Terms of Service

By creating an account, posting a project, submitting a bid, or otherwise using expertchowk.com (the "Platform"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service, our Privacy Policy, and any community guidelines we publish from time to time. If you do not agree, please do not use the Platform.

These Terms form a binding contract between you and Expert Chowk Technologies Private Limited ("Expert Chowk", "we", "us"), a company incorporated in India.

• You must be at least 18 years old and capable of forming a legally binding contract under Indian law.
• You must provide accurate identity, licence and tax information during onboarding and keep it up to date.
• You must not have been previously suspended from the Platform.
• For role-specific access, you must hold the relevant professional registration (e.g. CoA for architects, IE licence for civil engineers, valid GST for contractors and studios where applicable).

You are responsible for safeguarding your password and for any activity carried out under your account. Notify us immediately at hello@expertchowk.com if you suspect unauthorised access.

Profiles displayed with a verified badge have had key documents reviewed by our team. Verification does not constitute an endorsement of skill, work quality, or business outcomes.

You agree not to:

• Misrepresent your identity, qualifications, location, or work history.
• Post abusive, defamatory, obscene, discriminatory or fraudulent content.
• Solicit fees or payments outside the Platform to bypass our service fee or escrow protections.
• Scrape, mirror, or harvest data from the Platform.
• Use the Platform to launder money, evade tax, or breach any applicable Indian law.

Violations may result in suspension, permanent removal, forfeiture of held funds in proven fraud cases, and reporting to the appropriate authorities.

Project briefs, bids, milestones and reviews exchanged on the Platform are between the Buyer (Developer or Studio) and the Provider (Architect, Studio, Freelancer, Engineer, Contractor, Labour). Expert Chowk is a marketplace facilitator, not a party to the underlying service contract.

Both parties are responsible for negotiating scope, timeline, deliverables, and applicable taxes. We strongly recommend using our standard contract template and our escrow facility for milestone payments.

• Posting projects, creating a profile, and basic browsing is free.
• Subscription plans (Basic ₹499/mo, Premium ₹999/mo) are billed monthly and renew automatically until cancelled.
• A service fee of 5% applies to milestones routed through our escrow facility. The fee is shown clearly before you confirm.
• All fees are exclusive of 18% GST, added at checkout. We issue GST-compliant invoices.
• Subscriptions cancelled mid-cycle remain active until the cycle ends; we do not pro-rate unused days. Escrow-held funds for unstarted milestones are refunded within 7 working days.

You retain ownership of the content you post (designs, photographs, briefs, reviews). By posting, you grant Expert Chowk a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to display, distribute, and store that content on the Platform for the purpose of operating and promoting the service.

The Expert Chowk name, logo, software, and platform design are our intellectual property. You may not copy, modify, or redistribute them without our written consent.

Payments are processed by Razorpay. By making or receiving payments, you also agree to Razorpay's terms. We are not responsible for outages or errors caused by third-party services, though we will assist you in good faith to resolve them.

The Platform is provided "as is" and "as available". To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not guarantee that the Platform will be uninterrupted, secure, or free of errors.

We do not warrant the quality, safety, legality, or accuracy of any user's work, listings or representations. You are responsible for your own diligence before hiring or accepting a project.

To the extent permitted by Indian law, Expert Chowk's total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Platform shall not exceed the higher of (a) ₹10,000 or (b) the total fees you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim.

We will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, including lost profits, lost data, or lost opportunities.

We may suspend or terminate your account at any time for breach of these Terms, suspected fraud, or by request of authorities. You may close your account from Settings at any time. Upon termination, all licences you grant us survive only as needed to comply with our legal obligations.

These Terms are governed by the laws of India. Any dispute that cannot be settled amicably within 30 days shall be referred to arbitration in Pune, Maharashtra under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. A sole arbitrator shall be appointed by mutual consent; failing which, by the courts at Pune. The seat and venue of arbitration shall be Pune.

We may update these Terms periodically. Material changes will be notified via email and a banner on the site at least 14 days before they take effect. Continued use of the Platform after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

For questions about these Terms, write to us at hello@expertchowk.com.