Privacy Policy & Terms of Use

1.1 This instrument (the “Policy”) is published in compliance with Rule 3(1) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, and constitutes a binding agreement between any natural or juristic person who accesses, registers upon or otherwise avails the services available at myworkingpaper.com and any sub-domain thereof (the “Platform”, and such person, hereinafter the “User”) and the proprietor of the Platform (hereinafter “MWP”, “we”, “us” or “our”, as the context may require).

1.2 Definitions. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following terms shall bear the meanings ascribed to them hereunder:

• “Applicable Law” means the laws of the Union of India for the time being in force;
• “Personal Data” carries the meaning ascribed to the term under §2(t) of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023;
• “Services” means the digital tools, software, materials, advisory engagements and content made available by MWP through the Platform, whether free of charge or upon payment;
• “User Content” means any information, data, documents, submissions, queries or material uploaded, transmitted or otherwise furnished to MWP by the User.

1.3 Construction. The use of the singular shall include the plural and vice versa; references to any statute or statutory instrument shall be construed as including any amendment, modification or re-enactment thereof; headings are for convenience only and shall not affect the construction of this Policy.

2.1 The User’s access to, or use of, the Platform — including, without limitation, the submission of a signup request, the ticking of the box of acceptance during registration, and any continued use of the Services thereafter — shall constitute the User’s unequivocal, irrevocable and informed acceptance of every term and condition contained herein, the same being co-extensive with a signed written contract for the purposes of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 and §10A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

2.2 Capacity. The User warrants and represents that he or she (a) is of the age of majority and is competent to contract under §11 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872; (b) where signing on behalf of a firm or entity, has full authority so to bind such firm or entity; and (c) is not a person disqualified from contracting under Applicable Law.

2.3 The User acknowledges that he or she has read this Policy in its entirety, that he or she has been afforded a meaningful opportunity to seek independent legal advice in respect hereof, and that he or she has freely and without coercion elected to accept the same.

3.1 MWP collects only such Personal Data as is reasonably necessary for the provision of the Services, including, inter alia: (i) full name; (ii) Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (“ICAI”) membership number; (iii) e-mail address and mobile number; (iv) the bcrypt-hashed digest of any password chosen by the User; (v) referral information voluntarily furnished; and (vi) such metadata (IP address, user-agent, login timestamps) as is generated incidentally to the use of the Platform.

3.2 Purposes. The Personal Data so collected is processed exclusively for the following purposes: authentication and access control; provision and improvement of the Services; communication with the User in relation to the User’s account; statutory compliance including the issuance of tax invoices; security, audit and fraud-prevention; and, where the User has expressly opted in, the despatch of newsletters and promotional communications.

3.3 Lawful basis. All processing is undertaken upon the lawful basis of the User’s express consent furnished at the point of signup and, where applicable, in pursuance of a contractual necessity or a statutory obligation imposed upon MWP.

3.4 Retention. Personal Data is retained for so long as the User’s account remains active and for a further period of seven (7) years thereafter, being the period prescribed under §128 of the Companies Act, 2013 and analogous fiscal statutes; whereupon the same shall be deleted save where retention is mandated by Applicable Law.

MWP does not sell, rent, trade or otherwise commercialise Personal Data. Disclosure is made solely in the following circumstances: (a) to such trusted processors and infrastructure providers as are engaged to operate the Platform, under binding confidentiality and data-protection obligations; (b) where compelled to do so by a court of competent jurisdiction or by a statutory or regulatory authority acting within the scope of its powers; and (c) to a successor entity in the event of a bona fide reorganisation, merger or transfer of business.

In accordance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, the User shall have the right (i) to obtain confirmation as to whether his or her Personal Data is being processed and to obtain a summary thereof; (ii) to seek correction, completion or updating of inaccurate or incomplete Personal Data; (iii) to seek erasure of Personal Data, subject to lawful retention obligations; (iv) to nominate another person to exercise these rights in the event of the User’s death or incapacity; and (v) to a readily-accessible grievance redressal mechanism. Such rights may be exercised by written communication to the contact-point set forth in Section XV hereinbelow.

Passwords are stored exclusively as bcrypt (cost factor 12) one-way digests; sessions are signed using a private HS256 secret and transmitted over Transport Layer Security; the Platform is hosted on Vercel and the database is maintained on Supabase (a managed PostgreSQL instance). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the User expressly acknowledges that no system of electronic transmission or storage can be guaranteed to be secure against every conceivable attack, and MWP accepts no liability for any breach occurring otherwise than as a direct and proximate consequence of its own wilful misconduct.

The User covenants that he or she shall not (a) reverse-engineer, decompile or attempt to derive the source code of any component of the Platform; (b) impersonate any other person or misrepresent his or her affiliation with any person or entity; (c) upload any content which is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, infringing, scandalous, paedophilic, hateful, ethnically objectionable, libellous, or which causes annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury or hatred; (d) use the Platform for any purpose which is unlawful or prohibited by this Policy; or (e) interfere with or disrupt the integrity or performance of the Platform or the data contained therein. Breach of this Section shall, without prejudice to any other remedy available, entitle MWP forthwith to suspend or terminate the User’s account.

The Services constitute generic tools, templates and indicative guidance and are made available on an “as is” and “as available” basis. Nothing in the Platform or the Services is intended to, nor shall be construed so as to, constitute legal, accounting, taxation or audit advice in respect of any specific engagement, transaction or fact-pattern, nor to create a fiduciary, client-advocate, auditor-auditee, principal-agent or any other relationship of trust or confidence between the User and MWP. The User assumes sole and exclusive responsibility for every professional judgment exercised in reliance, in whole or in part, upon the Services.

9.1 The User shall, at the User’s own cost and expense, defend, indemnify and hold harmless MWP, its proprietor, employees, consultants, contractors, empanelled experts, agents, licensors and successors-in-interest (collectively, the “Indemnitees”) from and against any and all claims, demands, suits, actions, proceedings, losses, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses (including reasonable advocates’ fees and disbursements on a solicitor-and-own-client basis) of whatsoever nature, arising out of or in connection with:

• (i) the User’s breach of any term of this Policy, of Applicable Law, or of any third-party right;
• (ii) the User’s use, mis-use or non-use of the Services and any decision, omission, professional opinion or document arising therefrom;
• (iii) any User Content, including any claim that the same is unlawful, infringing, defamatory or actionable;
• (iv) any audit, peer-review, certification, filing, opinion or representation rendered by the User to any third party in reliance, whether wholly or partially, upon the Services;
• (v) any tax, levy, penalty or interest assessed upon the User or upon any Indemnitee in consequence of the User’s conduct.

9.2 The Indemnitees shall be entitled to assume conduct of the defence of any such claim with counsel of their own choosing, and the User shall co-operate in good faith with such defence and shall not settle, compromise or admit liability in respect thereof without the prior written consent of the Indemnitee affected, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld.

To the fullest extent permitted by Applicable Law, MWP expressly disclaims all warranties, representations and conditions, whether express, implied or statutory, including without limitation any implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, completeness, currency, non-infringement and quiet enjoyment. No oral or written information or advice furnished by MWP shall create any warranty not expressly set forth herein.

11.1 To the fullest extent permitted by Applicable Law, in no event shall MWP, its proprietor, employees, consultants, contractors, agents or licensors be liable to the User or to any third party for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, punitive or aggravated damages, including without limitation any loss of profits, loss of revenue, loss of opportunity, loss of goodwill, loss of data, loss of reputation, cost of substitute services, or for any negligence, error, omission, mistake, misjudgment, delay, interruption or failure occurring in connection with the Services, even where MWP has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

11.2 Without prejudice to the foregoing, the aggregate cumulative liability of MWP arising under or in connection with this Policy and the Services, howsoever caused and on any theory of liability whatsoever (whether in contract, tort including negligence, strict liability, statute or otherwise), shall in no circumstance exceed the aggregate amount, if any, actually received by MWP from the User in respect of the Services in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to such liability, or a sum of Indian Rupees One Thousand (INR 1,000/-), whichever is lower.

11.3 The User acknowledges that the limitations contained in this Section XI are an essential element of the basis of the bargain between the parties, that the Services would not be made available in the absence thereof, and that the same shall apply notwithstanding the failure of any limited remedy of its essential purpose.

12.1 Free Services. Services expressly marketed as “Free” — including without limitation the Peer Review Tracker and the “Know Your SQM Level” self-assessment — are made available without consideration and are accordingly not refundable.

12.2 Paid Subscriptions. The fees in respect of any paid subscription become due and payable in advance, in full, at the time of subscribing. All fees so paid are non-refundable save and except in the limited circumstances set out in Clause 12.3 hereinbelow. The User acknowledges that the digital nature of the Services and the immediate provision of access upon activation render the same a “digital content not supplied on a tangible medium” for the purposes of the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, and that no statutory cooling-off period is available.

12.3 Limited Refund Window. Notwithstanding the foregoing, where the User is unable to access a paid subscription by reason of a technical failure exclusively attributable to MWP, and where such failure is reported in writing to the Grievance Officer within seven (7) days of payment and remains unresolved for a continuous period of fifteen (15) days thereafter, the User shall be entitled to a pro-rata refundof the unused portion of the subscription fees. Refunds, if approved, shall be processed within fifteen (15) working days to the original instrument of payment.

12.4 Services Excluded from Refund. Engagement-based and bespoke services — including without limitation Peer Review Support, SQM Implementation, Training (whether technical or SQM), Disciplinary Directorate representation and Professional Opinions — are strictly non-refundable upon commencement of the engagement, the same constituting bespoke professional services rendered specifically to the User’s requirements.

12.5 Cancellation by the User. The User may discontinue any subscription at any time by written intimation to the Grievance Officer, but shall not by reason of such cancellation be entitled to any refund of fees previously paid, nor to any pro-rata adjustment, save to the extent set forth in Clause 12.3.

12.6 Cancellation by MWP. MWP reserves the right to suspend or terminate any account forthwith and without prior notice in the event of (i) breach of this Policy by the User; (ii) use of the Services in a manner contrary to Applicable Law; (iii) non-payment of fees; or (iv) on bona fide commercial grounds upon thirty (30) days’ written notice, in which last case the User shall be entitled to a pro-rata refund of the unused portion of the fees.

12.7 Chargebacks. The User undertakes not to initiate any chargeback, reversal or dispute with any payment processor in respect of fees paid otherwise than in accordance with this Section XII. Any chargeback raised in violation of this undertaking shall constitute a material breach of this Policy and shall, in addition to any other remedy, entitle MWP to recover from the User all costs incurred in defending the same.

MWP shall not be liable for any failure or delay in the performance of any of its obligations arising in consequence of any cause beyond its reasonable control, including without limitation acts of God, war, terrorism, civil disturbance, pandemic, epidemic, lockdown, governmental restriction, failure of internet infrastructure, failure of third-party services (including the failure of Vercel, Supabase or any payment gateway), strike, lock-out or industrial action.

14.1 Governing Law. This Policy and the relationship between the User and MWP shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the Union of India, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles.

14.2 Exclusive Jurisdiction. The User and MWP irrevocably and unconditionally submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts at Gurugram, Haryana in respect of any dispute, controversy or claim arising out of or in connection with this Policy or the Services. No proceeding shall lie before any other court or tribunal, and the User irrevocably waives any objection on the ground of inconvenient forum, lack of personal jurisdiction or otherwise.

14.3 Pre-Litigation Notice. Prior to the institution of any legal proceeding, the aggrieved party shall furnish to the other a written notice setting out the grievance in particulars, and shall in good faith endeavour to resolve the same within a period of thirty (30) days from the receipt of such notice.

In compliance with Rule 3(2) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 and §10 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, any grievance in respect of the Services or of the processing of Personal Data may be addressed in writing to the Grievance Officer at the contact-point set out below, who shall acknowledge the same within forty-eight (48) hours and shall endeavour to resolve the same within fifteen (15) days from the date of receipt:

16.1 Severability. If any provision of this Policy is held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be severed and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

16.2 No Waiver. No failure or delay by MWP in exercising any right hereunder shall operate as a waiver thereof.

16.3 Entire Agreement. This Policy, together with any subscription terms expressly accepted by the User, constitutes the entire agreement between the User and MWP and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous understandings, whether oral or written.

16.4 Modifications. MWP reserves the right to amend this Policy at any time. The current version shall be that displayed on this page; the User’s continued use of the Services following any such modification shall constitute acceptance of the modified terms.

16.5 Assignment. The User shall not assign or transfer any of its rights or obligations hereunder; MWP may assign the same freely.