Terms & Conditions

Terms & Conditions

In short: We are Pratham Books and we publish children’s books.
Delightful, engaging, immersive storybooks to introduce children
to the joy of reading.

This document is a written binding agreement and an electronic record under Information Technology Act, 2000, and rules thereunder as applicable and the amended provisions pertaining to electronic records in various statutes under applicable Indian laws. This electronic record is generated by a computer system and does not require any physical or digital signatures.

This document is published and shall be construed in accordance with the provisions of Rule 3 (1) of the Information Technology (Intermediaries guidelines) Rules, 2011 under Information Technology Act, 2000 that require publishing the rules and regulations, privacy policy and user agreement for access or usage of www.prathambooks.org website.

Introduction

This website is operated by Pratham Books. These Terms and Conditions (the “Terms and Conditions”) are a binding written contract between you and Pratham Books (“Pratham Books”), a nonprofit organisation incorporated under the laws of India, with its registered office at House No. 621, Second Floor, 5th Main, OMBR Layout, 5th Main Road, Lakshmamma Layout, Banaswadi, Bengaluru – 560 043. To avoid any possibility of confusion, when you see references to “we” or “us” or “our”, all of those references are to Pratham Books (collectively with its agents, consultants, employees, officers and Trustees); when you see a reference to “you” or “your”, we are referring to you, the User of one of our websites or services. By visiting our site (“Website”/ “Site) and / or availing of the services offered here or through its affiliates, you agree to be bound by the following Terms and Conditions.

Please ensure  that you have read these Terms and Conditions carefully before accessing our website. While availing current or future services that are offered by the website or its affiliates, you will abide by these conditions and guidelines as applicable.

When we use the word services (“Services”), we mean not only the Pratham Books website, but also all the other websites, services and applications made available by Pratham Books. Each of the websites and platforms operated by Pratham Books will have its own set of Terms and Conditions, though most of the Terms and Conditions in this document will serve as a broad set which can be applied across all websites and platforms.

You must agree to and accept all of the terms of this agreement, or you may not access the website or use any services offered through Pratham Books. Your using the services in any way means that you agree to all of these terms, and these terms will remain in effect while you use the services.

Any new features or tools which are added to the current e-store shall also be subject to the Terms of Service.

These terms include the provisions in this document and in the Privacy Policy.

Our services are constantly changing to keep up with the dynamic needs of users and readers everywhere and as such, these terms might need to change too. We reserve the right to update, change or replace any part of these Terms and Conditions by posting updates and/or changes to our website. We will do our best to tell you in advance by placing a notification on the website or send you an email. In certain situations (for example, where a change to the terms is necessary to comply with legal requirements), we may not be able to give you advance notice. Your continuous use of or access to the website following the posting of any changes constitutes acceptance of those changes.

Use of the website by children

You represent and warrant that you are of legal age to form a binding contract (and if not, you have received your parent’s or guardian’s permission to use the services and they have  agreed to these Terms on your behalf, as described earlier). If you are agreeing to these terms on behalf of an organisation or entity (for example, if you are an administrator agreeing to these Terms on behalf of your school or district), you represent and warrant that you are authorised to agree to these terms on that organisation or entity’s behalf and bind them to these terms.

We encourage parents and teachers to spend time online with children and to appropriately monitor their online activities. Please protect your child’s privacy by instructing them to never provide personal information on this site or any other, or within any software registration process without your permission.

How we reach out to you

When you use the services on our website or send emails or other data, information or communication to us, you agree and understand that you are communicating with us and the website and all other users and visitors through electronic records which are legally identifiable and enforceable, and you agree to receive communications via electronic records from us, the website and all other users and visitors and as and when posted, communicated or required.

Products and Services

The products and services available on our site are as follows:

1) e-Store

A digital storefront for Pratham Books where people in India can buy storybooks, story cards, and book sets created and published by Pratham Books.

2) Downloads

At present, users can download the Pratham Books catalogue, Annual Reports, Individual, Corporate, and Foreign Donors’ lists.

3) Blog / Newsletter Subscription

Users can subscribe to our newsletter and our blog for updates on our events, new book launches, workshops, and other activities.

Certain products or services may be available exclusively online through the website. These products or services may have limited quantities and are subject to return or exchange only according to our Return Policy.

We reserve the right, but are not obligated, to limit the sales of our products or services to any person, geographic region or jurisdiction. We may exercise this right on a case-by-case basis. We reserve the right to limit the quantities of any products or services that we offer. All descriptions of products or product pricing are subject to change at anytime without notice, at the our sole discretion. We reserve the right to discontinue any product at any time.

Personal Information

Your submission of any personal information through the website or e-store is governed by our Privacy Policy.

Return Policy

In case of faulty supplies, our policy lasts 30 days. To be eligible for a return, your item must be unused and in the same condition that you received it. It must also be in the original packaging.

To complete your refund, we require a receipt or proof of purchase. Once your return is received and inspected, we will send you an email to notify you that we have received your returned item. We will also notify you of the approval or rejection of your refund. If you are approved, then your refund will be processed, and a credit will automatically be applied to your credit card or original method of payment, within a certain amount of days.

If 30 days have gone by since your purchase, we unfortunately can’t offer you a refund.

Exchanges

We do not offer exchanges or replacements.

Shipping Policy

Shipping costs are calculated as 25% of the order value. The minimum order value on the e-store is 200. To return your product, you should mail your product to: B4/219, Ground Floor, Krishna Nagar, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi, Delhi – 110 029.

You will be responsible for paying for your own shipping costs for returning your item. Shipping costs are non-refundable.

General Conditions

We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason at any time.

You understand that your content (not including credit card information), may be transferred unencrypted and involve (a) transmissions over various networks; and (b) changes to conform and adapt to technical requirements of connecting networks or devices. Credit card information is always encrypted during transfer over networks.

You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit any portion of the Service, use of the Service, or access to the Service or any contact on the website through which the service is provided, without express written permission by us.

You promise to only use the services only in a manner that complies with all laws that apply to you. If your use of the services is prohibited by applicable laws, then you aren’t authorized to use the services.

You are also responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account password and for the security of your account. You will notify Pratham Books immediately of any actual or suspected loss, theft, or unauthorized use of your account or account password. Any violation of the Terms and Conditions by anyone using the services under your account (or otherwise under your authority or permission) may be deemed a violation by you, irrespective of whether the violation is with or without your consent.

Accuracy, Completeness and Timeliness of Information

We are not responsible if information made available on this site is not accurate, complete or current. Any reliance on the material on this site is at your own risk.

This site may contain certain historical information. Historical information, necessarily, is not current and is provided for your reference only. We reserve the right to modify the contents of this site at any time, but we have no obligation to update any information on our site. You agree that it is your responsibility to monitor changes to our site.

Use of content + prohibited uses

You agree, undertake and confirm that your use of the services and content on the website shall be strictly governed by the following binding principles:

You shall not host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, update or share any information or share/list(s) any information or item that:

  1. Belongs to another person and to which you do not have any right to.
  2. Is grossly harmful, harassing, blasphemous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically objectionable, disparaging, relating or encouraging money laundering or gambling, or otherwise unlawful in any manner whatever; or unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing including but not limited to “indecent representation of women” within the meaning of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.
  3. Harm minors in any way including in violation of The Protection of Children From Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
  4. Infringes any patent, trademark, copyright or other proprietary rights or third party’s trade secrets or rights of publicity or privacy or shall not be fraudulent or involve the sale of counterfeit or stolen items.
  5. Violates any law for the time being in force. 
  6. Deceives or misleads the addressee/ users about the origin of such messages or communicates any information which is grossly offensive or menacing in nature.
  7. Impersonate another person.
  8. Contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer resource; or contains any Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots, easter eggs or other computer programming routines that may damage, detrimentally interfere with, diminish value of, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, data or personal information.
  9. Threatens 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 cognisable offence or prevents investigation of any offence or is insulting any other nation.
  10. Shall not be false, inaccurate or misleading.
  11. Shall not create liability for us or the website or cause the website to lose or disrupt (in whole or in part) the services of our service providers or other suppliers.

Please note that in accordance with the Information Technology (Intermediaries guidelines) Rules 2011, in case of non-compliance with Terms, Acceptable Use Policy, and/or any policies contained or referred to herein for access or usage of an intermediary computer resource, we (i.e. the intermediary under the above rules) have the right to immediately terminate the access or usage rights of the users to the computer resource of intermediary and remove non-compliant information. This right is in addition to all other rights and remedies available to us against you either in these terms or any policy contained herein, in any applicable law or under torts.

Further

  1. The materials displayed or performed on the services (including, but not limited to, text, graphics, articles, photos, images, illustrations,  (defined below, and so forth) (the ‘Content’) are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. You promise to abide by all copyright notices, applicable licenses, trademark rules, information, and restrictions contained in any content you access through the services, and you won’t use, copy, reproduce, modify, translate, publish, broadcast, transmit, distribute, perform, upload, display, license, sell or otherwise exploit for any purpose any content not owned by you, (a) without the prior consent of the owner of that content or (b) in a way that violates someone else’s (including Pratham Books’) rights.
  2. You understand that Pratham Books owns the services and the website. You shall not  modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce (except as expressly provided in this section), creative derivative works based on or otherwise exploit any of the services and the website.
  3. The services or the website may allow you download certain content; please remember that just because this functionality exists, doesn’t mean that all the restrictions above don’t apply.

Intellectual Property

All information displayed, transmitted or carried by the website (“Content”) is owned by Pratham Books and protected by copyright and the relevant intellectual property laws. You may not modify, publish, transmit, transfer, sell, reproduce, create derivative work from, distribute, repost, perform, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content, unless as stipulated by the terms of this agreement. You agree to and shall abide by all copyright licenses, notices and restrictions stipulated on the website vis-à-vis the content to be  accessed through the website and not to alter the content in any way.

If you would like to use any content from the website, you need prior permission and can contact us at [email protected].

Legal Provisions

WARRANTY DISCLAIMER

We do not make any representations or warranties concerning any content contained in or accessing through the services, and we will not be responsible or liable for the accuracy, copyright compliance, legality, or decency of material contained in or accessed through the services. We make no representations or warranties regarding suggestions or recommendations of services or products  offered or purchased through the services. Products and services purchased or offered (whether or not following such recommendations and suggestions) through the services are provided on “AS IS” basis and without any warranty of any kind from Pratham Books or others (unless, with respect to such others only, provided expressly and unambiguously in writing by a designated third party for a specific product). THE SERVICES, CONTENT, WEBSITE, AND ANY SOFTWARE ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS-IS” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR THAT USE OF THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE.

LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWED BY APPLICABLE LAW, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES AND UNDER NO LEGAL THEORY (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, TORT, CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) SHALL PRATHAM BOOKS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR TO ANY OTHER PERSON FOR (A) ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOST PROFITS, LOST REVENUE, LOSS OF GOODWILL, LOSS OF DATA, WORK STOPPAGE, ACCURACY OF RESULTS, OR COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, arising from your use of any of the service or any products procured using the service, or for any other claim related in any way to your use of the service or any product, including, but not limited to, any errors or omissions in any content, or any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of the service or any content (or product) posted, transmitted, or otherwise made available via the service, even if advised of their possibility  

INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to indemnify and hold Pratham Books, its Trustees, affiliates, officers, agents, employees, contractors, and partners harmless for and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages (actual and consequential), losses, and expenses (including attorneys and court and arbitration fees) arising from or in any way related to any third party claims relating to (a) your use of the services (including any actions taken by a third party using your account), and (b) your violation of these Terms. In the event of such a claim, suit, or action (“Claim”), we will provide notice of the Claim to the contact information we have for your account (provided that failure to deliver such notice shall not eliminate or reduce your indemnification obligations hereunder).We reserve the right, at our own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to your indemnification, in which event you will cooperate with us in such defense and any settlement.

Termination

These Terms and Conditions are effective unless and until terminated by either you or us. You may terminate these terms at any time by notifying us that you no longer wish to use our services, or when you cease using our website.

If, in our sole judgment, you fail, or we suspect that you have failed to comply with any term or provision of these Terms and Conditions, we also may terminate this agreement at any time without notice and you will remain liable for all amounts due up to and including the date of termination; and/or accordingly may deny you access to our services (or any part thereof).

Governing Law | Jurisdiction

These terms and any separate agreements whereby we provide you services shall  be construed in accordance of the laws of the Republic of India, without regard to the conflicts of laws provisions thereof. For all purposes of these Terms and Conditions (including other terms and policies referred herein), the Parties consent to exclusive jurisdiction and venue in the courts located in city of Bengaluru, state of Karnataka, India.

Severability and Integration

This contract and any supplemental terms, policies, rules and guidelines posted on www.prathambooks.org constitute the entire agreement between you and us and supersede all previous written or oral agreements. If any part of these Terms and Conditions is held invalid or unenforceable, that portion shall be construed in a manner consistent with applicable law to reflect, as nearly as possible, the original intentions of the Parties, and the remaining portions shall remain in full force and effect.

Assignment

You may not assign, delegate, novate or transfer these terms or your rights or obligations hereunder, or your services account, in any way (by operation of law or otherwise) without prior the written consent of Pratham Books. We may transfer, assign, novate or delegate these Terms and our rights and obligations without consent. Agreement will be binding upon and will inure to the benefit of the parties, their successors and permitted assigns.

Entire Agreement

These terms and any rules stipulated by us set out the entire understanding between us and you and govern your use of the services. This shall supersede any and all prior agreements, communications and all prior versions of Terms and Conditions.

Any ambiguities in the interpretation of these Terms of Service shall not be construed against the drafting party.