Terms and Conditions

1. Accepting these terms

These terms are an agreement between you and Kakshlink Private Limited ("PharmaBandhu", "we", "us") for the use of the PharmaBandhu website, mobile apps and related services (the "Service"). By creating an account or using the Service you agree to these terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you use the Service for a business, you confirm that you are authorised to accept these terms on its behalf.

2. Who can use PharmaBandhu

• You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into a binding contract under Indian law.
• The Service is for pharmacies (chemists and druggists) and pharmaceutical distributors operating in India.
• You must hold, and keep valid, the drug licences and registrations required for your business under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and the rules made under it, and any other law that applies to you.
• We may refuse or close an account if we cannot confirm that these conditions are met.

3. Your account

• Each account has one role, Pharmacy Owner or Distributor, chosen when you register. Every account must verify a mobile number. Distributors must also verify an email address.
• You must give accurate, current and complete information, including licence details, and update it when it changes.
• Keep your password, one-time codes and devices secure. You are responsible for activity on your account. Tell us straight away if you suspect unauthorised use.
• Do not create accounts for someone else without their authority, or hold more than one account for the same business without our permission.

4. Our role

PharmaBandhu is a discovery directory and an intermediary under the Information Technology Act, 2000. We help pharmacies find distributors and contact them. We do not:

• sell, stock, store, deliver, prescribe or recommend medicines;
• take part in, approve or guarantee any order, price, payment, delivery or other dealing between users;
• give medical, legal or regulatory advice.

Any deal you make with another user is between you and that user. You are responsible for checking their licences, the products, prices and terms before you trade.

5. Listings, badges and reports

• A distributor is listed once its profile is complete. Being listed does not mean we have checked the business.
• Our team can check a distributor's or pharmacy's drug licence number and GST number on the official portals and then show a "Licence verified" or "GST verified" badge. A badge reflects that check at that time. It is not a government certification, an endorsement, or a guarantee of a firm's conduct, products or prices. A missing badge only means the check has not been done.
• The companies, brands and medicines a distributor lists are as stated by the distributor. We do not check whether a distributor is authorised by a company.
• PharmaBandhu only connects pharmacies and distributors and is not a party to any deal between them. Before buying, check the distributor's drug licence and take a proper bill. You deal with each other at your own risk.
• Pharmacies can report a listing. Listings reported by several pharmacies may be hidden until we review them. We may remove a badge, hide a listing or suspend an account if information appears false, documents expire, or we receive credible complaints.
• Payment for ads or the Pro plan never buys or affects a badge.

6. Listings, catalogues and stock

• Distributors are responsible for the accuracy of the companies, brands and medicines they list, whether entered by hand or imported from a file, and must keep their catalogue up to date.
• A listing means the distributor has told us it deals in that company, brand or medicine. It does not mean the item is in stock or available. PharmaBandhu does not track stock, quantities or availability.
• Search results may show whether a match is for the exact medicine or only for its brand or company. Always confirm availability, price and terms directly with the distributor.

7. Content you provide

You keep ownership of the information, logos and documents you provide. You give us a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to store, process and display that content as needed to run the Service, for example showing a distributor's profile and catalogue to pharmacies. Documents are used only for verification and are never shown publicly. You confirm that you have the right to share everything you upload.

8. Acceptable use

You must not:

• post false, misleading, outdated or unlawful information, or impersonate any person or business;
• use the Service to trade without the required licences, or to offer or seek narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances in breach of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985;
• publish advertisements that breach the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 or other advertising laws;
• share patient or prescription information through the Service;
• send spam, harass other users, or use their contact details for anything other than genuine pharmaceutical business;
• copy, scrape or harvest data, or use bots, except with our written permission;
• interfere with the Service, try to bypass security, reverse engineer the apps, or upload malware;
• use the Service in any way that breaks the law or these terms.

9. Contacting other users

The Service lets pharmacies call or message distributors using the business phone and WhatsApp numbers they publish. Use these details only to discuss genuine business, and respect a user's request to stop contacting them. Charges from your phone or messaging provider are your responsibility.

10. Ads and Featured listings

The Service may show ads, including Google AdMob ads, and our own ads. Ads are always labelled "Ad". Distributors on the Pro plan may be shown first in pharmacy search when they match what was searched and serve the area; such placements are always labelled "Featured". Advertisers are responsible for their ads, which must follow the law and our advertising rules. We may refuse or remove any ad.

11. Fees and the Pro plan

Searching and contacting distributors is free for pharmacies. Listing as a distributor is free. Distributors may choose the paid Pro plan, which adds features such as seeing which pharmacies viewed them, fuller demand insights, pharmacy contact details, Featured placement and no third-party (Google) ads. The features and price are shown in the Pricing section of our website before you pay.

• Billing: Pro is billed a month (30 days) at a time, in advance, in Indian rupees (plus GST once we are registered for it), through PhonePe on our website. You receive an invoice for every payment.
• AutoPay: if you choose AutoPay, you authorise a UPI mandate that charges the monthly price until you stop it. You are told before each debit. You can stop AutoPay at any time on your Pro page or in your UPI app; Pro then stays on until the end of the month already paid.
• Price changes: we may change the price of Pro. A new price applies only from your next payment, and we tell AutoPay subscribers before it applies.
• Refunds: a month already paid is not refunded, except where the law requires or a payment was taken in error. If a payment fails, Pro stays on for a few days so you can pay again.
• What Pro does not change: Pro never buys or affects a trust badge, and suspension under section 17 also ends Pro without a refund for misuse.

12. Intellectual property

The PharmaBandhu name, logo, website, apps, design and software belong to us or our licensors. You may use the Service only as these terms allow. Company and brand names shown in listings belong to their owners and are used only to describe what a distributor deals in.

13. Third-party services

The Service relies on services from other companies, such as app stores, Google sign-in, SMS and email providers, and maps or location services on your device. Your use of those services is also subject to their terms. We are not responsible for services we do not control.

14. Disclaimers

We work to keep PharmaBandhu accurate and available, but the Service is provided "as is" and "as available". To the extent the law allows, we do not promise that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that listings, profiles or search results will be complete, current or accurate, because much of that information comes from users.

15. Limitation of liability

To the extent the law allows, PharmaBandhu is not liable for indirect, incidental or consequential losses, lost profits or lost data, or for any loss arising from dealings between users, including the quality, legality, availability, price or delivery of any product. Our total liability for any claim relating to the Service is limited to the amount you paid us, if any, in the 12 months before the claim. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited under Indian law.

16. Indemnity

You agree to compensate PharmaBandhu for claims, losses and reasonable costs arising from your breach of these terms or the law, or from content you provide, except to the extent caused by our own fault.

17. Suspension and termination

• You can stop using the Service and ask us to delete your account at any time. See Delete your account.
• We may suspend or close an account, or remove content, if you break these terms or the law, if your licence is no longer valid, or to protect users. Where reasonable, we will tell you why and give you a chance to respond.
• Sections that by their nature should continue after termination, such as liability, indemnity and governing law, will continue.

18. Complaints and grievances

To report content that breaks these terms or the law, or to raise a grievance, contact our Grievance Officer as required by the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. We acknowledge complaints within 24 hours and aim to resolve them within 15 days.

19. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of India. We will first try to resolve any dispute with you informally. If that does not work, the courts at the place of our registered office in India will have exclusive jurisdiction, subject to any rights you have under consumer protection law.

20. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as the Service or the law changes. The date at the top shows the latest version. When a change is significant, we will tell you in the app or by email and ask you to accept the new terms before you continue using the Service.