Terms of Service

1. Parties

Provider: Abhishek Uniyal, sole proprietor, based in Bangalore, Karnataka 560035, India. Contact: abhi@abhishekuniyal.com, +91 99628 92900.

Client: the individual or organization engaging the services.

2. Services

I provide two categories of services:

• Consulting — fractional-CTO engagements, technical advisory, architecture review, team and process guidance.
• Software services — designing, building, and delivering software systems on specification.

The specific scope of any engagement is defined in a separate Statement of Work (SOW), written proposal, or confirmed-by-email engagement brief. The SOW controls where it conflicts with these terms.

3. Engagement

An engagement becomes binding when the SOW is signed or confirmed in writing and the first invoice is paid. Changes to scope are made via written change order, mutually agreed.

4. Fees and payment

• Engagements are billed on a milestone basis, as defined in the SOW. Each milestone has its own deliverable, timeline, and fee.
• Invoices are payable within 14 days of issue, via Stripe or bank transfer.
• GST is charged where applicable under Indian law.
• Overdue invoices accrue interest at 1.5% per month (or the maximum rate permitted by law, whichever is lower). I may pause work on any engagement with an unpaid invoice past due.

5. Intellectual property

On full payment of all invoices for a given deliverable, I assign to the Client all rights in that deliverable, with two exceptions:

• Pre-existing material I bring to the engagement (internal tools, libraries, code snippets developed before or outside the engagement) remains my property. I grant the Client a perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use it as part of the deliverable.
• Third-party and open-source components remain under their original licences.

Until full payment is received, all rights in deliverables remain with me. I may reference the engagement — name of Client, general nature of work, public outcomes — in my portfolio and marketing, unless the Client opts out in writing.

6. Confidentiality

I treat information marked confidential, or reasonably understood to be confidential, as such — for the duration of the engagement and for three years after it ends. Standard exceptions apply: information that is or becomes public through no fault of mine, was independently developed without reference to Client material, or must be disclosed under law.

7. Warranties

I warrant that services will be performed with reasonable skill and care, consistent with professional standards in the industry. Deliverables are otherwise provided "as is". No warranty of fitness for a particular purpose is made beyond what is written in the SOW.

8. Limitation of liability

Neither party is liable to the other for indirect, consequential, incidental, or special damages, or for lost profits, revenue, or data. My aggregate liability for any matter arising from an engagement is capped at the total fees paid by the Client for that engagement in the six months preceding the claim. Nothing in these terms excludes liability that cannot be excluded under applicable Indian law.

9. Termination

• Either party may terminate an engagement on 14 days' written notice, for any reason.
• Either party may terminate immediately for material breach by the other that remains uncured 14 days after written notice.
• On termination, the Client pays for work performed and accepted through the termination date. Refunds, if any, follow the Cancellation & Refund Policy.

10. Governing law and jurisdiction

These terms are governed by the laws of India. The courts at Bengaluru, Karnataka, have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising from them.

11. Changes

Material changes to these terms will be dated below and, for active clients, notified by email. The terms in force at the time your engagement begins govern that engagement.

12. Grievances and contact

Abhishek Uniyal
Bangalore, Karnataka 560035, India
abhi@abhishekuniyal.com
+91 99628 92900