in the quest rules, are not transferable, and cannot be exchanged for cash unless the rules say so. Winners must claim within 14 days and give accurate details. Unclaimed prizes may be given to the next eligible participant.
• Taxes. Winners are responsible for taxes on prizes. We deduct TDS and collect PAN or other details where the law requires.
• Restricted regions. Where local law restricts prize contests, including certain states, residents may be barred from paid or prize-linked quests. Check the quest rules before you enter.
• Changes and cancellation. We may change, pause or cancel a quest for technical, legal or fairness reasons. Where you paid an entry fee for a cancelled quest, we refund it in full.
• Publicity. If you win, we may publish your display name, city and result. We will ask for your separate consent before using your photo or a testimonial.

3. Purchases, payments and refunds

Pricing. Prices are shown in Indian Rupees (INR) and include applicable GST unless stated otherwise. We may change prices at any time. A price change does not affect an order you have already placed.

Payment. Payments are processed by Razorpay, an RBI-authorised payment aggregator. We do not store your card, UPI PIN or net-banking credentials. By paying, you confirm you are authorised to use the payment method. An order is confirmed only after payment succeeds and we send you a confirmation.

Delivery. Digital products and access are delivered to your account or email within 24 hours of payment. You are responsible for giving a correct email address.

Refunds. You may ask for a full refund within 14 days of purchase, with no questions asked. The full process is in our Refund Policy at https://theengineerowl.com/refund, which forms part of these Terms.

Failed or duplicate payments. If money is debited but the order is not confirmed, or you are charged twice, write to support@theengineerowl.com with the transaction ID. We refund the excess or failed amount to the original payment method.

4. Your content and our intellectual property

Our property. The Services, including text, videos, quests, puzzles, questions, graphics, logos, software, trademarks and compilations, belong to us or our licensors and are protected by the Copyright Act, 1957, the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and other laws. We give you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the Services for your own non-commercial use. You may not copy, resell, scrape, republish, reverse engineer or create derivative works from them without our written permission.

Your content. You keep ownership of what you submit, such as answers, comments and uploads ("User Content"). You give us a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to host, display, reproduce and use it to run the Services, judge quests and, in anonymised or credited form, promote the Services. You confirm that you own or have the right to submit it, and that it does not infringe anyone's rights or break the law.

Takedown. If you believe content on the Services infringes your rights, write to our Grievance Officer in Section 7 with the content location, proof of your rights and a statement of good faith. We act under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 and the Copyright Act. We may remove content and repeat infringers' accounts without notice.

5. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Break any law, including the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and the DPDP Act.
• Post content that is defamatory, obscene, hateful, harassing, threatening, misleading, or that infringes privacy or intellectual property, or that promotes violence or self-harm.
• Impersonate any person or misstate your identity, age or affiliation.
• Upload viruses or malicious code, or probe, scan or test the security of the Services.
• Use bots, scrapers, automation or any method to disrupt the Services, overload our systems, or gain unfair advantage in quests.
• Collect other users' personal data without their consent.
• Use the Services for spam, unsolicited promotion, gambling, or any commercial purpose we have not approved.
• Share your account, sell or transfer accounts, prizes or access.

We may remove content, suspend or end accounts, withhold prizes, and report unlawful activity to the authorities if you breach this section.

6. Disclaimers, liability, indemnity and termination

Disclaimer. The Services are provided "as is" and "as available". To the extent the law allows, we do not promise that they will be uninterrupted, error-free or secure, or that content is complete or accurate. Educational and informational content is not professional, legal or financial advice. We are not responsible for third-party websites or services linked from the Services.

Limitation of liability. To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss, or for loss of profit, data or goodwill. Our total liability for any claim is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim arose, or INR 1,000 if you paid nothing. Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including your rights under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

Indemnity. You agree to compensate us for losses, claims and reasonable legal costs arising from your breach of these Terms, your User Content, or your violation of any law or third-party right.

Termination. You may stop using the Services and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or end your access immediately, without notice, if you breach these Terms or the law. Sections that by their nature should continue, including intellectual property, disclaimers, liability, indemnity and governing law, survive termination. Refund rights under our Refund Policy continue to apply.

7. Governing law, disputes, grievance officer and general terms

Governing law. These Terms are governed by the laws of India.

Dispute resolution. Please write to us first at support@theengineerowl.com and we will try to settle the dispute within 30 days. If it is not settled, it is referred to a sole arbitrator appointed by mutual consent under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The seat and venue of arbitration is New Delhi, India, the language is English, and the award is binding. Subject to this, the courts at New Delhi, India have exclusive jurisdiction. Nothing here stops you from approaching a Consumer Commission or any forum you are entitled to use under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

Grievance Officer (under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 and the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020): Utkarsh Dristant, Founder, partnerships@theengineerowl.com, New Delhi, India. We acknowledge complaints within 24 hours and resolve them within 15 days, or sooner where the rules require.

General.

• Entire agreement: these Terms, the Privacy Policy, the Refund Policy and any quest rules are the whole agreement between us on the Services.
• Severability: if any provision is held invalid, the rest stays in force.
• No waiver: our failure to enforce a right is not a waiver of it.
• Assignment: you may not assign these Terms. We may assign them to a successor or affiliate.
• Force majeure: we are not liable for failure caused by events beyond our reasonable control, such as natural disasters, outages, strikes, government action or internet failure.
• Notices: we may notify you by email, on the Services or by messaging at the contact details you gave us.

Contact. The Engineer Owl, New Delhi, India. Email: support@theengineerowl.com. Website: https://theengineerowl.com/.