Terms of Service

By accessing or using ApnaBharosa (the “Service”), you confirm that:

• You have read and understood these Terms
• You are at least 18 years of age and legally capable of entering into a binding contract under the Indian Contract Act, 1872
• You are accessing the Service for lawful purposes only, in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations

These Terms are governed by the laws of India, including the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, and the Indian Contract Act, 1872.

ApnaBharosa is a digital asset documentation and inheritance tool. It allows you to securely store information about your financial accounts, insurance policies, investments, digital credentials, and personal notes, and to designate specific family members who can access this information if you are no longer active.

ApnaBharosa is not:

• A legal will or testament. Documents created within ApnaBharosa have no legal standing under the Indian Succession Act, 1925. ApnaBharosa does not replace a lawyer, a notary, or a formally executed will.
• A financial advisor. We do not provide financial, investment, tax, or legal advice of any kind.
• An executor of your estate. We do not manage, transfer, or distribute your assets. We only deliver the information you stored.
• A guarantee of delivery or access. The Service depends on correct, up-to-date contact information for your family members. We are not liable if delivery fails because contact information is outdated or incorrect.

To use the Service, you must:

• Be at least 18 years of age
• Be legally competent to enter into contracts under applicable law
• Provide accurate and truthful information during registration
• Not be a person barred from receiving services under Indian law or any applicable jurisdiction

By registering, you represent and warrant that you meet all eligibility requirements above. We reserve the right to terminate accounts found to be in violation of these requirements.

When you register, you create a Master Password that is the sole cryptographic key to your vault. Please understand the following clearly:

• Your Master Password is generated and stored exclusively on your device. It is never transmitted to our servers.
• We have no ability to reset, recover, or bypass your Master Password under any circumstances - including court orders, law enforcement requests, or your own urgent request.
• If you lose your Master Password, all vault data is permanently inaccessible. There is no back door.
• You are solely responsible for choosing a strong Master Password and storing it securely - in a password manager, written in a physically secure location, or by any other means you trust.
• You are responsible for all activities that occur under your account. If you believe your account has been compromised, contact us immediately at hello@apnabharosa.com.

ApnaBharosa operates through the following mechanism:

• You store: Asset information (bank accounts, insurance policies, investments, digital credentials, personal notes) in your encrypted vault.
• You designate: Specific family members, each assigned to specific assets, who will receive access upon vault release.
• You check in: By opening the app periodically. The inactivity timer (46 days) resets every time you check in.
• The escalation begins if you do not check in for 30 days: a push notification (Day 30), then push and email (Day 37), then email and SMS (Day 44). Each alert gives you a window to respond.
• The vault is released on Day 46 of uninterrupted inactivity, if no response is received at any prior stage.
• Snooze: You may pause the timer for up to 90 days using the Snooze feature, for planned absences such as travel or hospitalisation.

By using the Service, you agree to:

• Keep your registered email address and contact information current and accurate
• Keep your family members’ contact information up to date and verified - an outdated email address means the vault release notification will not reach the intended recipient
• Enable push notifications on the app to receive inactivity reminders
• Use the Snooze feature for planned absences to prevent accidental vault release
• Store only information that is accurate and lawful
• Not use the Service to store information belonging to another person without their explicit consent
• Not attempt to reverse-engineer, circumvent, or compromise the security of the Service
• Not use the Service for any fraudulent, illegal, or unauthorised purpose

You retain full ownership of all information you store in your vault. We claim no rights over your content.

You are solely responsible for:

• The accuracy and completeness of the information you store
• Ensuring the information is lawful and does not infringe any third party’s rights
• Keeping your vault contents updated as your financial life changes

The Service supports text-based information only. You may not store files, images, audio, or video. We reserve the right to limit the amount of information stored per account.

The vault release mechanism is the central feature of the Service. Please understand the following:

• The 46-day inactivity timer begins from your last recorded check-in. It is your responsibility to check in regularly or use the Snooze feature for planned absences.
• We will make reasonable, good-faith efforts to notify you at each stage of the escalation sequence through push notifications, email, and SMS.
• We are not liable if notifications are not received due to: push notifications being disabled, an outdated email address, an outdated phone number, spam filters, network failures, or any technical failure outside our reasonable control.
• Once the vault is released, the action is final and cannot be reversed. If the vault is released during your lifetime due to inactivity and you did not respond to any of the four escalation alerts, we cannot undo the release. It is your responsibility to remain active or to use the Snooze feature.
• After release, each designated family member has a 30-day access window. We cannot extend this period after it expires.

You may not use the Service to:

• Store, transmit, or distribute information that is illegal, fraudulent, defamatory, or in violation of any applicable law
• Store personal data of third parties without their knowledge and consent
• Impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent your identity or affiliation
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of the Service, or to any other user’s account
• Reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to extract the source code of the application
• Use automated scripts, bots, or any means to access or interact with the Service other than through the published app
• Probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Service or any related system or network

Violation of these terms may result in immediate account suspension or termination and, where appropriate, referral to law enforcement authorities.

All software, design, code, content, trademarks, and materials comprising the Service - including the ApnaBharosa name, logo, and application - are the exclusive intellectual property of Pavan Lenkala / ApnaBharosa and are protected under Indian and international intellectual property law.

You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to:

• Download and use the application on your personal device(s) for the purposes described in these Terms

You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, sub-licence, or create derivative works of any part of the Service. You may not remove any copyright, trademark, or proprietary notices from any part of the Service.

We will make reasonable efforts to keep the Service available at all times. However, we do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation. We may, at our discretion and with or without notice:

• Perform scheduled or emergency maintenance that temporarily interrupts the Service
• Modify, update, or discontinue features of the Service
• Discontinue the Service entirely, subject to the notice provisions in Section 13

We are not liable for any loss or inconvenience caused by service interruption, except where caused by our wilful default or gross negligence.

As-is basis: The Service is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

We are not liable for the following:

• Loss of vault data resulting from loss of your Master Password - no recovery is technically possible
• Failure to deliver vault release notifications due to outdated or incorrect family contact information
• Any claim by a family member who did not receive access because their contact information was incorrect, outdated, or their email was blocked by spam filters
• Accidental vault release during your lifetime due to failure to check in or failure to use the Snooze feature
• Any decision made by your family based on information stored in your vault
• Indirect, incidental, special, punitive, or consequential damages of any kind arising from your use of the Service
• Any loss caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including natural disasters, network outages, government actions, or third-party service failures

Liability cap: To the maximum extent permitted by applicable Indian law, our total aggregate liability to you for any and all claims arising from your use of the Service shall not exceed the total amount paid by you to us in the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the claim. Nothing in these Terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for fraud or wilful misconduct.

By you: You may delete your account at any time from within the app. Upon deletion, your vault data will be permanently erased within 30 days. Deletion is irreversible.

By us: We may suspend or terminate your account, with or without notice, if:

• You breach any of these Terms
• We are required to do so by law or court order
• We decide to discontinue the Service (with 90 days’ prior written notice by email to all active registered users)

Effect of Service discontinuation: If we decide to shut down the Service permanently, we will provide at least 90 days’ written notice by email, during which you will have full access to export your (decrypted) vault contents. After the shutdown date, all data on our servers will be permanently deleted.

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless ApnaBharosa, Pavan Lenkala, and any associated personnel from and against any claims, liabilities, losses, damages, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from:

• Your use or misuse of the Service
• Your violation of these Terms
• Your violation of any applicable law or third-party right
• Any dispute between you and a family member or other third party arising from or related to your use of the Service

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of India, without regard to its conflict of law principles.

Dispute resolution: In the event of any dispute, controversy, or claim arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service, the parties shall first attempt to resolve the matter amicably through good-faith discussion. If not resolved within 30 days, the dispute shall be referred to arbitration in accordance with the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 of India. The arbitration shall be conducted in English, and the seat and venue of arbitration shall be Hyderabad, Telangana, India.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, either party may seek urgent injunctive or equitable relief from the courts of competent jurisdiction in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, to prevent irreparable harm pending the outcome of arbitration.

We may revise these Terms from time to time. When we make material changes, we will:

• Update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page
• Send an email notification to all registered users
• Provide a minimum of 14 days’ notice before material changes take effect

Continued use of the Service after the effective date of revised Terms constitutes your acceptance. If you do not accept the revised Terms, you may delete your account before they take effect.

• Entire agreement: These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and ApnaBharosa regarding the Service and supersede any prior agreements.
• Severability: If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.
• Waiver: Our failure to enforce any provision of these Terms does not constitute a waiver of that provision.
• Assignment: You may not assign or transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign our rights to a successor entity.
• Language: These Terms are written in English. In the event of a conflict between an English version and any translated version, the English version shall prevail.

For any questions about these Terms, or to report a violation: