ParentsVoice ("we", "us", "our", "the Platform") is an independent digital platform operated in India that enables OTP-verified parents and legal guardians to anonymously rate, review, and discuss schools. ParentsVoice is:

✦ NOT affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any school, educational board, government body, or regulatory authority.
✦ NOT a school recommendation service, advertising platform, or school directory.
✦ A community accountability platform — a space where parents share genuine first-hand experiences for the benefit of other parents and the public.

ParentsVoice was founded with a single social mission: transparency in Indian school education. All reviews represent the personal opinions of individual verified parents only.

ParentsVoice operates strictly as an intermediary under Section 2(1)(w) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 ("IT Act") and the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 ("IT Rules 2021").

As an intermediary, ParentsVoice:
(a) Does NOT originate, create, initiate, or modify any user-generated content.
(b) Provides only automatic, technical, and passive hosting of user-submitted content.
(c) Does NOT exercise editorial control over reviews or ratings.
(d) Publishes Due Diligence policies (these Terms and Privacy Policy) prominently.
(e) Has a designated Grievance Officer and 15-day resolution mechanism.
(f) Cooperates with lawful government requests under applicable Indian law.
(g) Acts on valid takedown orders from competent Indian courts within prescribed timelines.

Under Section 79 of the IT Act, ParentsVoice shall NOT be liable for any third-party content posted on the platform, provided it acts in good faith and complies with the above intermediary obligations. ParentsVoice is NOT the publisher of user-generated content and has NOT exercised control over it.

Any attempt to hold ParentsVoice liable for content it did not create, initiate, or modify shall be resisted as contrary to the IT Act 2000 and established Supreme Court precedent (Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, 2015).

To register and submit content on ParentsVoice, you must:
(a) Be at least 18 years of age.
(b) Be a parent, legal guardian, or primary caregiver of a child currently enrolled in or previously enrolled in an Indian school.
(c) Verify your mobile number via OTP — this is mandatory and non-waivable.
(d) Agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy in full.

By completing OTP verification, you confirm that the mobile number is yours and that you are a genuine parent or guardian. Any attempt to create accounts for the purpose of manipulating ratings (including by school management, competitors, or paid reviewers) is a violation of these Terms and may constitute fraud under the Indian Penal Code.

All reviews, ratings, survey responses, complaints, queries, and comments ("Content") submitted on ParentsVoice:

(a) Are the SOLE responsibility of the user who submitted them.
(b) Represent ONLY the personal opinions and experiences of the submitting user.
(c) Do NOT represent the views of ParentsVoice, its founders, employees, or partners.
(d) Are submitted voluntarily by users who have independently verified their identity via OTP.

By submitting Content, you warrant and represent that:
(i) The Content is based entirely on your genuine first-hand experience as a parent at the named school.
(ii) The Content does not contain statements you know to be false.
(iii) The Content does not constitute defamation under Sections 499/500 IPC.
(iv) You have the legal right to submit the Content.
(v) You grant ParentsVoice a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to display, store, and moderate the Content on the platform.

ParentsVoice is NOT the author, editor, or publisher of your Content. You retain full legal responsibility for Content you submit.

You must not post Content that:

(a) Contains statements you know to be provably false — deliberate falsehoods are not protected opinion.
(b) Constitutes defamation under Indian law (IPC Sections 499/500) — i.e., a false statement of fact that harms someone's reputation, published without justification.
(c) Identifies, names, or exposes individual teachers, staff, or students in a way that could harm them personally.
(d) Is obscene, sexually explicit, or violates the POCSO Act 2012.
(e) Promotes hatred on grounds of religion, caste, race, gender, language, or region.
(f) Is submitted in bad faith — e.g., by school management, employees, competitors, or anyone with a commercial interest in manipulating ratings.
(g) Violates any applicable Indian law including the IT Act 2000, IPC, or Consumer Protection Act 2019.

Violation may result in: immediate content removal, permanent account suspension, reporting to relevant authorities, and disclosure of your identity to law enforcement in response to a valid court order.

Note on Opinion vs Defamation: A genuine parent's honest opinion about their experience at a school — even if unflattering — is protected expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India, subject to the above restrictions. Disagreement with an opinion is NOT grounds for a takedown request.

School names, addresses, board affiliations, and factual details listed on ParentsVoice are sourced from:
(a) Publicly available government records (CBSE, CISCE, DISE/UDISE databases)
(b) School websites and official mandatory disclosures
(c) User submissions subject to moderation

Factual information in the public domain — including a school's name, board affiliation, and location — is not subject to copyright or personality rights. Listing a school's factual public information is lawful and does not constitute defamation.

Schools may contact us to:
• Claim their listing and update factual information
• Request correction of verifiable factual errors
• Submit official information for their profile

We will respond within 7 working days. However, we will NOT remove a school's listing or suppress verified parent reviews solely because the school objects to the content.

ParentsVoice has a structured, fair, and lawful process for all removal requests.

FOR PARENTS — Remove Your Own Review:
You may request removal of your own submitted review at any time from your Dashboard or by emailing grievance@parentsvoice.in. We process such requests within 48 hours.

FOR SCHOOLS AND INSTITUTIONS — Disputing Content:
If you are a school representative who believes specific content is defamatory, factually false, or unlawful, you must:

1. Email grievance@parentsvoice.in with subject: "Takedown Request — [School Name]"
2. Provide: (a) specific URL of the content; (b) exact statement(s) you dispute; (c) why you claim it is false or unlawful; (d) supporting evidence of falsity; (e) your authority to act on behalf of the school.

We will:
✓ Acknowledge within 24 hours
✓ Review the complaint fairly and independently within 15 days
✓ Remove content found to be demonstrably false, unlawful, or violating our Terms
✓ NOT remove content solely because the school disagrees with a parent's opinion
✓ NOT remove content in response to threats, pressure, or unsubstantiated legal claims

We will ONLY remove content in response to:
• A valid order from a competent Indian court
• Clear evidence that the content is factually false (not merely unflattering)
• Content that violates our Prohibited Content policy (Section 5 above)

Sending a frivolous or abusive takedown demand may itself be logged as abuse.

ParentsVoice respects the Indian legal system and will comply with all valid court orders.

If you have obtained a court order directing removal of specific content, please email it to: legal@parentsvoice.in

We will comply with valid orders from competent Indian courts within the timeframes specified in the order or as required by law.

We will NOT comply with:
• Informal "legal notices" that are not court orders
• Demands to remove content based on threats alone
• Demands from foreign entities not having jurisdiction under Indian law
• Demands to reveal user identities without a valid court order

User identity disclosure: We will only reveal user identity information in response to a valid court order or lawful government request under applicable Indian law. We will notify the concerned user prior to disclosure wherever legally permissible.

All legal communications received are logged as required by IT Rules 2021 and retained for 90 days.

ParentsVoice has zero tolerance for rating manipulation. The following are strictly prohibited and may constitute criminal fraud:

(a) School management, employees, or agents submitting fake positive reviews of their own school.
(b) Any person submitting fake negative reviews of competitor schools.
(c) Creating multiple accounts to inflate or deflate ratings.
(d) Offering any incentive (money, gifts, fee waivers) to influence reviews.
(e) Attempting to intimidate, threaten, or coerce parents into withdrawing genuine reviews.

Detection: We maintain forensic logs of all review submissions including IP addresses, device fingerprints, submission timing, and OTP verification records. Suspicious patterns are automatically flagged. Evidence of manipulation is retained and may be provided to law enforcement.

If a school or its representatives attempt to manipulate ratings, we reserve the right to publicly annotate that school's listing with a "Manipulation Alert" notice.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable Indian law:

(a) ParentsVoice provides the platform "AS IS" without warranties of any kind, express or implied.
(b) ParentsVoice is NOT liable for the accuracy, completeness, or legality of user-generated content.
(c) ParentsVoice is NOT liable for any decisions made by parents or schools based on content on this platform.
(d) ParentsVoice is NOT liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages arising from use of the platform.
(e) Our total liability for any direct loss shall not exceed ₹1,000 (Indian Rupees one thousand) in any event.

Nothing in these Terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any other liability that cannot be excluded by law.

The ParentsVoice name, logo, platform design, code, and original editorial content are proprietary and may not be reproduced, copied, or distributed without written permission.

User-generated Content remains the intellectual property of the respective users. By submitting Content, you grant ParentsVoice a non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensable, worldwide licence to use, display, reproduce, and distribute your Content on the platform and in related promotional materials.

You may not scrape, crawl, harvest, or systematically extract data from ParentsVoice without written permission. Automated access without permission may result in IP blocking and legal action.

These Terms are governed exclusively by the laws of India.

For disputes with users or schools: We encourage resolution through our Grievance Officer process first.

Jurisdiction: Any legal proceedings arising from these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida), Uttar Pradesh, India.

No dispute shall be subject to arbitration unless ParentsVoice specifically agrees in writing.

We may update these Terms at any time. The latest version will always be published at parentsvoice.in/terms with an updated "Last updated" date.

For material changes that affect your rights, we will notify registered users by email at least 7 days in advance. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

Grievance Officer (as required under IT Rules 2021, Rule 4):
Email: grievance@parentsvoice.in
General: info@parentsvoice.in
Legal notices: legal@parentsvoice.in
Response: Acknowledgement within 24 hours; resolution within 15 days
Full details: parentsvoice.in/grievance