Terms of Service

Draft for legal review: text in [brackets] is to be completed before launch.

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are the agreement for using the ECCS app and buying ECCS's services. Please read them carefully. They limit our liability (section 22) and send disputes to arbitration (section 29).

1. Who we are

ECCS (Eosfera Commercial Cleaning Solutions) is the trading name of [Registered company name], a [Company type] registered in India under [CIN or registration number], with GSTIN [GSTIN]. Our registered address is [Registered address].

We provide cleaning, hygiene and compliance services to restaurants and other commercial kitchens in Hyderabad, Telangana, and an app to manage them.

You can reach us at:

Email: [support email]
Phone: [support phone], 9 am to 7 pm, Monday to Saturday, except public holidays [to confirm]
Post: [Registered address]
Website: [website address]

Our Grievance Officer's details are in section 30.

2. Words we use

"We", "us", "our" and "ECCS" mean [Registered company name].
"Restaurant" means the business that has an account with us, such as a restaurant, cloud kitchen or canteen, whatever its legal form.
"You" means the Restaurant and, where a section is about using the app, each person who logs in for it. Section 3 explains who is bound by what.
"Owner" means the person who registered the Restaurant and controls its account, all its outlets and its billing.
"Manager" means a person the Owner gives a login for one outlet. "Head Chef" means a person the Owner gives a login for kitchen work only.
"Users" means the Owner, Managers and Head Chefs.
"Outlet" means one kitchen or premises of the Restaurant.
"Supervisor" means the member of our team who carries out and records visits and inspections at your outlet.
"Services" means the cleaning, hygiene, testing, training and other services we sell, whether we do them ourselves or with an ECCS partner.
"App" means the ECCS mobile app and its related web pages, including the customer page.
"Plan" means a subscription for a set of Services at a set price per billing period. "Single service" means a Service booked on its own.
"Your data" means information you and your Users put into the app: checklists, notes, photos, documents, licence details, labels, staff records, attendance and salary records, and similar content.
"Staff data" means personal data about the Restaurant's own employees: staff records, attendance, face attendance data, clock-in photos and salary records.
"ECCS partner" means another business we work with to deliver a Service, such as a laboratory, a training provider or a medical camp provider.
"Customer page" means the public web page about an outlet that diners open from a QR code.
"Hygiene score" means ECCS's own score for an outlet, out of 100.
"Policies" means our Privacy Policy, Refund and Cancellation Policy, Data Processing Terms and Disclaimer.

3. Accepting these Terms

This is a binding contract. When you tick the box and tap "Agree and continue" in the app, you enter into a legally binding agreement with us. A contract made electronically in this way is valid under the Indian Contract Act, 1872 and section 10A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. We keep a record of who agreed, when, to which version, and from which device.

The Owner agrees for the Restaurant. When the Owner accepts these Terms, the Refund and Cancellation Policy and the Data Processing Terms, the Owner does so on behalf of the Restaurant, and the Restaurant is bound by them.

Each User also agrees personally. Every Manager and Head Chef accepts these Terms and the Privacy Policy at their first login. As individuals, Users are bound by sections 5 (accounts), 11 (using the app) and 17 (confidentiality). The sections on Plans, fees, payment, liability and indemnity bind the Restaurant, not Managers or Head Chefs personally.

What the agreement is made of. Our agreement is these Terms, the Policies, the details of any Plan or booking you confirm in the app, and any separate written agreement we sign with you, which wins if it conflicts with these Terms. If these Terms conflict with a Policy, these Terms win, except that the Data Processing Terms win on Staff data and the Privacy Policy on other personal data.

If you do not agree, do not use the app or our Services.

4. Who may use the app

You must be at least 18 years old.
The Owner must have authority to bind the Restaurant, for example as its proprietor, partner, director or authorised signatory. By accepting, the Owner confirms this.
The Restaurant must be lawfully running a food business. Holding the licences and registrations the law requires is its own responsibility.
The app is for business use in connection with the Restaurant's kitchens, not for personal or household use.

5. Accounts, PINs and linked phones

First login. The Owner logs in the first time with a mobile number and a one-time code sent by SMS, and then receives a 4-digit PIN.
Staff logins. The Owner creates PINs for Managers and Head Chefs in the app, decides who gets a login, and must remove a login as soon as that person should no longer have access, for example when they leave.
Linked phones. A phone is linked to an outlet once, with an outlet code. After that, Users log in on that phone with their PIN. Anyone with a linked phone and a valid PIN can act in the app for that outlet, so keep linked phones safe and screen-locked.
Keep PINs secret. Do not share your PIN or let anyone else use your login. We store PINs only in a scrambled form (a "hash") that cannot be turned back into the PIN, so we can never tell you a PIN; it can only be reset.
Responsibility. The Restaurant is responsible for everything done in the app with its Users' logins and its linked phones, unless it was caused by our failure to keep the app secure.
Tell us at once at [support email] or [support phone] if a phone is lost or stolen, or if you think someone knows a PIN or has used a login without permission. We will help you unlink the phone or reset the PIN.
To protect the account, we may lock a phone after repeated wrong PINs, end login sessions, or ask a User to log in again.

6. Your responsibilities

The Restaurant agrees to:

Give accurate information about the business, its outlets, its GST details and its Users, and keep it up to date.
Keep its legal duties. Food safety, licences, labour law and tax stay the Restaurant's responsibility. Our Services and the app help; they do not take those duties over (see the Disclaimer).
Handle its staff's data lawfully. Before entering an employee's details, tell the employee what will be recorded and why. Face attendance may be used for an employee only after that employee personally reads and accepts the consent notice in the app. No one may accept it for an employee, pressure an employee to accept, or treat an employee worse for refusing or withdrawing. Do not enrol anyone under 18. The Data Processing Terms set out these duties in full.
Use the app lawfully and only as section 11 allows.
Give access for visits. Let our team into the agreed areas at the agreed time, with someone present who can answer questions and sign off the visit.
Keep our team safe. Before a visit, switch off and cool any equipment to be cleaned; clear or cover food and utensils; provide water, electricity and drainage; tell us about hazards such as gas leaks, faulty wiring, or equipment that is fragile or already damaged; and follow our Supervisor's safety instructions. Our team may stop any task they reasonably think is unsafe. A visit stopped because of unsafe conditions at the outlet is not a visit missed by us.
Tell its staff about these rules, including the Privacy Policy, and make sure Users follow these Terms.
Pay our invoices on time (section 9).

7. Our services, booking and visits

Our promise

We will carry out the Services with reasonable care and skill, using trained people, following our written procedures and the instructions of the makers of the chemicals and equipment we use. The tasks included in each Service and Plan are described in the app.

Booking

You can book a Single service or subscribe to a Plan in the app. A booking is confirmed when we confirm a date and time window in the app. If we cannot do the date you asked for, we will suggest another. For a new Plan, we aim to make the first visits due within 3 days of subscribing [to confirm], so we can assign a Supervisor.

Rescheduling and cancelling a visit

You can ask to reschedule or cancel a visit in the app or by contacting us. If we need to reschedule, we will tell you as early as we can and offer the next suitable date. The Refund and Cancellation Policy sets out the free window, any fee, and what you get if we give short notice.

During a visit

Our Supervisor records the visit in the app: arrival (check-in), the tasks done, the chemicals used, and photos before and after. Work outside the booked Service needs a separate booking or our written agreement.

Sign-off

At the end of a visit, a person from the outlet reviews the work and signs off in the Supervisor's app with their name and role, and may rate the visit. Signing off confirms that the visit took place and that the listed tasks appeared to be done. It does not stop you raising a problem later that could not reasonably be seen at the time.

Reports and certificates

After our office reviews and approves a visit, its service report (and a certificate, where the Service includes one) appears in the app. A certificate records that a particular Service was done at the outlet on a particular date. It is not a licence, a government certificate, or a statement that the outlet complies with the law.

Inspections

If your Plan or booking includes an inspection, our Supervisor checks the outlet point by point against our checklist. The result is a score out of 100 and, where earned, a grade (A+, A or B). Our office approves each inspection report before you see it. An inspection reflects only what our Supervisor saw on that day.

8. ECCS partners

Some Services are delivered together with ECCS partners, for example laboratory tests (such as water and frying oil tests), Food Safety Supervisor training and staff medical check-up camps. The app tells you when a Service involves a partner.

When you buy a partner Service from us, we arrange it, invoice it and remain your point of contact. We are responsible to you for it being provided as described, within the limits in these Terms [to confirm].
The partner is responsible for its own professional work, such as a laboratory's test result, a training provider's certificate or a doctor's findings.
We share with the partner only the information needed to deliver the Service. A partner that collects information directly from your staff, for example at a medical camp, does so under its own privacy notice, and we will tell you who the partner is.

9. Plans, fees, GST and payment

This section binds the Restaurant.

Plans

A Plan's services, visit frequency, price and billing period are shown in the app before you subscribe. Plans are billed in advance at the start of each billing period. Only the Owner can subscribe to, change or cancel a Plan. A change of Plan takes effect from the next billing period.

Single services

The price of a Single service is shown in the app before you book. We invoice it when our office approves the visit report [to confirm].

GST and invoices

Prices in the app are before GST unless the app says otherwise. GST is added at the rate set by law and shown separately on the invoice. We issue GST tax invoices in the app. Give us your correct legal name, GSTIN and billing address before we invoice you; we are not responsible for input tax credit lost because the details you gave were wrong.

Paying

Invoices are due within 7 days of the invoice date [to confirm]. You can pay in the app (once online payment is available) or by the other methods shown on the invoice. Online payments are handled by a regulated payment provider; we do not see or store your full card, UPI or net banking details.

If the law requires you to deduct tax at source (TDS) from a payment to us, you may do so, but you must deposit it on time and give us the TDS certificate. Until you do, we may treat the amount deducted as unpaid.

Late payment

If an invoice is not paid by its due date:

we may charge simple interest of 1.5% per month [to confirm] on the overdue amount, from the due date until it is paid; and
if it is still unpaid 15 days [to confirm] after the due date, we may suspend visits after giving 7 days' notice [to confirm] in the app or by email. While visits are suspended, you can still log in, read and export your data.

Disputed invoices

If you think an invoice is wrong, please tell us within 7 days [to confirm] of receiving it and say why, so we can sort it out quickly, and pay the part you do not dispute. If we agree, we will issue a corrected invoice or a credit note.

Price changes

We will tell you at least 30 days [to confirm] before a new Plan price applies to you, in the app or by email. It applies from your first billing period that starts after that notice. If you do not accept it, you can cancel the Plan before then. The price of a Single service already confirmed does not change.

10. Cancellations and refunds

Cancelling or changing a Plan or a visit, what happens if we miss a visit or do it badly, and how refunds and credit notes work are set out in the Refund and Cancellation Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

11. Using the app

Your licence

While our agreement lasts, we give the Restaurant and its Users a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the app for the Restaurant's own business. We may update the app and change its features. If we withdraw a feature that is a main part of a Plan you have paid for, you may cancel the Plan and get a pro rata refund for the unused part of the billing period.

What you must not do

You and your Users must not:

share logins or PINs, or use another person's login;
copy, modify, sell or sub-license the app, or reverse engineer or decompile it, except where the law allows this despite these Terms;
get around the app's security or permissions, reach data that is not yours, or disrupt the app or upload anything harmful;
upload false, staged or reused proof photos, back-date records, fake a phone's location, or otherwise make checklists, attendance or other records show something that did not happen;
enter personal data about anyone without a lawful basis, for example without telling an employee or getting the consent the law or the app requires;
clock someone in or out when they are not present, or try to fool face attendance, for example with a photo of a colleague;
upload content that is unlawful, defamatory, obscene or hateful, that infringes anyone's rights, or that shows people who have not agreed to it;
use the app to harass anyone, including our team or your staff;
scrape data from the app or use it to build a competing product.

The app flags doubtful photos, for example the same file used again, a near-identical picture, a phone clock that is off, or a location reported as faked. A flag is a prompt to check, not proof of wrongdoing.

12. Your data and your staff's data

You own your data. The Restaurant keeps all rights in its data. We claim no ownership of it.
Our licence to use it. The Restaurant allows us to host, store, copy, process, send and display its data only as needed to provide, secure, support and improve the app and the Services, to meet our legal duties, and to publish on the customer page what the Owner chooses. We may also make statistics from many customers' data in a form that identifies no Restaurant or person, and use them to improve our Services [to confirm].
Staff data. For Staff data, the Restaurant decides why and how it is used and is responsible for it under the law (it is the "Data Fiduciary"). We process it only for the Restaurant and on its instructions (as its "Data Processor"), under the Data Processing Terms. ECCS's own staff cannot see Staff data; the system's permissions refuse them.
Checklist photos. Our office cannot browse your daily checklist photos. It sees only the photos you choose to send for your customer page.
Our records. Records we create, such as visit and inspection reports, scores and certificates, belong to us, but you may keep and use copies for your business.
Personal data. How we handle personal data is explained in the Privacy Policy.

13. The hygiene score, inspections and the customer page

What they are

The hygiene score is ECCS's own score out of 100: up to 60 points from our latest inspection, up to 30 from your daily checklists and up to 10 from your licence records. Inspection scores and grades are also our own. They are private assessments by ECCS, a private company paid by the Restaurant. They are not a government rating, not the FSSAI Hygiene Rating, and not approved by FSSAI, TG-SAFE or any other authority. They do not guarantee that the outlet complies with the law, will pass an official inspection, or serves safe food.

The customer page

The Owner decides whether the customer page is on, and can switch it off at any time.
What it shows, and for how long (photos at most 90 days, an inspection result at most 180 days), is described in the Privacy Policy and the Disclaimer. It shows no staff names, prices or bills.
The page states that ECCS is a private company paid by the Restaurant and is not associated with FSSAI, TG-SAFE or any government body. You must not hide or contradict this, for example in posters or advertising.

Content rules

Photos you send for the customer page must be genuine, taken in the app at the outlet, and recent. They must not show diners, identifiable people who have not agreed, documents with personal details, or anything misleading. We may refuse any photo.

Our right to take a page down

We may hide content or take a customer page down at any time if we think it is inaccurate, misleading, out of date or unlawful, if it is the subject of a complaint, if our score or name is being misused, or if the Restaurant's account is suspended or ended. Where we can, we will tell the Owner why.

No misleading use

You must not alter our scores, grades, reports or certificates, or present them as a government rating, licence or approval.

14. The vendor directory

The vendor directory lists food vendors and distributors near your outlet. We do not check, approve or vouch for any vendor, their goods, prices or licences. Each vendor's FSSAI number is shown as the vendor gave it; check it on FSSAI's FoSCoS website before you rely on it. Any dealing with a vendor is between you and the vendor. Entries marked as samples are examples, not real businesses.

15. Feedback

If you send us suggestions or ideas, we may use them freely, without payment, and without naming you unless you agree.

16. Intellectual property

We, or those who license to us, own the app, our SOP library, checklists and templates, the hygiene score method, the format of our reports, our name and logo, and all related rights. These Terms do not transfer any of them to you.

You may use our SOPs, checklists and guidance inside your own business, but not sell or publish them. You may display the certificates, reports and customer page QR poster we provide, as issued. Any other use of our name or logo needs our written permission. We will not name the Restaurant as our customer in our marketing without the Owner's permission [to confirm].

17. Confidentiality

Each of us will keep the other's confidential information secret and use it only for our agreement. Yours includes your data and what our team learns about your kitchen and business. Ours includes non-public prices, the app's design and our procedures.

This does not cover information that is public through no fault of the receiver, that the receiver already knew lawfully, or that the law or an authority requires to be disclosed. This duty lasts for 3 years [to confirm] after our agreement ends, and for as long as we hold personal data.

18. Availability, support, maintenance and offline use

We work to keep the app available and working well, but it may sometimes be unavailable or have errors. We do not promise any particular uptime unless we agree it with you in writing.
We may take the app offline for maintenance or updates, where we can outside busy kitchen hours and with notice in the app.
Support is available by email, phone and issues raised in the app, during the hours in section 1.
Daily checklists and visit records can be filled in without signal. They stay on the phone until it is back online and uploads them; if the app is removed or the phone lost or reset before then, that work may be lost.
Clocking in and out needs an internet connection.
The app depends on things outside our control, such as phones, mobile networks, and outside services for hosting, text messages, push notifications and payments.

19. Suspension and termination

By you

The Owner can cancel a Plan in the app at any time, as the Refund and Cancellation Policy explains, and can close the Restaurant's account by asking in the app or at [support email]. A Manager's or Head Chef's login ends when the Owner removes it, and any User can ask us to delete their own login (see "Deleting your account" in the Privacy Policy).

By us

We may suspend access or visits, or end our agreement:

for any reason, with 30 days' notice [to confirm], refunding the unused part of any prepaid Plan;
for non-payment, as set out in section 9;
if you seriously or repeatedly break these Terms and do not put it right within 15 days [to confirm] of our notice;
at once, if anyone at the outlet threatens or harms our team or puts them in danger, if the app is used for fraud or unlawfully, or if the law or an authority requires it.

When we suspend, we will keep it to what is necessary and restore access once the reason ends.

When the agreement ends

The right to use the app ends, Plans stop, and unpaid invoices become due at once. Sections that by their nature should continue, such as those on payment, data, confidentiality, liability, indemnity and disputes, continue.

20. What happens to data when the agreement ends

Export. For 30 days [to confirm] after the account closes, the Owner can still log in to read and download the Restaurant's data, or ask us for a copy in a common format.
Deletion. After that, we delete the Restaurant's data, including Staff data, within a further 60 days [to confirm], so within 90 days of closure in all. Face templates are deleted at once when the account closes. Clock-in photos are deleted no later than 35 days after they were taken.
What we keep. We keep what the law requires or allows, for the periods set out in the Privacy Policy: for example GST invoices and payment records, records of who agreed to these Terms, visit and inspection reports, and security logs.
Backups. Deleted data may remain in backup copies for up to 30 days [to confirm] until they are overwritten.

21. Disclaimers

Cleaning, pest control and inspections reduce risks; they cannot remove them, and results depend on your daily practices.
We do not guarantee legal compliance, valid licences, passing an official inspection, food safety or any business result. SOPs and other guidance in the app are general information, not legal advice.
Apart from the promises in these Terms, and to the extent the law allows, we exclude promises or conditions that might otherwise be implied by law.
The Disclaimer, which forms part of these Terms, explains these points further.

22. Limitation of liability

Neither of us is liable to the other for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of profit, revenue, business, opportunity or goodwill, even if it was foreseeable.
Our total liability to the Restaurant for all claims arising from or connected with our agreement is limited to the total fees the Restaurant paid us in the 12 months [to confirm] before the event that gave rise to the claim.
These limits do not apply to amounts the Restaurant owes us; to the Restaurant's indemnity in section 23 [to confirm]; to liability for fraud or wilful misconduct; to liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence; or to anything else the law does not allow to be limited.
We are not responsible for loss caused by your breach of these Terms, by not following our team's safety advice, by defects or damage that already existed in equipment or premises, by wrong information you gave us, or by events in section 26.
If you think our team damaged property, please tell us as soon as you can, ideally within 48 hours [to confirm], with photos, so we can inspect it while the facts are fresh.
Nothing in this section takes away any right that the law says cannot be limited.

23. Indemnity

To "indemnify" means to make good the other party's losses. The Restaurant will indemnify us against claims by others (including the Restaurant's employees, diners and authorities), and the reasonable costs of dealing with them, to the extent they arise from:

Staff data entered or used without a lawful basis or the consent required, or the Restaurant's breach of the Data Processing Terms;
content the Restaurant or its Users upload or publish;
false records or other misuse of the app in breach of section 11;
the Restaurant's breach of food safety, labour or other laws.

We will indemnify the Restaurant against claims by others that the app, used as these Terms allow, infringes their intellectual property, and against claims arising from our breach of the Data Processing Terms, within the limits in section 22 [to confirm].

The party asking to be indemnified must tell the other promptly, let it lead the defence, and not settle without its agreement, which will not be refused unreasonably.

24. Changes to these Terms

We may change these Terms and the Policies, for example when the law changes, when we add features, or to make them clearer.
For a material change, meaning one that reduces your rights or adds to your duties in a meaningful way, we will give at least 15 days' notice [to confirm] in the app or by email before it takes effect, and the app will ask each User to agree to the new version at their next login.
If you do not agree to a material change, you can stop using the app and cancel your Plan before the change takes effect, and we will refund any prepaid fees for the period after that date [to confirm].
Other changes, such as corrections or changes the law requires at short notice, take effect when we publish them.
The version date at the top shows which version applies. Earlier versions are available on request.

25. Notices

We send notices to the Owner in the app, by SMS or push notification, or to the email address or mobile number on the account. A notice in the app counts as received when it is posted, and an email when it is sent, unless we learn it did not arrive.
You send notices to us at [support email] or by post to [Registered address]. Please mark legal notices "Legal notice".

26. Events beyond our control

Neither of us is responsible for delay or failure caused by events beyond reasonable control (sometimes called "force majeure"), such as floods, heavy rain, fire, epidemics, riots, strikes, curfews or government orders, power or network failures, or failures of outside hosting, SMS, push notification or payment services that could not reasonably be prevented. The affected party will tell the other promptly and try to limit the effect. If such an event stops visits for more than 30 days [to confirm], either of us may end the affected Plan, and we will refund fees paid for visits not done. This does not excuse paying for Services already received.

27. Transferring this agreement

The Restaurant may not transfer this agreement without our written agreement. We may transfer it, with notice to the Owner, to a business that takes over all or most of the ECCS business, including a company formed to carry it on. If you object, you can end the agreement within 30 days of our notice and get a refund of unused prepaid fees. We may use subcontractors and ECCS partners, and we remain responsible for them as these Terms say.

28. General

Severability. If a court finds any part of these Terms invalid, the rest stays in force, and the invalid part is replaced by a valid one as close as possible to its purpose.
Entire agreement. Our agreement is made up of the documents listed in section 3 and replaces earlier discussions on the same subject. This does not limit liability for fraud.
No waiver. If one of us does not enforce a right at once, it can still do so later.
Relationship. We are independent businesses, not partners or agents. Our team are our employees or contractors, not the Restaurant's.
Language. If we provide a translation of these Terms and it differs, the English version prevails.
Records. Our system's records of acceptances, bookings, visits, sign-offs and payments are evidence of what they record unless shown to be wrong.

29. Governing law, courts and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of India.
Talk first. If a dispute arises, either of us may send the other a written notice describing it. People with authority on each side will try in good faith to settle it within 30 days of the notice.
Arbitration. If it is not settled, either of us may refer it to arbitration under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. Arbitration is a private process in which an independent person, the arbitrator, decides the dispute, and the decision binds both of us. There will be a sole arbitrator appointed by both of us together. If we do not agree on one within 30 days of a request, either of us may ask the International Arbitration and Mediation Centre, Hyderabad, to appoint one under its rules [to confirm]. The seat and venue will be Hyderabad, Telangana, and the language English. Hearings may be held online.
Small disputes. Where the amount in dispute is below ₹10,00,000 [to confirm], the arbitration will follow the fast-track procedure in section 29B of the Act: it is decided mainly on documents, and the award is due within six months.
Exceptions. Either of us may ask a court for urgent interim relief. Nothing in this section stops either of us using a remedy the law does not allow arbitration to replace, such as a complaint to a consumer commission where the Restaurant qualifies as a consumer, or a reference by a micro or small enterprise to a Facilitation Council under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006.
Courts. Subject to the above, the courts at Hyderabad, Telangana have exclusive jurisdiction.

30. Grievance Officer and contact

If you have a complaint about our Services, the app, or how we handle personal data, please contact our Grievance Officer:

Name: [Grievance Officer name]
Designation: [Grievance Officer designation]
Email: [grievance email]
Phone: [support phone]
Address: [Registered address]

We will acknowledge your complaint within 48 hours, give you a reference number, and resolve it within one month of receiving it. For privacy complaints, including how to complain to the Data Protection Board of India, see the Privacy Policy.