Terms of service

1. Who we are, and what we do

Ujala Hope is a donation platform for registered Indian non-governmental organisations. We verify organisations, publish their campaigns, collect donations, hold them for a defined period, and grant them onward to the organisation. We are contactable at 309, Tower A, Eleven Bay, Gurgaon, Haryana(122001).

We are not the organisation you are supporting. The work described on a campaign page is theirs, and so is responsibility for doing it.

2. Who can use this

• You must be 18 or older and able to enter a contract.
• Donations are accepted in Indian rupees, from Indian payment instruments only.
• You must use your own payment instrument, and the details you give must be your own and accurate — a receipt issued against a wrong PAN is a problem for you, not for us.
• Only registered NGOs may raise funds. Individuals cannot fundraise here.

3. What a donation is

A donation is a voluntary, irrevocable gift, not a purchase and not an investment. You receive no goods, services or ownership in return.

• Once confirmed, it is subject to our refund policy, which is generous inside the 7-day hold window and honest about its limits after it.
• Organisations keep what they raise even if a campaign does not reach its stated goal.
• A donation to a campaign is applied to that campaign's purpose. A general-fund donation supports the organisation's wider work.
• Fees are deducted from what the organisation receives, never added to what you pay. The arithmetic is published.

4. What the verification badge means — and does not

Before an organisation can raise anything, we document-check its legal registration, its organisation PAN and the ownership of its payout bank account, and we review each campaign separately. The badge states what was checked and on what date.

It is not a guarantee of outcomes. It does not promise that a programme will succeed, that funds will be spent as well as they could be, or that an organisation will never act improperly later. It narrows uncertainty; it does not remove it, and we will not describe it as though it does. The full scope and its limits are published.

5. Tax receipts

Where you supply a PAN and full address, we issue an 80G acknowledgement for the donation and a consolidated certificate for the financial year. The amount certified is the gross amount you gave — fees do not reduce it.

• Tax details can be added after giving, up to the close of the financial year on 31 March. After the year is filed it cannot be amended.
• Issued receipts are immutable and sequentially numbered. A correction is issued as a new document that supersedes the old one; the old one stays visible in your account.
• Whether you can actually claim a deduction depends on your own tax position. We issue the document; we do not give tax advice.

6. Obligations of organisations

Organisations raising on this platform agree to:

• Provide true documents and keep them current, including on renewal or lapse.
• Describe their work and its intended use accurately, and not overstate it.
• Publish evidence of how a payout was used before receiving the next one from the same fund. This is enforced by the platform, not requested.
• Hold consent for every photograph and story of an identifiable person they publish.
• Receive funds only into a bank account verified as belonging to the organisation.

7. What we may do

Acting on a grievance, a fraud signal or a lapsed document, we may:

• Pause or suspend a campaign, or an organisation's ability to raise;
• Hold a payout while we investigate;
• Refund donors of a campaign found fraudulent before payout;
• Remove content that breaches these terms or a person's rights;
• Withdraw verification, with the reason given and a right of appeal within 30 days.

8. What you may not do

• Use someone else's payment instrument or identity.
• Use the platform to launder funds or disguise their source.
• Attempt to interfere with the platform, other users' data, or its security.
• Scrape, republish or resell content from the site at scale.

9. Limits of our responsibility

We are responsible for running the platform with reasonable care: verifying as described, holding funds as described, paying out as described, and keeping an accurate record.

We are not responsible for how an organisation spends money once granted, for the accuracy of what an organisation says about its own work, or for the outcome of any programme. Where an organisation has misled donors and funds have already been paid out, we will pursue recovery and tell you what happened, but we cannot guarantee a result.

Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including for fraud or wilful misconduct on our part.

10. Complaints

Raise a grievance — no account required — or email grievances@example.invalid. We acknowledge within 3 working days and aim to resolve within 30 days.

11. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. Where a change materially affects you, we will say so on the site rather than rely on you noticing a new date. Changes to the fee schedule are stronger still: an organisation accepts a specific version, and a new rate requires a notice period and re-acceptance.

12. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of India, and the courts of India have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute.