Terms and Conditions

1.Acceptance of these Terms

These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”), read together with our Privacy Policy and Cancellation & Refund Policy, form a legally binding agreement between you and [TODO: Registered Legal Entity Name] Private Limited (“TrueHostel”, “we”, “us”, “our”), which operates the TrueHostel website and applications (the “Platform”).

These documents are published as the rules, regulations, privacy policy and user agreement required under Rule 3(1)(a) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. This is an electronic record under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and does not require a physical or digital signature.

By creating an account, browsing listings, or making or accepting a booking, you confirm that you have read and agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, you must stop using the Platform.

We will inform you at least once every year of these Terms, the Privacy Policy, and the consequences of not complying with them, as required by Rule 3(1)(f) of the same Rules.

2.Definitions

• “Guest” or “User” means a person who registers on the Platform to search for, enquire about or book hostel accommodation.
• “Hostel Partner” or “Owner” means the owner, operator, lessee or manager of a hostel, paying guest facility or similar accommodation who lists that property on the Platform.
• “Listing” means the description, photographs, tariff, amenities, house rules and availability of a property published by a Hostel Partner.
• “Booking” means a confirmed reservation of a bed or room made by a Guest through the Platform.
• “Accommodation Services” means the stay, facilities, food, security and any other service actually provided at the property — all of which are supplied by the Hostel Partner, not by TrueHostel.
• “Platform Services” means the discovery, listing, booking, payment-facilitation and communication services that TrueHostel itself provides.

3.Our role: we are a marketplace, not a hostel operator

Please read this section carefully — it defines what we are and are not responsible for.

TrueHostel is a marketplace e-commerce entity as defined in Rule 3(1)(g) of the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, and an intermediary under Section 2(1)(w) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. We provide a technology platform that connects Guests with independent Hostel Partners.

We do not own, operate, control, manage or lease any of the hostels listed on the Platform. The contract for the stay is formed directly between the Guest and the Hostel Partner. TrueHostel is not a party to that contract.

Accordingly:

• The Hostel Partner alone is responsible for the accuracy of its Listing, the quality and condition of the accommodation, food, safety, security, staff conduct, and compliance with all licences and registrations applicable to it.
• We do not guarantee the condition, legality, safety or suitability of any property, nor the truthfulness of anything a Hostel Partner or Guest tells us.
• Our verification badge indicates only that we carried out the limited checks described in Section 6. It is not a warranty, certification, or endorsement of the property.

We claim the protection available to intermediaries under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. We do not initiate transmissions, select their receivers, or modify the information contained in Listings or user communications.

4.Eligibility and account registration

To create an account you must be at least 18 years old and competent to contract under the Indian Contract Act, 1872.

Guests under 18: a booking for a person below 18 years of age may be made only by a parent or lawful guardian, who must provide their own identification and consent. The parent or guardian is the contracting party and is responsible for all obligations under these Terms and for all amounts payable. Where a booking form requires a parent or guardian signature, that signature is a condition of the booking and not a formality. We process a child’s personal data only with verifiable parental consent, as required by Section 9 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

You agree that:

• the information you provide on registration is true, accurate, current and complete, and you will keep it updated;
• you will not create an account using another person’s identity, or hold more than one account without our written permission;
• you are responsible for everything done through your account, and for keeping your password and one-time passwords confidential;
• you will notify us at Info@truehostel.com immediately if you suspect unauthorised use of your account.

5.Listings, verification and accuracy

Listings are created and controlled by Hostel Partners. Before a Listing is published we carry out limited checks, which may include reviewing the ownership or authorisation documents submitted, the photographs supplied, and the contact details of the Hostel Partner. A Listing marked as verified has passed those checks and nothing more.

As required by Rule 5(3) of the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, we obtain an undertaking from every Hostel Partner that the descriptions, images and other content in its Listing correspond directly with the appearance, nature, quality and purpose of the accommodation offered.

Photographs are indicative. Room allocation within a category is at the Hostel Partner’s discretion unless a specific room or bed is confirmed in writing. Tariffs, deposits, notice periods and house rules are set by the Hostel Partner.

We may, without prior notice, decline to publish, edit, suspend or remove any Listing that we reasonably believe is inaccurate, misleading, unlawful, or in breach of these Terms.

6.How a booking works

When you submit a booking request and complete payment, we transmit the request to the Hostel Partner. A booking is confirmed only when you receive a confirmation from us on the Platform or by email. Until then, availability is not guaranteed.

At the time of booking you may be asked to provide identity documents, photographs and signatures for yourself and for each guest. This is required so that the Hostel Partner can meet its own obligations, including tenant and guest verification requirements imposed by state police authorities and local law. Providing false identification is an offence and will result in immediate cancellation without refund.

You must present the original of any identity document at check-in. The Hostel Partner may refuse entry if the person presenting is not the person named in the booking, if documents cannot be verified, or if the Guest is intoxicated, unwell in a manner affecting other residents, or otherwise in breach of its house rules.

Check-in and check-out timings, gate timings, visitor policies, and rules on cooking, smoking, alcohol and pets are set by each Hostel Partner and are binding on you once you check in.

7.Pricing, payments and taxes

All prices are in Indian Rupees (INR). Payments are processed through a Reserve Bank of India authorised payment aggregator. We do not receive, collect or store your full card number, CVV, UPI PIN or net-banking credentials.

A convenience fee of 2% of the booking amount is charged in addition to the tariff, and is shown to you before you pay. This fee is consideration for the Platform Services and is exclusive of Goods and Services Tax, which is charged at the applicable rate (currently 18%).

Amounts payable for the stay itself belong to the Hostel Partner. We collect them as its payment-collection agent and remit them in accordance with our agreement with it. Any security deposit, maintenance charge, electricity charge, mess or food charge, late fee or damage recovery is a matter between you and the Hostel Partner, is payable directly to it, and is outside the scope of the Platform.

Tax treatment of the accommodation charge is determined by law and by the Hostel Partner’s registration status. Under current Goods and Services Tax notifications, accommodation services up to a specified value per person per month, supplied for a minimum continuous period of ninety days, are exempt from GST. Whether a particular stay qualifies depends on its facts, and neither the Platform nor the Hostel Partner offers this as tax advice.

If a payment fails but money is debited from your account, it is ordinarily reversed by your bank or the payment aggregator within 5 to 7 working days. Write to Info@truehostel.com with the transaction reference if it is not.

8.Cancellations and refunds

Cancellations, refunds and the timelines that apply to them are set out in full in our Cancellation & Refund Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

In summary: a booking cancelled within 48 hours of confirmation and before check-in is eligible for a refund of the tariff paid; later cancellations before check-in are eligible for 50% of the tariff; and the convenience fee is not refundable because the payment aggregator’s charge on the original transaction is not returned to us.

9.Your obligations as a Guest

You agree that you will:

• comply with the house rules of the property and with all applicable laws;
• treat the property, its fittings and its other residents with care and respect, and pay for any loss or damage you cause;
• not sublet, assign or share your allotted bed or room with anyone not named in the booking;
• not use the accommodation for any commercial, unlawful or immoral purpose, or store or consume prohibited substances, weapons or inflammable material;
• cooperate with police verification and any statutory registration that the Hostel Partner is required to complete;
• raise complaints about the stay first with the Hostel Partner, and escalate to us through Section 15 if they are not resolved.

10.Obligations of Hostel Partners

If you list a property on the Platform, you additionally represent and warrant that:

• you own the property or are lawfully authorised by the owner to offer it for paying occupation, and you can produce proof on demand;
• you hold every licence, registration, no-objection certificate and clearance required for operating a hostel or paying guest facility in your state and municipality — including, as applicable, registration under the relevant Shops and Establishments legislation, fire safety clearance, food safety registration under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 where food is served, and any state-specific hostel or paying guest licence;
• you comply with tenant and guest verification requirements of the local police, and with the tenancy law applicable in your state;
• your Listing is accurate and not misleading, and your tariffs, deposits and notice periods are disclosed before booking;
• you will not discriminate against any Guest on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, disability or any other ground prohibited by law;
• you will honour confirmed bookings, and will bear the cost of alternative accommodation of comparable standard if you cannot;
• you will handle Guest personal data — including identity documents — only for the purposes of the stay and statutory compliance, keep it secure, and delete it when the purpose is served.

Subscription plans

Listing on the Platform requires an active subscription after the initial free trial of 1 month. Current plans are ₹4,999 for 3 months, ₹7,999 for 6 months, ₹12,999 for 12 months, exclusive of GST. Subscription fees are non-refundable once the subscription period has begun. If a subscription lapses, your Listings and certain features may be hidden until it is renewed. Bookings already confirmed must still be honoured.

11.Reviews, ratings and user content

You may post reviews, ratings, photographs and other content. You remain the owner of what you post, and you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to host, reproduce, display and distribute it in connection with operating and promoting the Platform, for as long as the content remains on the Platform.

Reviews must be based on a genuine stay and must be your own honest opinion. We do not publish paid reviews, and we do not allow a Hostel Partner to alter or selectively suppress reviews of its property. We may remove a review that is defamatory, abusive, discloses another person’s private information, or is evidently fabricated.

You are solely responsible for the content you post and for any consequences of posting it.

12.Prohibited content and conduct

In accordance with Rule 3(1)(b) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, you must not host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, store, update or share any information that:

• belongs to another person and to which you do not have any right;
• is obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, invasive of another’s privacy including bodily privacy, insulting or harassing on the basis of gender, racially or ethnically objectionable, or relating to or encouraging money laundering or gambling;
• is harmful to a child, or promotes or facilitates the sexual exploitation or abuse of a child;
• infringes any patent, trademark, copyright or other proprietary right;
• deceives or misleads the addressee about the origin of the message, or knowingly and intentionally communicates information which is patently false or misleading in nature but may reasonably be perceived as a fact;
• impersonates another person;
• 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 to any other nation;
• contains a software virus or any other computer code, file or program designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer resource;
• violates any law for the time being in force.

You must also not:

• scrape, crawl, index or copy any part of the Platform by automated means without our written permission;
• attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Platform, other accounts, or our systems, or probe or test their vulnerability;
• circumvent the Platform to take a booking off-platform in order to avoid fees, where you were introduced to the counterparty through the Platform;
• use the Platform to send unsolicited commercial communication.

13.Content removal and law enforcement requests

On receiving actual knowledge in the form of an order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or on being notified by the appropriate Government or its authorised agency, we will remove or disable access to the information concerned within thirty-six (36) hours, as required by Rule 3(1)(d) of the IT Intermediary Guidelines.

Where a complaint concerns content that exposes a person’s private area, shows them in full or partial nudity, depicts them in a sexual act, or is impersonation including artificially morphed images, we will act to remove it within twenty-four (24) hours of receiving the complaint, in accordance with Rule 3(2)(b).

We will preserve removed information and associated records for one hundred and eighty (180) days for investigation purposes, or longer if required by a court or authorised agency, and will provide information or assistance to lawfully authorised government agencies on receipt of a valid written order under Rule 3(1)(j).

To report unlawful content, write to Info@truehostel.com with the URL or listing reference, the nature of the complaint, and your contact details.

14.Disclaimers and limitation of liability

The Platform is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. We do not warrant that it will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or error-free, or that defects will be corrected.

We are not liable for the Accommodation Services. Without limiting the generality of that statement, we are not liable for the condition, cleanliness, safety or security of any property; for theft, loss or damage to your belongings; for personal injury; for the quality or safety of food; for the acts or omissions of a Hostel Partner, its staff or other residents; or for any dispute between you and a Hostel Partner.

Where we are found liable notwithstanding the above, our aggregate liability to you for all claims arising out of or in connection with the Platform Services shall not exceed the total amount of convenience fees actually received and retained by us from you in the three (3) months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, punitive or consequential loss, or for loss of profit, revenue, goodwill or data.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited — including liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or any right or remedy available to you as a consumer under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

We are not liable for any failure or delay caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including acts of God, flood, fire, earthquake, epidemic or pandemic, government action or restriction, civil unrest, strike, failure of telecommunications or power, or failure of a third-party service provider.

15.Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless [TODO: Registered Legal Entity Name] Private Limited, its directors, officers, employees and agents from and against any claim, demand, loss, liability, cost or expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of your breach of these Terms, your violation of any law or the rights of a third party, the content you post, or — if you are a Hostel Partner — any deficiency in the Accommodation Services you provide.

16.Suspension and termination

You may close your account at any time from your dashboard or by writing to Info@truehostel.com. Closing an account does not cancel confirmed bookings or extinguish amounts already due.

We may suspend or terminate your access, remove your Listings, or cancel a booking, with notice where practicable and immediately where not, if you breach these Terms, if we are required to do so by law, if we reasonably suspect fraud or misuse, or if continuing would expose us or other users to legal risk or harm.

On termination for breach, we may retain amounts required to settle claims by affected Guests or Hostel Partners. Sections on liability, indemnity, governing law and any provision which by its nature should survive, will survive termination.

17.Grievance redressal

If you have a complaint about the Platform, about content on it, or about a booking, please first contact our support team at Info@truehostel.com. If your complaint is not resolved, you may escalate it to our Grievance Officer, appointed under Rule 3(2)(a) of the IT Intermediary Guidelines, 2021 and Rule 4(3) of the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020.

The Grievance Officer will acknowledge your complaint within 24 hours and dispose of it within 15 days of receipt. Consumer complaints under the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 are acknowledged within forty-eight (48) hours and redressed within one month.

Nodal contact person

If you remain dissatisfied, you may approach the appropriate Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, or the National Consumer Helpline.

18.Governing law, disputes and jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of India.

Any dispute between TrueHostel and a Hostel Partner that is not resolved through the grievance process shall be referred to arbitration by a sole arbitrator under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The seat and venue of arbitration shall be Indore, India and the proceedings shall be conducted in English. The award shall be final and binding.

If you are a consumer, the arbitration clause above does not apply to you. Nothing in these Terms requires you to give up your right to approach a Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, or restricts any other statutory remedy available to you as a consumer under Indian law.

Subject to the above, the courts at Indore, Madhya Pradesh shall have exclusive jurisdiction.

19.Changes and general provisions

We may amend these Terms from time to time. The revised version will be posted here with a new “last updated” date, and where the change is material we will notify registered users by email or in-app notice before it takes effect. Continued use after that date constitutes acceptance. Bookings already confirmed remain governed by the Terms in force when they were made.

If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full force. A failure to enforce any right is not a waiver of it. You may not assign your rights under these Terms; we may assign ours to a successor in connection with a merger, acquisition or sale of assets.

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and the Cancellation & Refund Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and us in relation to the Platform.

20.Entity details