Community Participation Agreement

1. Who this agreement is between

This Community Participation Agreement (the "Agreement") is entered into between you ("you", "Member") and BackToIndia ("BackToIndia", "we", "us", "our"), the operator of app.backtoindia.com and the administrator of the WhatsApp groups made available through it (each a "Group", together the "Groups").

• By ticking the acceptance box, requesting an invite link, claiming a free seat, completing checkout, or entering or remaining in any Group, you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by this Agreement.
• If you do not agree with any part of this Agreement, do not join or remain in the Groups.
• This Agreement applies in addition to WhatsApp's own Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, which you must also comply with. Nothing here overrides them.

2. Purpose of the Groups

The Groups exist to help Indians and people of Indian origin living abroad who are planning, executing or settling into a permanent return to India, and to help members already in India support that transition.

• Country and 'moving from' Groups are for general relocation planning from that country.
• City and 'moving to' Groups are for destination-specific questions such as housing, schools, commutes, services and local logistics.
• Profession and interest Groups are for peer discussion within that profession or interest, in the context of returning to India.
• The Groups are peer-to-peer communities. They are not a professional advisory service.

3. Eligibility and identity

• You must be at least 18 years old and legally capable of entering into a binding agreement.
• You must hold an account on app.backtoindia.com and the WhatsApp number saved on your profile must be a number you personally own and control.
• You must use a genuine, recognisable name. Pseudonyms, impersonation, misleading display names, decoy profiles and burner numbers are grounds for immediate removal.
• Invite links are personal and issued to you alone. You may not forward, publish, resell or otherwise share an invite link, QR code or Group link with any other person. Doing so is a material breach of this Agreement.
• One person may hold one seat per Group. Operating multiple accounts or numbers to obtain additional or repeated access is prohibited.

4. Community rules of conduct

The following rules apply in every Group at all times. They are cumulative and are to be read reasonably and in good faith.

• Stay on topic. Discussions must relate to returning to, relocating within, or settling in India.
• Respect Group scope. Do not raise city-specific questions in a country, profession or interest Group. Take them to the relevant city Group.
• No advertisements. Do not post promotional content, offers, discount codes, launch announcements, affiliate links, fundraising appeals, job advertisements or paid services, whether your own or a third party's.
• No soliciting. Do not solicit business, clients, leads, investment, donations, votes, referrals, reviews or survey responses from members.
• No sharing of business contacts, service provider ads or vendor promotions, unless an admin has expressly requested that information in that thread.
• No unsolicited private messages. Do not contact another member privately unless they have invited you to do so or the context of the thread clearly warrants it. Harvesting numbers from a Group for outreach, marketing or sales is strictly prohibited.
• No personal or sensitive information. Do not share your own or another member's residential address, financial account details, identity documents, immigration records, medical information, or any information capable of identifying a third party without their consent.
• No jokes, memes, forwards, chain messages, greetings, good-morning images or unrelated media.
• No political, communal or religious campaigning, partisan argument or provocation.
• Zero tolerance for bias. Racial, caste-based, religious, regional, national-origin, gender, sexual-orientation, disability or other identity-related slurs, stereotyping, harassment, or remarks in bad taste will result in immediate removal.
• No harassment, threats, doxxing, stalking, sexual content, or persistent unwanted attention toward any member.
• No illegal content or facilitation of unlawful activity, including advice or assistance intended to evade tax, customs, immigration or exchange-control obligations.
• No spam, flooding, bulk tagging, repeated cross-posting or automated messaging.
• Participate and add value before asking for anything. Search the Group and read pinned material first.
• If you are unsure whether something is appropriate to post, ask an admin privately before posting.

5. Mindful joining and access reviews

• Seats in each Group are limited. Join only the Groups you genuinely intend to participate in and that are relevant to your own return.
• Collecting memberships across an unusual number of Groups without meaningful participation defeats the purpose of the community and may trigger an access review.
• We may, at our discretion and after review, revoke access to one or more Groups where a Member is inactive across many Groups, appears to have joined for observation, data collection or commercial purposes, or otherwise does not meet the spirit of this Agreement.
• Access reviews are carried out manually by an admin. Nothing in this Agreement obliges us to conduct a review, and a decision not to act in one case does not waive our rights in another.

6. Business entities, recruiters and service providers

• The Groups are for individuals. Businesses, agencies, brokers, recruiters, relocation firms, financial intermediaries, property developers and other commercial entities may not participate in the Groups in a commercial capacity.
• If we determine that a Member is participating on behalf of, or for the benefit of, a commercial entity, we may revoke that Member's access to all Groups without notice and without refund.
• Individuals who happen to run a business are welcome as individuals, provided they never promote, solicit or steer conversations toward their own commercial interests.
• Legitimate partnership enquiries should be sent to hi@backtoindia.com rather than raised in a Group.

7. Enforcement, removal and revocation

• Admins may, at their sole discretion, delete messages, issue warnings, mute, remove a Member from one or more Groups, revoke invite links, disable future access, and terminate any associated entitlement.
• For serious breaches - including advertising, soliciting, harassment, bias or slurs, link sharing, or misrepresentation of identity - removal may be immediate and without prior warning.
• All removals are carried out manually by an authorised admin. We do not operate automated removal of Members.
• Where access is revoked for breach of this Agreement, no refund or credit is due for any amount already paid, to the fullest extent permitted by law.
• If you believe a removal was made in error, you may write to hi@backtoindia.com within 14 days and we will review it in good faith. Our decision after review is final.

8. Fees, free access and cancellation

• Some Groups are free and some require payment. The applicable price, billing frequency and any promotional terms are shown at checkout before you commit.
• Where a promotional offer grants free or discounted access, the terms displayed at the time of that offer govern that access, including any statement that access remains free for the lifetime of the membership.
• Paid subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled. You may cancel at any time; cancellation stops future billing and ends access at the end of the paid period.
• Payments are processed by Stripe. We do not store your card details.
• Except where required by law, fees already paid are non-refundable, in particular where access is revoked for breach of this Agreement.

9. Your content and licence

• You retain ownership of what you post. You are solely responsible for your messages, files and media.
• You grant BackToIndia and other Members a non-exclusive licence to read, quote and reference your Group messages within the community for the purpose of running the community.
• You must not export, scrape, archive, republish or commercially exploit Group content or member data, including phone numbers and display names, in any form or by any means, including automated tools.
• We may retain moderation records, including copies of messages relevant to a breach, for as long as reasonably necessary to enforce this Agreement.

10. Privacy and data

• When you join a Group, your WhatsApp display name and phone number become visible to other Members. That disclosure is inherent to WhatsApp group functionality and cannot be prevented by us.
• We process the personal data you provide to us - such as your name, email address and WhatsApp number - to verify eligibility, issue invite links, manage entitlements and administer the community.
• We do not sell your personal data. We share it only with service providers necessary to operate the service, such as our payment processor and WhatsApp automation provider.
• Do not disclose sensitive personal data about yourself or others in the Groups. We cannot control what other Members do with information you choose to share.

11. Communications and emails

By creating an account, joining a Group or providing your email address or WhatsApp number to us, you agree to receive communications from us.

• We will send you service and transactional messages, such as account, verification, invite-link, payment, entitlement and support messages. These are necessary to run the service and cannot be opted out of while you hold an account.
• We will also send occasional commercial and community messages, including our weekly digest, newsletters, event and huddle invitations, product updates, offers, partner or sponsor content and other promotional material, by email and, where relevant, on WhatsApp.
• You may unsubscribe from commercial and marketing emails at any time using the unsubscribe link in those emails or through your notification settings in the app. Unsubscribing does not stop service and transactional messages.
• Broadcast or announcement messages may also be posted inside a Group by admins. If you do not wish to receive them, you may leave that Group.
• We do not sell or rent your email address or WhatsApp number to third parties for their own marketing.

12. No professional advice

• Content shared in the Groups, including by admins, is general peer information only and is not tax, legal, immigration, financial, medical, educational or investment advice.
• You must independently verify anything you rely on and, where appropriate, consult a qualified professional licensed in the relevant jurisdiction.
• BackToIndia does not endorse, vet or guarantee any Member, vendor, service provider, listing or recommendation mentioned in a Group. Any dealings you enter into are entirely at your own risk.

13. Availability and third-party platforms

• The Groups operate on WhatsApp, a third-party platform we do not control. Availability, message delivery, group limits and account restrictions are subject to WhatsApp's systems and policies.
• We may add, merge, rename, split, pause, archive or discontinue any Group at any time.
• Joining a Group may take time. Where an invite link or an automated add fails, we will make reasonable efforts to assist, but we do not guarantee any specific timeframe for entry.

14. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

• The Groups and the service are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis, without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, to the fullest extent permitted by law.
• We are not liable for the conduct, statements, omissions or content of any Member, nor for any loss arising from your reliance on information shared in a Group.
• To the fullest extent permitted by law, our aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with this Agreement is limited to the total amount you paid to us for Group access in the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or USD 50, whichever is greater.
• We are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, punitive or exemplary damages, or for loss of profit, goodwill, data or opportunity.
• Nothing in this Agreement excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

15. Indemnity

• You agree to indemnify and hold harmless BackToIndia, its operators, admins and moderators against any claim, demand, loss, liability or expense, including reasonable legal fees, arising out of your breach of this Agreement, your content, your conduct in a Group, or your dealings with other Members.

16. Changes to this Agreement

• We may update this Agreement from time to time. The version and date shown at the top of this page always reflect the current terms.
• Where a change is material, we will ask you to accept the updated Agreement before you join further Groups, and may notify you in a Group or by email.
• Continued participation in a Group after an update takes effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Agreement.

17. Term, termination and survival

• This Agreement applies for as long as you hold access to any Group and continues to apply to conduct that occurred while you were a Member.
• You may leave any Group at any time. Leaving does not entitle you to a refund and does not extinguish liability for prior conduct.
• Sections concerning content licence, privacy, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnity and governing law survive termination.

18. Governing law and disputes

• This Agreement is governed by the laws of India, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.
• The courts at Bengaluru, Karnataka, India shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of or in connection with this Agreement, subject to any mandatory consumer protections available to you in your country of residence.
• Before commencing any formal proceedings, you agree to contact us at hi@backtoindia.com and attempt in good faith to resolve the matter informally for at least 30 days.

19. General

• If any provision of this Agreement is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full force.
• Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of our right to enforce it later.
• This Agreement is the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Groups and supersedes any prior understanding on that subject.
• You may not assign your rights under this Agreement. Your Group access is personal to you.
• Questions about this Agreement can be sent to hi@backtoindia.com.