Terms of Service, Subscription Agreement & Refund Policy

1. Definitions & Interpretation

In these Terms of Service ("Agreement"), unless the context otherwise requires, the following terms shall have the meanings assigned to them below:

• "Platform" means the web application located at shipscout.ai, including all associated APIs, dashboards, analytics tools, and services provided thereunder.
• "Company", "We", "Us", "Our" means ShipScout, a Limited Liability Partnership registered under the laws of India.
• "Subscriber", "You", "Your" means the individual or entity that subscribes to the Platform's services by making payment and accepting these terms.
• "Subscription Period" means the duration of access purchased by the Subscriber (3 months, 6 months, or 12 months), commencing from the date of account activation.
• "Trade Data" means customs shipment records, bill of lading information, import-export transaction data, company profiles, contact information, and any other trade intelligence data accessible through the Platform.
• "Credits" means the units of usage allocated to the Subscriber's account, consumed when performing searches, generating reports, or accessing specific data features on the Platform.
• "Data Source" means any third-party government authority, customs bureau, trade registry, data aggregator, API provider, or public record system from which the Platform sources Trade Data.
• "Buyers" or "Buyer Data" means the names, addresses, contact details, and transaction histories of international importing companies as reflected in the Trade Data available on the Platform.
• "ShipScout Online Payment Gateway" means the official payment processing systems integrated into the Platform, including Razorpay, Stripe, Cashfree, or any other payment gateway authorized and operated by the Company through the shipscout.ai domain.
• "Force Majeure Event" means any event beyond the reasonable control of the Company, including but not limited to government actions, regulatory changes, changes in data access policies by national customs authorities, cyberattacks, natural disasters, pandemics, wars, sanctions, legislative amendments, court orders, or any action by a Data Source that restricts, suspends, or terminates the availability of Trade Data.

2. Nature of Service

2.1 Trade Intelligence Platform

ShipScout is a trade intelligence platform that aggregates, organizes, and presents publicly available and commercially licensed Trade Data to assist exporters, importers, and trade professionals in market research, buyer discovery, competitor analysis, and business intelligence.

2.2 No Guarantee of Business Outcomes

2.3 Data Coverage, Accuracy & Availability

1. Trade Data is sourced from multiple third-party Data Sources across 150+ countries and territories. The Company does not generate, create, or independently verify this data.
2. Data coverage, granularity, update frequency, and field availability vary by country, product category, and time period. Not all countries provide the same level of detail or the same data fields.
3. Data from any specific country may be delayed, incomplete, temporarily unavailable, or permanently discontinued due to changes in that country's government policies, customs regulations, data access frameworks, or other external circumstances entirely outside the Company's control.
4. The Company reserves the right to modify, add, or remove data coverage for any country or data category at any time without prior notice, and such changes shall not constitute a breach of this Agreement or grounds for refund.
5. Historical data availability is subject to the data retention policies of the originating Data Sources and may be modified, corrected, or removed by those sources without notice to the Company.
6. The Subscriber acknowledges that data from certain countries, including but not limited to India, may be subject to government restrictions, Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) designations, or regulatory actions that may temporarily or permanently restrict the Company's ability to access, update, or provide such data. The Subscriber accepts this risk as inherent to the nature of trade data services.

3. Subscription & Payment

3.1 Plans & Pricing

The Company offers subscription plans of varying durations and credit allocations as published on the Platform or communicated through authorized sales representatives. Pricing is subject to change; however, changes shall not affect existing active subscriptions.

3.2 Payment Terms

1. Full payment of the subscription fee is required prior to account activation.
2. Payments are non-refundable except as expressly provided in Section 5 (Refund Policy) of this Agreement.
3. All prices are quoted in Indian Rupees (INR) unless otherwise specified. The Subscriber is responsible for any applicable taxes, duties, GST, or currency conversion charges.
4. Split payments, installment arrangements, or deferred payment schedules, if any, must be documented in writing and signed by an authorized representative of the Company. Verbal commitments regarding payment terms are not binding.
5. Payments made through unauthorized channels, personal bank transfers to individual accounts, cash payments, or any method other than the ShipScout Online Payment Gateway shall not be eligible for refund under any circumstances.

3.3 Account Activation & Credits

Upon receipt of payment, the Subscriber's account shall be activated within twenty-four (24) hours. Credits shall be allocated monthly as per the selected plan. Unused credits from any month do not carry over to subsequent months and expire at the end of each billing cycle.

4. Acceptable Use & Restrictions

The Subscriber shall not:

1. Resell, redistribute, sublicense, or commercially exploit any Trade Data obtained through the Platform to third parties, whether in raw, processed, or derivative form.
2. Use automated scripts, bots, scrapers, crawlers, or any programmatic or automated means to extract, download, or harvest data from the Platform beyond the allocated Credits.
3. Share login credentials with unauthorized users beyond the team user limit specified in the subscription plan, or allow concurrent sessions exceeding the authorized user count.
4. Create multiple accounts to circumvent credit limits, usage restrictions, or to exploit promotional offers.
5. Use the Platform for any unlawful purpose, including but not limited to trade sanctions evasion, money laundering, circumvention of export controls, or harassment of any individuals or companies listed in the Trade Data.
6. Attempt to reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble, or extract source code, APIs, data schemas, or proprietary algorithms of the Platform.
7. Use the Platform to build, train, populate, or operate any competing product, service, database, or platform, whether directly or through third-party contractors.
8. Provide access to the Platform to any entity that is a direct or indirect competitor of the Company.

5. Refund Policy

5.1 General Principle

5.2 Mandatory Prerequisites for Any Refund Claim

A refund request shall not be considered unless ALL of the following mandatory prerequisites are met:

1. The refund request is submitted in writing to [email protected] within thirty (30) calendar days from the date of account activation ("Refund Window"). No refund requests shall be entertained after the expiry of the Refund Window, regardless of the reason cited. Time is of the essence.
2. The payment was processed exclusively through the ShipScout Online Payment Gateway (Razorpay, Stripe, Cashfree, or other Company-authorized online payment systems integrated into the shipscout.ai domain). Payments made via direct bank transfer, UPI to personal accounts, cash, cheque, demand draft, or any channel other than the ShipScout Online Payment Gateway are NOT eligible for refund under any circumstances.
3. The Subscriber's total credit consumption during the Refund Window does not exceed thirty (30) Credits. If the Subscriber has consumed more than thirty (30) Credits, the refund request shall be automatically denied, as substantial usage indicates acceptance of the service.
4. The Subscriber's account is in good standing and has not been suspended, restricted, or terminated for any reason, including violation of the Acceptable Use policy under Section 4.

5.3 Grounds for Refund (Subject to Section 5.2 Prerequisites)

Even where the prerequisites under Section 5.2 are fully met, a refund shall be considered ONLY if one or more of the following specific conditions are demonstrated:

1. The Trade Data records delivered to the Subscriber are demonstrably and materially incorrect, meaning the data contains factually wrong information (e.g., incorrect company names, fabricated transaction records, or data attributed to the wrong entity) as verified by the Company's internal audit team. Minor discrepancies in quantities, dates, or transliterations of foreign-language company names shall not constitute "incorrect data" for the purposes of this clause.
2. The Platform returned ZERO buyer results across ALL searches performed by the Subscriber during the Refund Window. The Subscriber must demonstrate this with documented evidence (screenshots with timestamps, exported search logs). If even one (1) search returned at least one (1) relevant buyer result, this condition is not met.
3. A critical Platform malfunction that prevented the Subscriber from accessing the service for more than seventy-two (72) consecutive hours during the Refund Window, provided the Subscriber reported the issue to [email protected] within twenty-four (24) hours of the malfunction and the Company was unable to resolve it within seventy-two (72) hours of the report.

5.4 Circumstances That Explicitly DO NOT Qualify for Refund

The following circumstances shall NOT constitute valid grounds for a refund under any condition, regardless of whether the prerequisites under Section 5.2 are met:

1. The Subscriber's failure to use the Platform or utilize allocated Credits during the Subscription Period. Non-usage does not entitle the Subscriber to a refund.
2. Changes in data coverage, update frequency, or availability of Trade Data from any specific country or Data Source due to government policy changes, regulatory actions, Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) designations, Force Majeure Events, or any other external circumstances as described in Section 7.
3. The Subscriber's inability to convert buyer leads obtained through the Platform into actual business deals, orders, revenue, or commercial outcomes. The Platform provides data access, not business results.
4. Dissatisfaction with the volume, quality, granularity, recency, or completeness of data for a specific product, country, HS code, or time period, provided the Platform returned at least one (1) relevant result.
5. Changes in the Subscriber's business circumstances, including but not limited to cessation of export/import activity, change of product line, financial difficulties, change of management, partnership disputes, or dissolution of business.
6. Technical issues that were reported and resolved by the Company's support team within seventy-two (72) hours of the report.
7. Expectations based on verbal statements, demonstrations, sales presentations, promotional materials, or assurances made by any representative of the Company prior to or during the subscription process, unless such statements are expressly incorporated into this written Agreement.
8. Delay in data updates for any country, product category, or time period, regardless of the duration of such delay.
9. Requests submitted after the expiry of the thirty (30) day Refund Window.
10. The Subscriber discovering that similar or identical data is available from other providers at a different price point.
11. Payments made through any channel other than the ShipScout Online Payment Gateway.
12. Credit consumption exceeding thirty (30) Credits at the time of the refund request.

5.5 Refund Request Procedure

1. Refund requests must be submitted in writing via email to [email protected].
2. The request must include: (i) Subscriber's registered email address; (ii) subscription ID or transaction reference number; (iii) date of purchase and account activation; (iv) detailed description of the grounds for refund with reference to specific clauses under Section 5.3; (v) all supporting evidence including dated screenshots, search logs, and exported data.
3. Incomplete refund requests shall not be processed and shall be returned to the Subscriber for completion. This does not extend the Refund Window.

5.6 Refund Calculation & Processing

1. Eligible refund requests shall be reviewed within fourteen (14) business days of receipt of a complete request.
2. Approved refunds shall be calculated as: Subscription Fee Paid MINUS Pro-Rata Value of Period Used MINUS Value of Credits Consumed (at standard per-credit rate) MINUS Payment Gateway Transaction Fees MINUS Administrative Processing Fee of INR 500 or 5% of the refund amount, whichever is higher.
3. Approved refunds shall be processed within thirty (30) business days of approval, via the original payment method only. The Company shall not process refunds to bank accounts, UPI IDs, or payment methods different from the original payment source.
4. The Company reserves the sole and absolute discretion to approve or reject any refund request, and the Company's decision shall be final and binding. No appeal mechanism is available.
5. Upon processing of a refund, the Subscriber's account shall be immediately and permanently deactivated, all data access revoked, and any downloaded data must be destroyed.

6. Account Suspension & Termination Without Refund

1. Reselling, redistributing, sublicensing, or commercially sharing Trade Data obtained from the Platform with any third party, whether for profit or otherwise.
2. Using automated tools, scripts, bots, scrapers, browser extensions, robotic process automation (RPA), or any programmatic means to extract, download, harvest, or systematically collect data from the Platform, whether directly or through intermediary systems.
3. Exceeding the authorized number of team users by sharing login credentials, session tokens, or access links with unauthorized individuals. Each login session is monitored and concurrent access exceeding plan limits shall constitute a violation.
4. Creating multiple accounts using different email addresses, phone numbers, or identities to circumvent credit limits, exploit free trials, or abuse promotional offers.
5. Engaging in any activity that places an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the Platform's infrastructure, including but not limited to excessive API calls, rapid-fire searches, or bulk export operations exceeding normal usage patterns.
6. Using the Platform to build, train, populate, or operate any competing product, service, database, or platform, whether directly or through third-party contractors.
7. Providing Platform access to any entity that directly or indirectly competes with ShipScout or its affiliated services.
8. Engaging in any fraudulent activity, including but not limited to providing false identity information, using stolen payment methods, initiating chargebacks or payment disputes without first attempting resolution through the Company's support channels, or misrepresenting business credentials.
9. Using Trade Data to harass, stalk, defame, or harm any individual or company listed in the database.
10. Attempting to access Platform systems, servers, databases, or networks without authorization, or engaging in any activity that could compromise Platform security.
11. Violating any applicable laws, regulations, sanctions, or export control requirements through the use of Platform data.
12. Any other activity that the Company, in its sole discretion, determines to be harmful to the Platform, its infrastructure, its data providers, its reputation, or other Subscribers.

Upon account termination under this Section, the Subscriber forfeits all remaining Credits, subscription time, and any data stored on the Platform. No refund, pro-rata or otherwise, shall be issued. The Company may also pursue legal remedies, including claims for damages, injunctive relief, and recovery of costs incurred due to the Subscriber's prohibited activities.

7. Force Majeure & Data Availability

The Company shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performance of its obligations under this Agreement if such failure or delay results from a Force Majeure Event, including but not limited to:

• Government actions, orders, notifications, or regulations that restrict, suspend, or prohibit the collection, processing, or commercial distribution of customs or trade data;
• Classification of any data system (including ICEGATE or equivalent) as Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) or similar protected designation by any national authority;
• Actions by Data Sources (including API providers, data aggregators, or government portals) that restrict, limit, modify, or terminate data feeds;
• Cyberattacks, data breaches, server failures, or infrastructure disruptions at Data Source facilities;
• Sanctions, trade embargoes, or geopolitical events affecting data flows between countries;
• Natural disasters, pandemics, wars, civil unrest, or any other event beyond reasonable control.

8. Limitation of Liability

The Company shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, punitive, or exemplary damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, loss of business, loss of data, loss of goodwill, or cost of procurement of substitute services, arising out of or in connection with the use or inability to use the Platform.

9. Disclaimer of Warranties

10. Verbal Representations & Entire Agreement

The Subscriber acknowledges that any verbal statements, demonstrations, projections, guarantees, or assurances made by sales representatives, support staff, or any agent of the Company prior to or during the subscription process are not binding on the Company unless expressly incorporated into this written Agreement.

Without limiting the foregoing, the Company explicitly disclaims any verbal representations regarding:

1. Guaranteed buyer counts or leads;
2. Guaranteed revenue or business outcomes;
3. Guaranteed data coverage for specific countries or time periods;
4. Guaranteed refunds outside the terms of Section 5;
5. Guaranteed data freshness or update frequency;
6. Guaranteed return on investment.

11. Intellectual Property

All Trade Data, analytics, reports, dashboards, algorithms, and content available through the Platform are the intellectual property of the Company or its licensors. The subscription grants the Subscriber a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and use the Platform for internal business purposes only during the Subscription Period.

12. Privacy & Data Protection

The Company collects, stores, and processes personal information in accordance with applicable data protection laws, including the Information Technology Act, 2000 (India) and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (India). The Subscriber consents to the collection and processing of their data as described in the Company's Privacy Policy.

13. General Termination

The Subscriber may cancel their subscription at any time by notifying the Company in writing. However, cancellation does not entitle the Subscriber to a refund for the remaining Subscription Period. Access shall continue until the end of the paid Subscription Period.

14. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of India. Any dispute arising out of or in connection with this Agreement shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.

Prior to initiating any legal proceedings, the parties agree to attempt resolution through good faith negotiation for thirty (30) days. If unresolved, disputes shall be referred to arbitration under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, with a sole arbitrator mutually appointed by the parties, seated in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

15. Amendments

The Company reserves the right to modify these Terms at any time. Modified terms shall be posted on the Platform and become effective thirty (30) days after posting. Continued use constitutes acceptance.

16. Severability

If any provision of this Agreement is held invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.