TERMS OF USE

Last updated on : 12/2/2021
We welcome you to Lekhny and thank you for your support in making Lekhny a leading story telling platform.
While it is our endeavor to make the usage of Lekhny as user-friendly as possible, we depend on each user to help us keep the platform free from content that is infringing of others’ rights, objectionable or unlawful in any manner and prevent any unauthorized use of the content legally owned by our users. We sincerely encourage you to go through the below Terms of Use to understand the do’s and don’ts while using the platform. Do not hesitate to contact us for any queries.

TERMS OF USE
These Terms of Use govern the use of lekhny Pvt Ltd’s (“Company”).

‘Lekhny’ website (www.lekhny.com) (“Website”), and the ‘Lekhny’ application available on Android and iOS, the ‘Lekhny FM’ and the ‘Lekhny Comics’ applications available on Android (together “Application”) by any person (“User”/”You”/”Your”).
Company facilitates a User to read and/or upload literary/audio works (such as books, poems, articles, comics etc. including cover images) and audio (“Published Work”), read/listen to Published Work and literary/audio works published by Company (“Company Content”), in various languages and upload comments, reviews on such literary works of others the same or and communicate with the Company and/or other Users through chats (“Inputs”), on the Website/Application (“Services”). Published Work and Company Content shall together be referred to as “Content”.
By browsing through the Website/Application and availing the Services, You agree to be bound by these Terms of Use read along with the Privacy Policy and represent that You are above 10 years of age and/or have the authority to enter into a binding contract with Company. If You are under 10 years of age, You must obtain consent from Your parent(s) or legal guardian(s) who will be responsible for your acceptance and compliance of these Terms of Use. If You do not have consent from Your parent(s) or legal guardian(s), You must stop using/accessing the Website/Application.
This is an electronic record under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and rules there under. Therefore, no signature is required to make the Terms of Use binding on the User. These Terms of Use along with the Privacy Policy have been formulated as required under Rule 3 (1) of the Information Technology (Intermediaries guidelines) Rules, 2011.

USER OBLIGATIONS
By using the Services, User agrees to abide by the below obligations:
Accuracy: To provide complete and accurate information while registering on the Website/Application and to contact Company if there is any change in such information. Further, User must not impersonate any other person.
Confidentiality: To maintain confidentiality of the User’s account details and be responsible for any use of the Services through the User’s account.
Ownership: To ensure that the copyrights in the Published Works uploaded are fully owned by the User and the same does not violate the patent, trademark, copyright or other proprietary rights of any third party.
Content Guidelines: To ensure the Published Works/Inputs do not violate the conditions mentioned in ‘Content Guidelines’ below.
Reproduction: To not reproduce any Published Works of another User Content from the Website/Application and publish it in any other platform without authority, whether for commercial gain or otherwise.
License: To grant Company
a license to publicly display their name/username to attribute the Published Works uploaded on the Website/Application;
a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive right and license for the Company to adapt, publish, reproduce, process, modify the Published Works to distribute, disseminate, transmit the Published Works and its derivatives on any medium or through any distribution method; and
right to showcase any Published Works to a third party for the purposes of any potential collaboration without prior intimation to User.
Illegal Activities: Not use the Services to perform any illegal activities nor solicit the performance of any illegal or any activity which leads to violation of third party’s rights.
Virus: To not upload any material which contains software viruses, or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer resource used to provide the Services.
Advertise: To not advertise or solicit any products or services on the Website/Application.

Security:

a) Not probe, scan or test the vulnerability of the Website/Application
b) not disrupt or breach the security or authentication measures or circumvent the navigational structure, with respect to the Website/Application or the network
c) Not use any manual or automated software, devices or other processes to "crawl" or "spider" any part of the Website/Application
d) Not to use cheats, exploits, automation, software, bots, hacks or any unauthorised third party software to modify or interfere with the Services or in any manner to gain undue advantage from the Services or features
e) Not place an unreasonable burden on the Company’s infrastructure.

Unfair Conduct: Not engage in any unfair conduct such as using unauthorized means to gain Rewards or My Points or misuse any of the programs offered on the Website/Application or engage in any other fraudulent/wrongful activity on the Website/Application.
Access: To access and use the Services solely for the User’s personal and non-commercial purposes and to not access the Website/Application or obtain the Published Works Content through any other means other than as permitted.
User Data: Not trace any information pertaining to another User or exploit any such information, including storing and collecting the same.

Trademark and Design: To not use, misuse or misappropriate the trademark ‘Lekhny’ any logo ‘Lekhny’ or any design of the Website/Application, which are owned/used by the Company for any unauthorized purpose.

RIGHTS OF THE COMPANY
User acknowledges the following rights of the Company:
Remove Content: Company has the right to remove any Published Works/Inputs which it deems objectionable or is infringing, as per its discretion or as required under law.
Suspension: Company has the right to restrict/suspend/terminate the account of any User to access all or part of the Services, at its discretion, including for violation by the User of these Terms of Use.
Intellectual Property Ownership over marks, designs: The Service and all components thereof including the Website/Application and all logos, trademarks, brand names, service marks, domain names, including designs, and graphics created by and developed by the Company on the Website/Application and other distinctive brand features of the Website/Application are exclusively owned by the Company and all intellectual property rights vested therein belong to the Company.

Company Content: Any Company Content belongs to the Company or its licensors and assignors. No rights therein transfer to the Users except for the purpose of legitimate use of the Service in accordance with these Terms of Use.
Personal Data: Company shall process the personal data of the Users submitted in accordance with the Privacy Policy.
Payment: Company shall decide the terms and conditions associated with any features introduced on the Website/Application pertaining to issue of virtual currency on the Website/Application and the way they can be used by the Users. Such terms shall be as set forth herein or as communicated to the User via the Website/Application.
Legal disclosure: Company may disclose the details of any User or any other details regarding the Published Works/Inputs or take any other action as required under law or a lawful order by government agencies who are authorized to investigate any cyber security incidents.
Enhance security measures: Company may put in place enhanced security and technical measures from time to time to prevent and tackle violation of copyrights of Users or third parties, as suitable.

CONTENT GUIDELINES
Published Works/Inputs uploaded on the Website/Application must:
Not be objectionable or unlawful: Do not put up Published Works/Inputs which are grossly harmful, infringing, harassing, blasphemous defamatory, obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, libellous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically objectionable, disparaging, relating or encouraging money laundering or gambling, or otherwise unlawful in any manner whatsoever.
Not be against national interest: Do not put up Published Works/Inputs that can threaten the unity, integrity, defence, security or sovereignty of India, friendly relations with foreign states, or public order or causes incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence or prevents investigation of any offence or is insulting any other nation.
Protect minors – Do not put up Published Works/Inputs which can harm minors in any way.
Not be misleading/ offensive: Do not put up Published Works/Inputs which deceives or misleads a reader about the origin of the content or communicates any information which is grossly offensive or menacing in nature.

SUSPENSION/TERMINATION
Violation by User: Company shall have the right to suspend or terminate partially or fully the usage and access rights of the User to the Website/Application if there is any non-compliance with these Terms of Use and/or the Privacy Policy.

MY POINTS AND REWARDS
My Points : A User may have the option to access certain features on the Website/Application from his/her account by redeeming virtual currency that may be purchased and/or earned by the User (“My Points”).

The number of My Points available for redemption shall reflect in the account of the User on the Website/Application. The purchase price of My Coins, the number of My Coins required for accessing specific features on the Website/Application or the various purposes for which My Coins can be used, shall be as determined by the Company from time to time. My Coins do not hold any real-world value and may be utilized by the User solely as allowed on the Website/Application.

Use of My Points: Users may have the option to
redeem My Points to subscribe to an author and/or
utilize My Points to post and take part in competition and/or
(iii) any other purpose as determined by the Company from time to time.

Limited License: If My Points are utilized to subscribe to an author, such Users shall have a limited license to view the Published Content of such author and no other rights such as right to transfer, resell or any ownership rights in the Content shall vest in the User.

User Warranty: If a User elects to purchase My Points, he/she warrants that

(i) he/she has the legal capacity (if the User is a minor, User’s legal guardian has granted their consent) to purchase and use the same on the Website/Application

(ii) his/her use of a credit card or other payment service on the Website/Application is authorized, and

(iii) all information that is submitted for the transaction is true and accurate.

Mode of Payment: A User may remit money to purchase My Points using any of the options available on the Website/Application including

(a) through wallets linked with the Website/Application;

(b) debit/credit cards;

(c) Unified Payment Interface;

(d) net banking; and

(e) such other payment options as are made available on the Website/Application from time to time.

These payment gateways are managed solely by third party service providers and therefore the use of such payment gateways will be governed by the terms and conditions of such third-party service providers. The User agrees that his/her use of a third-party payment gateway is at their sole option and risk.
Withdrawal of My Points: Payment towards purchase of My Points can be withdrawn by the User at any time. My Points are a wallet and can be redeemed otherwise against actual money.
Bonus My Points : Company may offer a User bonus My Points based on the User’s use of the Website/Application such as completion of specified reading challenges while using the Website/Application or as part of any promotional activity. Purchased My Points shall be applied first when a User redeems the My Points.

Rewards: When a User utilizes My Points to reward an author, such author (“Reward Recipients”) will receive My Points in his/her user account. Each Reward Recipient shall be entitled to a certain percentage of the INR value of the My Points so received as notified by the Company (“Rewards”). The number of My Points received together with the corresponding INR value that the author is entitled to shall reflect in the Reward Recipient’s account.
Encashing of Rewards: In each redeem request, a Reward Recipient shall be paid the full amount reflecting as Rewards in his/her User account to his/her bank account provided the amount is above a threshold of INR 50/- or any other base amount determined by the Company. To be paid this amount, Reward Recipients will be required to link their bank accounts to their User accounts on the Website/Application. Reward Recipient shall be responsible for any taxes or other charges associated with such payment.
Non-transferable: My Coins and/or Rewards of a User shall be solely to the benefit of such User and may not be transferred to any other person. Similarly, any features unlocked using My Coins may not be transferred to any other User. A Reward Recipient shall have full control on the bank account to be linked to his/her User Account. A User shall be fully responsible for all actions made through his/her User account.
Forfeiture of My Points and Rewards:

Upon termination and/or suspension of a User’s account for violation of the Terms of Use or for indulging in any unfair or fraudulent means to gain My Points or Rewards, all My Points and Rewards available in his/her User Account shall stand forfeited.

If a User remains inactive on the Website/Application for a period of one (1) year, all My Points in the User Account shall stand forfeited; Provided that in the case of any Rewards which remain unpaid due to, certain circumstances the same shall be forfeited if despite Company contacting them through available communication channels for an additional three (3) months, the User fails to link their bank accounts to their User accounts at the end of such three (3) month period.

Additionally, in case any User is found by the Company to have received bonus My Points or Rewards fraudulently or wrongfully, the My Points or Rewards available in his/her User account, as applicable, shall stand forfeited.
Refund: If Company discontinues the option of using My Points on the Website/Application at any time for any reason, the purchased My Points may be refunded at Company’s discretion, subject to deduction of Google Payment service fees and/or other applicable deductions under any applicable laws.
Changes: If any changes are required to be made by Company in relation to the My Points and/or Rewards features due to change in applicable law, Company shall notify all Users of the same in advance.
Compatibility: Company shall determine from time-to-time whether to make available the My Points and/or Rewards features on the Website or only on certain device types (in case of Application). A User may not be able to access these features on non-compatible platforms even if logged in through his/her own account.

COMPANY AN INTERMEDIARY
Users are in control of content: Company through its Website/Application receives, stores and transmits Published Works/Inputs solely on behalf of the Users. Users remain the sole authors and owners of their Published Works/Inputs. Further, Company does not control or restrict the publishing or reading of the Published Works/Inputs nor modifies the same prior to upload of the same on the Website/Application.
Company an ‘intermediary’ and no liability: Company is an ‘intermediary’’ as defined under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and its Rules and is not responsible for the Published Works/Inputs uploaded on the Website/Application.
Duty to act under law: Company, as an intermediary, has the duty to take necessary action against any Published Works/Inputs that violates the Information Technology Act, 2000 and its Rules which is brought to its notice and the User shall abide by such actions taken by the Company.

LIABILITY
No warranty of any kind: All Services and Published Works Content offered on the Website/Application are offered on an "as is" basis without any warranty whatsoever, either express or implied. The Company/Website/Application does not implicitly or explicitly support or endorse any of Published Works, content or service Content on the Website/Application. The Company/Website/Application does not warrant that the functions and Services contained in the Website/Application will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that the Website/Application or its server will be free of viruses or other harmful components, and the User hereby expressly accepts any and all associated risks involved with the User's use of the Website/Application.

User liable for breach: You are solely responsible to the Company and to any third party for any breach of Your obligations under the Terms of Use and for the consequences (including any loss or damage which the Company or its affiliates or its Users may suffer for any such breach).

Indemnity: User expressly agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Company/Website/Application, for its use of any Published Works/Inputs provided to it or published on the Website/Application by the User. The Company reserves its right to defend itself in any such legal disputes that may arise, and recover the costs incurred in such proceedings from the User.
No Indirect Liability: Company disclaims any and all special, incidental, indirect, consequential or punitive damages, losses costs towards any User or third party arising from the provision of Services or use of the Website/Application by others.

GRIEVANCE OFFICER
If any User is affected by any Published Works Content which violates these Term of Use, including the Content Guidelines, User can write their concerns to support@lekhny.com . We Company will endeavours to resolve the concerns within thirty (30) days.
If any person becomes aware of any Published Works Content which violate these Terms of Use, such person can contact the Grievance Officer at support@lekhny.com with the following details:
The complainant’s name and contact details such as address, telephone number and valid email address
Description of the Published Works Content which are violating the Terms of Use
The nature of complaint against the Content Published Works
The details of the URL where such Content Published Works are hosted
Supporting documents/sources, if applicable, to substantiate the complaint
Complaint document to be duly signed physically or by electronic signature

MISCELLANEOUS
Modification: The Company reserves the sole and exclusive right to unilaterally amend or modify these Terms of Use and such amendments or modifications shall come into effect immediately. The User has a duty to periodically check the terms and stay updated on its requirements. If the User continues to use the Website/Application following such a change, the User will be deemed to have consented to any and all amendments/modifications made to the Terms of Use.
Disputes: The Users expressly agree that the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and any other agreements entered between the Company and User(s) are governed by the laws, rules and regulations of India, and that the Courts at Bangalore shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any disputes arising between the Parties.

Conflict: In case of any conflict arising in the interpretation of the Terms of Use in English and any other language as it may be made available in on the Website/Application, the terms of the English version shall prevail.