Terms and Conditions

1. Agreement to These Terms

These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") form a legally binding contract under the Indian Contract Act, 1872 between you and ApnaChat ("ApnaChat", "we", "us", or "our"), governing your use of the ApnaChat: Talk & Connect mobile application, our upcoming listener mobile application, and our websites at apnachat.in and app.apnachat.in (collectively, the "Service").

By signing up for or using ApnaChat, you agree to follow these Terms, our Privacy Policy, and our Refund and Cancellation Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

2. Eligibility (18+ Only)

You must be 18 years of age or older and legally capable of entering into a binding contract under Indian law to use ApnaChat as a caller or a listener. Anyone under 18 is strictly prohibited from creating an account or using the Service.

3. Account Registration and Rules

• Sign-Up: You can sign up using your mobile number with a one-time verification code (OTP) sent by SMS, or with an email address and password.
• Accurate Information: You must provide a truthful name and honest account information. You may not impersonate another person or create multiple accounts to abuse offers or evade restrictions.
• Account Security: You are responsible for keeping your OTP and password private and for all activity that happens on your account. Notify us at support@apnachat.in if you suspect unauthorized use.

4. What ApnaChat Is — and What It Is Not

ApnaChat is a friendly conversation service where a caller connects over live voice calls or text chats with a verified listener to keep company and talk casually.

5. Listener Independence

Listeners on ApnaChat are independent individuals who are reviewed by our team before their profiles are shown on the platform. Listeners are not employees, partners, or representatives of ApnaChat. Any views or opinions expressed by a listener during a call or chat are strictly their own personal views and do not represent ApnaChat.

6. Acceptable Use and Community Rules

To keep ApnaChat safe for everyone, both callers and listeners must follow these rules at all times:

• No Contact or Payment Sharing: You must not share or ask for phone numbers, WhatsApp numbers, social media handles, external web links, UPI IDs, bank details, or physical addresses. Chat messages that try to share phone numbers, links, or payment details are automatically blocked.
• No Harassment or Abuse: Do not insult, threaten, stalk, bully, blackmail, or use hate speech based on gender, religion, caste, region, or language.
• No Sexual or Adult Content: Do not make sexually explicit remarks, request sexual favours, or send obscene messages or images.
• No Solicitation or Money Requests: Neither callers nor listeners may ask for personal loans, gifts, or off-platform money transfers, or promote outside businesses or scams.
• No Illegal Conduct or Impersonation: Do not use ApnaChat for any activity that breaks Indian law, and do not pretend to be someone else.
• No Minors: Do not allow anyone under 18 to use your account, and never share content involving minors.
• No Unauthorized Recording: You must not record, screen-capture, or publish any voice call or private chat conversation.

7. Reporting, Blocking, Moderation, and Appeals

• Blocking a Listener (For Callers): Callers can block any listener at any time. When you block a listener, they immediately disappear from your app, cannot message or call you, and are not told that you blocked them.
• Blocking a Caller (For Listeners): Listeners can block any caller from chatting with them at any time.
• Reporting Abuse: You can report any chat or user directly inside the app or by emailing support@apnachat.in.
• Warnings, Restrictions, and Bans: Our safety team reviews reports and chat flags. If an account breaks these Terms, we may warn the user, restrict features, or temporarily or permanently ban the account without refund of remaining balance.
• How to Appeal: If you believe your account was restricted or banned by mistake, you may appeal within 15 days by emailing support@apnachat.in with your registered mobile number and an explanation. Our team will review your appeal within 14 days.

8. Pricing, Billing, and Account Balance Rules

• Prepaid Account Balance & GST: Callers add account balance in Indian Rupees (INR) plus applicable Goods and Services Tax (GST) through Razorpay using UPI, debit/credit cards, or netbanking.
• How Calls and Chats Are Charged: Voice calls are charged per minute and chat messages are charged per message from your account balance at the rates shown in the app before you start a call or send a message.
• Minimum Call Charge & Unanswered Calls: Connected voice calls have a minimum charge of one (1) connected minute. If a call is not answered by the listener, you are charged nothing (₹0). If a call drops for technical reasons, only connected minutes are charged.
• Chat Message Hold & Return: When you send a paid chat message, the per-message amount is held from your balance and is automatically returned to your balance if the listener does not reply within the specified reply window.
• First-Recharge Bonus: We may offer a one-time promotional bonus on your first recharge. Promotional bonus balance can only be used inside ApnaChat, cannot be withdrawn as cash, and is limited to one per person/device.
• No Expiry & Non-Refundable Balance: Unused account balance in your ApnaChat wallet has no expiry date while your account remains active, and is not refundable once added, except for failed or duplicate payment transactions as explained in our Refund and Cancellation Policy.
• Chargebacks and Payment Fraud: If you initiate an unjustified bank chargeback or payment dispute after adding or using balance, we reserve the right to freeze or suspend your account and deduct the disputed amount.
• Listener Payouts & KYC: Listeners earn for their completed call time and eligible chat replies and can withdraw earnings to their Indian UPI ID or bank account after completing required KYC and tax verification.

9. Intellectual Property

The ApnaChat name, logo, app design, text, software, and graphics belong to ApnaChat and are protected by Indian intellectual property laws. You are granted a personal, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the app and website in accordance with these Terms. You may not copy, reverse-engineer, scrape, or redistribute any part of the Service.

10. Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability

ApnaChat provides the Service on an "as is" and "as available" basis. While we verify listeners before showing them and enforce strict community rules, we cannot guarantee uninterrupted network connectivity or the accuracy of everything a user or listener says during a live conversation.

To the maximum extent permitted under Indian law (including the Indian Contract Act, 1872 and the Consumer Protection Act, 2019), ApnaChat shall not be liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of the Service. Our total aggregate liability to you for any claim relating to the Service shall not exceed the total amount of account balance recharged by you on ApnaChat during the three (3) months immediately preceding the claim. Nothing in these Terms limits any mandatory consumer rights that cannot be waived under Indian law.

11. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless ApnaChat and its team from any third-party claims, losses, or legal expenses arising out of your breach of these Terms, your misuse of the Service, or your violation of any law or the rights of another person.

12. Termination and Account Deletion

You may stop using ApnaChat and delete your account at any time inside the app (Account → Delete account) or on the web at https://app.apnachat.in/deleteaccount. Please note that deleting your account voluntarily forfeits any remaining unused account balance or promotional bonus in your account.

We may suspend or terminate your account if you break these Terms, create safety risks for other users or listeners, or if required by law.

13. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and notify you in the app or on our website. Continued use of ApnaChat after the updated Terms take effect means you accept the updated Terms.

14. Governing Law, Dispute Resolution, and Courts

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of India. If a dispute arises, please contact our Grievance Officer first at support@apnachat.in so we can try to resolve it fairly and quickly. Any legal proceedings that cannot be resolved amicably shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the competent courts in India.