Terms and Conditions of Use

1. About Vault

Vault ("Platform", "we", "us", "our") is a community-driven educational platform accessible at https://paper-vault.app that enables students to access, browse, and upload previous year and previous semester examination papers. Vault does not create, own, or publish any examination papers. All content on the Platform is user-generated.

These Terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you ("User", "you") and Vault, governed by the laws of the Republic of India.

2. Eligibility

By using the Platform, you represent and warrant that:

• You are at least 13 years of age.
• You have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement under the Indian Contract Act, 1872.
• You are accessing the Platform for lawful educational purposes only.
• All information you provide during registration is accurate and truthful.

3. Account Registration

• You must create an account to access certain features of the Platform.
• You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials.
• You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account.
• You must notify us immediately of any unauthorised use of your account at legal@paper-vault.app.
• We reserve the right to terminate accounts at our sole discretion for violation of these Terms.

4. User-Generated Content - Core Legal Framework

Vault is an intermediary as defined under Section 2(1)(w) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. All examination papers and documents on the Platform are uploaded exclusively by users. Vault does not own, verify, create, or endorse any user-uploaded content.

5. Prohibited Conduct

You agree not to use the Platform to:

• Upload, share, or distribute content that infringes any intellectual property rights, including copyright, under the Copyright Act, 1957.
• Upload personal examination scripts, answer sheets, or any content containing the personal data of students or individuals.
• Reverse engineer, scrape, crawl, or extract data from the Platform using automated tools without written permission.
• Create fake accounts, manipulate leaderboards, or abuse referral programmes.
• Upload malicious code, viruses, or any content designed to disrupt the Platform.
• Impersonate any person, institution, or university.
• Use the Platform for any commercial purpose other than as expressly permitted.
• Circumvent any security measure or access control on the Platform.
• Upload content that is obscene, pornographic, defamatory, threatening, or promotes hatred or discrimination contrary to the Indian Penal Code or applicable law.

6. Intellectual Property

The Vault brand, logo, design, software, and Platform infrastructure are owned by Vault and protected under applicable Indian intellectual property laws. No content on the Platform owned by Vault may be reproduced, distributed, or used without express written permission.

Vault does not claim ownership of user-uploaded content. Respective uploaders retain ownership of content they upload, subject to the licence granted in Section 4.2.

If you believe content on the Platform infringes your copyright, please submit a takedown request to legal@paper-vault.app with the following information: (a) your contact details; (b) identification of the allegedly infringing content; (c) a statement that you have a good faith belief the use is unauthorised; (d) your signature.

7. Disclaimer of Warranties

The platform is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. Vault does not warrant that the platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of viruses. Vault does not verify the accuracy, completeness, or relevance of any user-uploaded examination paper.

Use of examination papers on the Platform is at your own risk. Vault strongly recommends verifying the authenticity and currency of any paper with your educational institution.

8. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable Indian law:

• Vault shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the Platform or reliance on user-uploaded content.
• Vault's total aggregate liability for any direct damages shall not exceed INR 1,000 (Rupees One Thousand Only).
• Vault is not liable for any loss or damage caused by user-uploaded content, including copyright infringement claims arising from such content.

Nothing in this clause limits liability for death, personal injury, or fraud caused by Vault's negligence, or any liability that cannot be excluded under applicable Indian law.

9. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Vault and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or in any way connected with:

• Your access to or use of the Platform.
• Any content you upload to the Platform.
• Your violation of these Terms.
• Your violation of any applicable law or third-party right.

10. Reporting Violations

The Platform provides a Report function on all uploaded content. Users are encouraged to report:

• Content that they believe infringes their copyright or another's copyright.
• Duplicate or spam content.
• Content that appears to contain personal information of individuals.
• Content that is obscene, unlawful, or harmful.

Vault will review all reports and take appropriate action in accordance with its content moderation policy and the Intermediary Guidelines, 2021. Vault shall respond to valid takedown orders from competent courts or government authorities within the timeframes prescribed by law.

11. Termination

Vault reserves the right to suspend or terminate your account and access to the Platform at any time, with or without notice, for:

• Violation of these Terms.
• Conduct that Vault reasonably believes is harmful to other users, the Platform, or third parties.
• Repeated uploading of content that is reported and found to be in violation.
• Any reason at Vault's sole discretion.

Upon termination, your right to use the Platform ceases immediately. Provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination shall do so, including Sections 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 13.

12. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of India. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Platform shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in India.

Before initiating legal proceedings, parties agree to attempt resolution through good faith negotiation for a period of 30 days from written notice of the dispute.

13. Compliance with Indian Law

Vault complies with its obligations as an intermediary under:

• Information Technology Act, 2000 (Sections 67, 67A, 67B, 79).
• Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
• Copyright Act, 1957.
• Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
• Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (where applicable).

Vault shall designate a Grievance Officer in compliance with Rule 3(2) of the Intermediary Guidelines, 2021. Contact details are provided in Section 14.

14. Grievance Officer

In accordance with the Intermediary Guidelines, 2021, and the DPDP Act, 2023, our Grievance Officer details are:

• Name: Grievance Officer, Vault
• Email: legal@paper-vault.app
• Jurisdiction: India
• Response Time: Complaints acknowledged within 48 hours; resolved within 30 days (15 days for IT Act-related complaints).

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may approach the Data Protection Board of India or a court of competent jurisdiction.

15. Modifications to Terms

Vault reserves the right to modify these Terms at any time. Modified Terms will be posted on the Platform with a revised effective date. Continued use of the Platform after posting of modified Terms constitutes your acceptance of the modified Terms. Material changes will be communicated to registered users via email.

16. Miscellaneous

17. Contact

For any questions about these Terms, contact us at:

support@paper-vault.app

Vault Platform | https://paper-vault.app