Terms of Use

1. About these terms

These terms govern your use of the Payanam website, app and concierge, operated by AppKrafterrz Software Solutions (OPC) Private Limited ("Payanam", "we", "us"). By creating an account, making a booking or listing an experience, you agree to these terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use Payanam.

Payanam is a marketplace. Experiences, stays and tickets are provided by independent hosts and operators, not by Payanam, except where a listing says otherwise.

2. Prototype status

Payanam is a working prototype built for the Tamil Nadu Tourism Innovation Challenge 2026. Features may change or stop without notice. Some listings, hosts, reviews and community posts are sample content created to show how Payanam works, and information may be incomplete or out of date.

The public demo account is shared. Do not store real personal details in it, and do not rely on it to keep anything private.

3. Your account

• You must be 18 or older, or use Payanam with the consent and supervision of a parent or lawful guardian.
• Give accurate information, keep your password secret, and tell us if you think someone else has used your account.
• One account is for one person. You are responsible for what happens under your account.
• You can update your details in your profile, and ask us to close your account at any time (see our Privacy Policy).

4. Bookings and payments

• Simulated payments: until real payments launch, the payment step is a simulation. No money is charged, held or refunded, and no card or bank details are collected. A booking made with a simulated payment is a demonstration and does not create a binding contract with a host.
• Prices: prices are in Indian rupees. Checkout shows the host's price, Payanam's service fee and the total before you pay.
• Holds: seats or rooms are held for 15 minutes while you pay. An unpaid booking is released after that.
• Your details: the host receives your name, contact details, number of guests and any special requests so they can serve you.
• Real payments: when they launch, payments will be processed by a licensed payment gateway, and we will update these terms first.

5. Cancellations and refunds

These rules apply to experiences, stays and timed tickets booked on Payanam. The refund amount is shown before you confirm a cancellation.

• You can cancel a booking that is pending or confirmed. An unpaid booking is simply cancelled.
• A booking that is waiting for a combined payment for a shared journey cannot be cancelled on its own.
• Refunds go back to the original payment method. While payments are simulated, refunds are simulated too.
• A listing may describe its own cancellation terms. Where they differ from the table above, the table applies until we say otherwise.
• Trek bookings are made on the official Trek Tamil Nadu portal, under that portal's own terms.

6. Hosting on Payanam

If you list an experience, stay or ticket, you agree to:

• describe it accurately, with real photos you have the right to use, honest prices and clear inclusions;
• hold every licence, registration and permission the law requires, for example for food businesses, homestays, guiding, transport or access to protected sites, and pay your own taxes;
• honour confirmed bookings, and cancel only when you must, giving a reason. Your guest then gets a full refund and no payout is due to you;
• keep your guests safe, follow local rules, and respect the communities, temples and places you visit;
• use guests' personal data only to serve their booking, and not keep or share it for anything else;
• give a correct UPI ID for payouts. Your payout is your listed price for each booking; the service fee the guest pays goes to Payanam. If a guest receives a partial refund, your payout is reduced in proportion.

New listings are reviewed before they go live. We may ask for verification and may pause, reject or remove a listing, or suspend a host, that breaks these terms or puts guests at risk.

7. Travelling responsibly

Follow your host's instructions and the rules of each site, including the dress codes, photography rules and timings of temples and monuments. You are responsible for your own conduct, belongings and travel documents.

8. Acceptable use

You must not use Payanam to:

• post anything unlawful, defamatory, obscene, hateful, harassing, or harmful to children;
• spread false or misleading information, impersonate anyone, or post content that infringes someone else's rights;
• hurt religious or community sentiments, or threaten the unity, integrity or public order of India;
• send spam, advertise without permission, or collect other users' personal data;
• copy or scrape Payanam in bulk, break its security, or disrupt it with malicious code or excessive automated requests;
• make fake bookings, reviews or reports.

We may remove content and suspend accounts that break these rules, and we act on complaints and lawful orders as the Information Technology Act, 2000 and its rules require. You can report any post in the community, or write to our Grievance Officer.

9. Your content

You keep ownership of the posts, reviews, photos and listings you create. You give Payanam a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, display, translate, resize and share that content in order to run and promote Payanam. The licence ends when you delete the content, except where others have already shared it or we must keep it by law.

Only upload content you created or have permission to use.

10. Payanam's content and credits

Payanam's design, text, illustrations and software belong to AppKrafterrz Software Solutions (OPC) Private Limited. You may not copy or reuse them beyond normal personal use.

Third-party content is used under its own licence:

• photos from Wikimedia Commons contributors, each credited with its author and licence on our credits page
• map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, under the Open Database License;
• the Thirukkural text and G. U. Pope's 1886 translation, which are in the public domain;
• 3D models and fonts under the licences listed on the credits page.

Some 3D models are stand-ins that show the kind of structure, not the monument itself, as the credits page explains.

11. The concierge and other automated content

The concierge and features such as dictated listing drafts use an AI model to generate text. Answers can be incomplete or wrong. Always check opening times, entry fees, festival dates and travel conditions with official sources before you rely on them. Automated content is not professional, legal, medical or financial advice.

12. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

Payanam is provided "as is" and "as available" while it is a prototype. We do our best to keep it accurate and available, but we do not guarantee that it will be error-free or uninterrupted.

Hosts and operators are responsible for the services they provide. To the extent the law allows, Payanam is not liable for indirect or consequential losses, or for the acts or omissions of hosts, operators or other users. Our total liability for any claim about a booking is limited to the amount you paid Payanam for that booking.

Nothing in these terms limits any right you have as a consumer under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 or any liability that cannot be limited by law.

13. Suspension and closing your account

You may stop using Payanam and ask us to close your account at any time. We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms, puts others at risk, or where the law requires it. Bookings already made are then handled under the cancellation rules above.

14. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms, for example when real payments launch. The date at the top shows the latest version. We will tell you about important changes on the website or in the app. If you keep using Payanam after a change, the new terms apply.

15. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of India. Subject to your rights as a consumer, the courts at Chennai, Tamil Nadu have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising from them. Please write to us first; most problems can be solved quickly.

These terms are available in English and Tamil. If the two versions differ, the English version applies.

16. Grievance Officer and contact

For questions or complaints about these terms, content on Payanam or a booking, write to:

• Grievance Officer, AppKrafterrz Software Solutions (OPC) Private Limited
• Email: privacy@payanam.io

We acknowledge complaints within 24 hours and aim to resolve them within 15 days.