If you live in the European Region, WhatsApp Ireland Limited provides WhatsApp to you under this Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Heshima yako imesimbwa kwenye DNA yetu. Tangu tumeanzisha WhatsApp, tumejenga Huduma zetu kwa kuzingatia seti thabiti za kanuni za faragha akilini. Kwenye Masharti na Sera yetu ya Faragha iliyosasishwa utapata:
WhatsApp Inc. (“WhatsApp,” “our,” “we,” or “us”) provides messaging, Internet calling, and other services to users around the world. Please read our Terms of Service so you understand what’s up with your use of WhatsApp. You agree to our Terms of Service (“Terms”) by installing, accessing, or using our apps, services, features, software, or website (together, “Services”).
NO ACCESS TO EMERGENCY SERVICES: There are important differences between WhatsApp and your mobile and fixed-line telephone and SMS services. Our Services do not provide access to emergency services or emergency services providers, including the police, fire departments, or hospitals, or otherwise connect to public safety answering points. You should ensure you can contact your relevant emergency services providers through a mobile, fixed-line telephone, or other service.
IF YOU ARE A WHATSAPP USER LOCATED IN THE UNITED STATES OR CANADA, OUR TERMS CONTAIN A BINDING ARBITRATION PROVISION, WHICH STATES THAT, EXCEPT IF YOU OPT OUT AND EXCEPT FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF DISPUTES, WHATSAPP AND YOU AGREE TO RESOLVE ALL DISPUTES THROUGH BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION, WHICH MEANS THAT YOU WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO HAVE THOSE DISPUTES DECIDED BY A JUDGE OR JURY, AND THAT YOU WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN CLASS ACTIONS, CLASS ARBITRATIONS, OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTIONS. PLEASE READ THE “SPECIAL ARBITRATION PROVISION FOR UNITED STATES OR CANADA USERS” SECTION BELOW TO LEARN MORE.
Registration. You must register for our Services using accurate data, provide your current mobile phone number, and, if you change it, update this mobile phone number using our in-app change number feature. You agree to receive text messages and phone calls (from us or our third-party providers) with codes to register for our Services.
Address Book. You provide us the phone numbers of WhatsApp users and your other contacts in your mobile phone address book on a regular basis. You confirm you are authorized to provide us such numbers to allow us to provide our Services.
Age. You must be at least 13 years old to use our Services (or such greater age required in your country for you to be authorized to use our Services without parental approval). In addition to being of the minimum required age to use our Services under applicable law, if you are not old enough to have authority to agree to our Terms in your country, your parent or guardian must agree to our Terms on your behalf.
Devices and Software. You must provide certain devices, software, and data connections to use our Services, which we otherwise do not supply. For as long as you use our Services, you consent to downloading and installing updates to our Services, including automatically.
Fees and Taxes. You are responsible for all carrier data plan and other fees and taxes associated with your use of our Services. We may charge you for our Services, including applicable taxes. We may refuse or cancel orders. We do not provide refunds for our Services, except as required by law.
WhatsApp cares about your privacy. WhatsApp’s Privacy Policy describes our information (including message) practices, including the types of information we receive and collect from you and how we use and share this information. You agree to our data practices, including the collection, use, processing, and sharing of your information as described in our Privacy Policy, as well as the transfer and processing of your information to the United States and other countries globally where we have or use facilities, service providers, or partners, regardless of where you use our Services. You acknowledge that the laws, regulations, and standards of the country in which your information is stored or processed may be different from those of your own country.
Our Terms and Policies. You must use our Services according to our Terms and posted policies. If we disable your account for a violation of our Terms, you will not create another account without our permission.
Legal and Acceptable Use. You must access and use our Services only for legal, authorized, and acceptable purposes. You will not use (or assist others in using) our Services in ways that: (a) violate, misappropriate, or infringe the rights of WhatsApp, our users, or others, including privacy, publicity, intellectual property, or other proprietary rights; (b) are illegal, obscene, defamatory, threatening, intimidating, harassing, hateful, racially, or ethnically offensive, or instigate or encourage conduct that would be illegal, or otherwise inappropriate, including promoting violent crimes; (c) involve publishing falsehoods, misrepresentations, or misleading statements; (d) impersonate someone; (e) involve sending illegal or impermissible communications such as bulk messaging, auto-messaging, auto-dialing, and the like; or (f) involve any non-personal use of our Services unless otherwise authorized by us.
Harm to WhatsApp or Our Users. You must not (or assist others to) access, use, copy, adapt, modify, prepare derivative works based upon, distribute, license, sublicense, transfer, display, perform, or otherwise exploit our Services in impermissible or unauthorized manners, or in ways that burden, impair, or harm us, our Services, systems, our users, or others, including that you must not directly or through automated means: (a) reverse engineer, alter, modify, create derivative works from, decompile, or extract code from our Services; (b) send, store, or transmit viruses or other harmful computer code through or onto our Services; (c) gain or attempt to gain unauthorized access to our Services or systems; (d) interfere with or disrupt the integrity or performance of our Services; (e) create accounts for our Services through unauthorized or automated means; (f) collect the information of or about our users in any impermissible or unauthorized manner; (g) sell, resell, rent, or charge for our Services; or (h) distribute or make our Services available over a network where they could be used by multiple devices at the same time.
Keeping Your Account Secure. You are responsible for keeping your device and your WhatsApp account safe and secure, and you must notify us promptly of any unauthorized use or security breach of your account or our Services.
Our Services may allow you to access, use, or interact with third-party websites, apps, content, and other products and services. For example, you may choose to use third-party data backup services (such as iCloud or Google Drive) that are integrated with our Services or interact with a share button on a third party’s website that enables you to send information to your WhatsApp contacts. Please note that when you use third-party services, their own terms and privacy policies will govern your use of those services.
Your Rights. WhatsApp does not claim ownership of the information that you submit for your WhatsApp account or through our Services. You must have the necessary rights to such information that you submit for your WhatsApp account or through our Services and the right to grant the rights and licenses in our Terms.
WhatsApp’s Rights. We own all copyrights, trademarks, domains, logos, trade dress, trade secrets, patents, and other intellectual property rights associated with our Services. You may not use our copyrights, trademarks, domains, logos, trade dress, patents, and other intellectual property rights unless you have our express permission and except in accordance with our Brand Guidelines. You may use the trademarks www.facebookbrand.com/trademarks of our affiliated companies only with their permission, including as authorized in any published brand guidelines.
Your License to WhatsApp. In order to operate and provide our Services, you grant WhatsApp a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, create derivative works of, display, and perform the information (including the content) that you upload, submit, store, send, or receive on or through our Services. The rights you grant in this license are for the limited purpose of operating and providing our Services (such as to allow us to display your profile picture and status message, transmit your messages, store your undelivered messages on our servers for up to 30 days as we try to deliver them, and otherwise as described in our Privacy Policy).
WhatsApp’s License to You. We grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, and non-transferable license to use our Services, subject to and in accordance with our Terms. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling you to use our Services, in the manner permitted by our Terms. No licenses or rights are granted to you by implication or otherwise, except for the licenses and rights expressly granted to you.
To report claims of third-party copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property infringement, please visit our Intellectual Property Policy. We may terminate your WhatsApp account if you repeatedly infringe the intellectual property rights of others.
YOU USE OUR SERVICES AT YOUR OWN RISK AND SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING DISCLAIMERS. WE ARE PROVIDING OUR SERVICES ON AN “AS IS” BASIS WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND FREEDOM FROM COMPUTER VIRUS OR OTHER HARMFUL CODE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED BY US IS ACCURATE, COMPLETE, OR USEFUL, THAT OUR SERVICES WILL BE OPERATIONAL, ERROR FREE, SECURE, OR SAFE, OR THAT OUR SERVICES WILL FUNCTION WITHOUT DISRUPTIONS, DELAYS, OR IMPERFECTIONS. WE DO NOT CONTROL, AND ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR, CONTROLLING HOW OR WHEN OUR USERS USE OUR SERVICES OR THE FEATURES, SERVICES, AND INTERFACES OUR SERVICES PROVIDE. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR AND ARE NOT OBLIGATED TO CONTROL THE ACTIONS OR INFORMATION (INCLUDING CONTENT) OF OUR USERS OR OTHER THIRD PARTIES. YOU RELEASE US, OUR SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, AND OUR AND THEIR DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, PARTNERS, AND AGENTS (TOGETHER, THE “WHATSAPP PARTIES”) FROM ANY CLAIM, COMPLAINT, CAUSE OF ACTION, CONTROVERSY, OR DISPUTE (TOGETHER, “CLAIM”) AND DAMAGES, KNOWN AND UNKNOWN, RELATING TO, ARISING OUT OF, OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH ANY SUCH CLAIM YOU HAVE AGAINST ANY THIRD PARTIES. YOU WAIVE ANY RIGHTS YOU MAY HAVE UNDER CALIFORNIA CIVIL CODE §1542, OR ANY OTHER SIMILAR APPLICABLE STATUTE OR LAW OF ANY OTHER JURISDICTION, WHICH SAYS THAT: A GENERAL RELEASE DOES NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS WHICH THE CREDITOR DOES NOT KNOW OR SUSPECT TO EXIST IN HIS OR HER FAVOR AT THE TIME OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE, WHICH IF KNOWN BY HIM OR HER MUST HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS OR HER SETTLEMENT WITH THE DEBTOR.
THE WHATSAPP PARTIES WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY LOST PROFITS OR CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, INDIRECT, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES RELATING TO, ARISING OUT OF, OR IN ANY WAY IN CONNECTION WITH OUR TERMS, US, OR OUR SERVICES, EVEN IF THE WHATSAPP PARTIES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY RELATING TO, ARISING OUT OF, OR IN ANY WAY IN CONNECTION WITH OUR TERMS, US, OR OUR SERVICES WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100) OR THE AMOUNT YOU HAVE PAID US IN THE PAST TWELVE MONTHS. THE FOREGOING DISCLAIMER OF CERTAIN DAMAGES AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY WILL APPLY TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. THE LAWS OF SOME STATES OR JURISDICTIONS MAY NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES, SO SOME OR ALL OF THE EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS SET FORTH ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY IN OUR TERMS, IN SUCH CASES, THE LIABILITY OF THE WHATSAPP PARTIES WILL BE LIMITED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the WhatsApp Parties from and against all liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses of any kind (including reasonable legal fees and costs) relating to, arising out of, or in any way in connection with any of the following: (a) your access to or use of our Services, including information provided in connection therewith; (b) your breach or alleged breach of our Terms; or (c) any misrepresentation made by you. You will cooperate as fully as required by us in the defense or settlement of any Claim.
Forum and Venue. If you are a WhatsApp user located in the United States or Canada, the “Special Arbitration Provision for United States or Canada Users” section below applies to you. Please also read that section carefully and completely. If you are not subject to the “Special Arbitration Provision for United States or Canada Users” section below, you agree that you will resolve any Claim you have with us relating to, arising out of, or in any way in connection with our Terms, us, or our Services (each, a “Dispute,” and together, “Disputes”) exclusively in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California or a state court located in San Mateo County in California, and you agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purpose of litigating all such Disputes.
Governing Law. The laws of the State of California govern our Terms, as well as any Disputes, whether in court or arbitration, which might arise between WhatsApp and you, without regard to conflict of law provisions.
Availability of Our Services. Our Services may be interrupted, including for maintenance, repairs, upgrades, or network or equipment failures. We may discontinue some or all of our Services, including certain features and the support for certain devices and platforms, at any time. Events beyond our control may affect our Services, such as events in nature and other force majeure events.
Termination. We may modify, suspend, or terminate your access to or use of our Services anytime for any reason, such as if you violate the letter or spirit of our Terms or create harm, risk, or possible legal exposure for us, our users, or others. The following provisions will survive any termination of your relationship with WhatsApp: “Licenses,” “Disclaimers,” “Limitation of Liability,” “Indemnification,” “Dispute Resolution,” “Availability and Termination of our Services,” “Other,” and “Special Arbitration Provision for United States or Canada Users.”
Unless a mutually executed agreement between you and us states otherwise, our Terms make up the entire agreement between you and us regarding WhatsApp and our Services, and supersede any prior agreements.
We may ask you to agree to additional terms for certain of our Services in the future, which will govern to the extent there is a conflict between our Terms and such additional terms.
Our Services are not intended for distribution to or use in any country where such distribution or use would violate local law or would subject us to any regulations in another country. We reserve the right to limit our Services in any country.
You will comply with all applicable U.S. and non-U.S. export control and trade sanctions laws (“Export Laws”). You will not, directly or indirectly, export, re-export, provide, or otherwise transfer our Services: (a) to any individual, entity, or country prohibited by Export Laws; (b) to anyone on U.S. or non-U.S. government restricted parties lists; or (c) for any purpose prohibited by Export Laws, including nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons, or missile technology applications without the required government authorizations. You will not use or download our Services if you are located in a restricted country, if you are currently listed on any U.S. or non-U.S. restricted parties list, or for any purpose prohibited by Export Laws, and you will not disguise your location through IP proxying or other methods.
Our Terms are written in English (U.S.). Any translated version is provided solely for your convenience. To the extent any translated version of our Terms conflicts with the English version, the English version controls.
Any amendment to or waiver of our Terms requires our express consent.
We may amend or update these Terms. We will provide you notice of amendments to our Terms, as appropriate, and update the “Last Modified” date at the top of our Terms. Your continued use of our Services confirms your acceptance of our Terms, as amended. If you do not agree to our Terms, as amended, you must stop using our Services. Please review our Terms from time to time.
All of our rights and obligations under our Terms are freely assignable by us to any of our affiliates or in connection with a merger, acquisition, restructuring, or sale of assets, or by operation of law or otherwise, and we may transfer your information to any of our affiliates, successor entities, or new owner.
You will not transfer any of your rights or obligations under our Terms to anyone else without our prior written consent.
Nothing in our Terms will prevent us from complying with the law.
Except as contemplated herein, our Terms do not give any third-party beneficiary rights.
If we fail to enforce any of our Terms, it will not be considered a waiver.
If any provision of these Terms is deemed unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from our Terms and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions, except as set forth in the “Special Arbitration Provision for United States or Canada Users” — “Severability” section below.
We reserve all rights not expressly granted by us to you. In certain jurisdictions, you may have legal rights as a consumer, and our Terms are not intended to limit such consumer legal rights that may not be waived by contract.
We always appreciate your feedback or other suggestions about WhatsApp and our Services, but you understand that we may use your feedback or suggestions without any obligation to compensate you for them (just as you have no obligation to offer them).
PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY BECAUSE IT CONTAINS ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS APPLICABLE ONLY TO OUR UNITED STATES AND CANADA USERS. IF YOU ARE A WHATSAPP USER LOCATED IN THE UNITED STATES OR CANADA, IT REQUIRES YOU TO SUBMIT TO BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION OF ALL DISPUTES, EXCEPT FOR THOSE THAT INVOLVE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DISPUTES AND EXCEPT THOSE THAT CAN BE BROUGHT IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT. THIS MEANS YOU ARE WAIVING YOUR RIGHT TO HAVE SUCH DISPUTES RESOLVED IN COURT BY A JUDGE OR JURY. THIS SECTION ALSO LIMITS THE TIME YOU HAVE TO START AN ARBITRATION OR, IF PERMISSIBLE, A COURT ACTION. FINALLY, THIS SECTION WAIVES YOUR RIGHT TO HAVE YOUR DISPUTE HEARD AND RESOLVED AS A CLASS ACTION, CLASS ARBITRATION, OR A REPRESENTATIVE ACTION.
“Excluded Dispute” means any Dispute relating to the enforcement or infringement of your or our intellectual property rights (such as copyrights, trademarks, domains, logos, trade dress, trade secrets, and patents). For clarity and notwithstanding the foregoing, those Disputes relating to, arising out of, or in any way in connection with your rights of privacy and publicity are not Excluded Disputes.
Federal Arbitration Act. The United States Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this “Special Arbitration Provision for United States or Canada Users” section, including any question whether a Dispute between WhatsApp and you is subject to arbitration.
Agreement to Arbitrate for WhatsApp Users Located in the United States or Canada. For WhatsApp users located in the United States or Canada, WhatsApp and you each agree to waive the right to a trial by judge or jury for all Disputes, except for the Excluded Disputes. WhatsApp and you agree that all Disputes (except for the Excluded Disputes), including those relating to, arising out of, or in any way in connection with your rights of privacy and publicity, will be resolved through final and binding arbitration. WhatsApp and you agree not to combine a Dispute that is subject to arbitration under our Terms with a Dispute that is not eligible for arbitration under our Terms.
The arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Commercial Arbitration Rules in effect at the time the arbitration is started, including the Optional Rules for Emergency Measures of Protection and the Supplementary Procedures for Consumer-Related Disputes (together, the “AAA Rules”). The arbitration will be presided over by a single arbitrator selected in accordance with the AAA Rules. The AAA Rules, information regarding initiating a Dispute, and a description of the arbitration process are available at www.adr.org. The arbitrator will decide whether a Dispute can be arbitrated. The location of the arbitration and the allocation of fees and costs for such arbitration shall be determined in accordance with the AAA Rules. Notwithstanding the AAA Rules, we will reimburse you for all the AAA administrative fees in Disputes that are subject to the Supplementary Procedures for Consumer-Related Disputes, unless the arbitrator determines that a Dispute was filed for purposes of harassment or is patently frivolous.
Opt-Out Procedure. You may opt out of this agreement to arbitrate. If you do so, neither we nor you can require the other to participate in an arbitration proceeding. To opt out, you must notify us in writing postmarked within 30 days of the later of: (i) the date that you first accepted our Terms; and (ii) the date you became subject to this arbitration provision. You must use this address to opt-out:
WhatsApp Inc.
Arbitration Opt-Out
1601 Willow Road
Menlo Park, California 94025
United States of America
You must include: (1) your name and residence address; (2) the mobile phone number associated with your account; and (3) a clear statement that you want to opt out of our Terms’ agreement to arbitrate.
Small Claims Court. As an alternative to arbitration, if permitted by your local “small claims” court’s rules, you may bring your Dispute in your local “small claims” court, as long as the matter advances on an individual (non-class) basis.
Time Limit to Start Arbitration. We and you agree that for any Dispute (except for the Excluded Disputes) we and you must commence an arbitration proceeding within one year after the Dispute first arose; otherwise, such Dispute is permanently barred. This means that if we or you do not commence an arbitration within one year after the Dispute first arose, then the arbitration will be dismissed because it was started too late.
No Class Actions, Class Arbitrations, or Representative Actions for Users Located in the United States or Canada. We and you each agree that if you are a WhatsApp user located in the United States or Canada, each of we and you may bring Disputes against the other only on its or your own behalf, and not on behalf of any other person or entity, or any class of people. We and you each agree not to participate in a class action, a class-wide arbitration, Disputes brought in a private attorney general or representative capacity, or consolidated Disputes involving any other person or entity in connection with any Dispute.
Severability. If the prohibition against class actions and other Disputes brought on behalf of third parties is found to be unenforceable for a Dispute, then all of the provisions above under the caption “Special Arbitration Provision for United States or Canada Users” will be null and void as to that Dispute.
Place to File Permitted Court Actions. If you opt out of the agreement to arbitrate, if your Dispute is an Excluded Dispute, or if the arbitration agreement is found to be unenforceable, you agree to be subject to the “Forum and Venue” provisions in the “Dispute Resolution” section set forth above.
To access our Terms in certain other languages, change the language setting for your WhatsApp session. If our Terms are not available in the language you select, we will default to the English version.
Please review the following documents, which provide additional information about your use of our Services:
Respect for your privacy is coded into our DNA. Since we started WhatsApp, we’ve aspired to build our Services with a set of strong privacy principles in mind.
WhatsApp provides messaging, Internet calling, and other services to users around the world. Our Privacy Policy helps explain our information (including message) practices. For example, we talk about what information we collect and how this affects you. We also explain the steps we take to protect your privacy – like building WhatsApp so delivered messages aren’t stored and giving you control over who you communicate with on our Services.
When we say “WhatsApp,” “our,” “we,” or “us,” we’re talking about WhatsApp Inc. This Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) applies to all of our apps, services, features, software, and website (together, “Services”) unless specified otherwise.
Please also read WhatsApp’s Terms of Service (“Terms”), which describes the terms under which you use our Services.
WhatsApp receives or collects information when we operate and provide our Services, including when you install, access, or use our Services.
Your Account Information. You provide your mobile phone number to create a WhatsApp account. You provide us the phone numbers in your mobile address book on a regular basis, including those of both the users of our Services and your other contacts. You confirm you are authorized to provide us such numbers. You may also add other information to your account, such as a profile name, profile picture, and status message.
Your Messages. We do not retain your messages in the ordinary course of providing our Services to you. Once your messages (including your chats, photos, videos, voice messages, files, and share location information) are delivered, they are deleted from our servers. Your messages are stored on your own device. If a message cannot be delivered immediately (for example, if you are offline), we may keep it on our servers for up to 30 days as we try to deliver it. If a message is still undelivered after 30 days, we delete it. To improve performance and deliver media messages more efficiently, such as when many people are sharing a popular photo or video, we may retain that content on our servers for a longer period of time. We also offer end-to-end encryption for our Services, which is on by default, when you and the people with whom you message use a version of our app released after April 2, 2016. End-to-end encryption means that your messages are encrypted to protect against us and third parties from reading them.
Your Connections. To help you organize how you communicate with others, we may create a favorites list of your contacts for you, and you can create, join, or get added to groups and broadcast lists, and such groups and lists get associated with your account information.
Customer Support. You may provide us with information related to your use of our Services, including copies of your messages, and how to contact you so we can provide you customer support. For example, you may send us an email with information relating to our app performance or other issues.
Usage and Log Information. We collect service-related, diagnostic, and performance information. This includes information about your activity (such as how you use our Services, how you interact with others using our Services, and the like), log files, and diagnostic, crash, website, and performance logs and reports.
Transactional Information. If you pay for our Services, we may receive information and confirmations, such as payment receipts, including from app stores or other third parties processing your payment.
Device and Connection Information. We collect device-specific information when you install, access, or use our Services. This includes information such as hardware model, operating system information, browser information, IP address, mobile network information including phone number, and device identifiers. We collect device location information if you use our location features, such as when you choose to share your location with your contacts, view locations nearby or those others have shared with you, and the like, and for diagnostics and troubleshooting purposes such as if you are having trouble with our app’s location features.
Cookies. We use cookies to operate and provide our Services, including to provide our Services that are web-based, improve your experiences, understand how our Services are being used, and customize our Services. For example, we use cookies to provide WhatsApp for web and desktop and other web-based services. We may also use cookies to understand which of our FAQs are most popular and to show you relevant content related to our Services. Additionally, we may use cookies to remember your choices, such as your language preferences, and otherwise to customize our Services for you. Learn more about how we use cookies to provide you our Services.
Status Information. We collect information about your online and status message changes on our Services, such as whether you are online (your “online status”), when you last used our Services (your “last seen status”), and when you last updated your status message.
Information Others Provide About You. We receive information other people provide us, which may include information about you. For example, when other users you know use our Services, they may provide your phone number from their mobile address book (just as you may provide theirs), or they may send you a message, send messages to groups to which you belong, or call you.
Third-Party Providers. We work with third-party providers to help us operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services. For example, we work with companies to distribute our apps, provide our infrastructure, delivery, and other systems, supply map and places information, process payments, help us understand how people use our Services, and market our Services. These providers may provide us information about you in certain circumstances; for example, app stores may provide us reports to help us diagnose and fix service issues.
Third-Party Services. We allow you to use our Services in connection with third-party services. If you use our Services with such third-party services, we may receive information about you from them; for example, if you use the WhatsApp share button on a news service to share a news article with your WhatsApp contacts, groups, or broadcast lists on our Services, or if you choose to access our Services through a mobile carrier’s or device provider’s promotion of our Services. Please note that when you use third-party services, their own terms and privacy policies will govern your use of those services.
We use all the information we have to help us operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services.
Our Services. We operate and provide our Services, including providing customer support, and improving, fixing, and customizing our Services. We understand how people use our Services, and analyze and use the information we have to evaluate and improve our Services, research, develop, and test new services and features, and conduct troubleshooting activities. We also use your information to respond to you when you contact us. We use cookies to operate, provide, improve, understand, and customize our Services.
Safety and Security. We verify accounts and activity, and promote safety and security on and off our Services, such as by investigating suspicious activity or violations of our Terms, and to ensure our Services are being used legally.
Communications About Our Services and the Facebook Family of Companies. We communicate with you about our Services and features and let you know about our terms and policies and other important updates. We may provide you marketing for our Services and those of the Facebook family of companies, of which we are now a part.
No Third-Party Banner Ads. We do not allow third-party banner ads on WhatsApp. We have no intention to introduce them, but if we ever do, we will update this policy.
Commercial Messaging. We will allow you and third parties, like businesses, to communicate with each other using WhatsApp, such as through order, transaction, and appointment information, delivery and shipping notifications, product and service updates, and marketing. For example, you may receive flight status information for upcoming travel, a receipt for something you purchased, or a notification when a delivery will be made. Messages you may receive containing marketing could include an offer for something that might interest you. We do not want you to have a spammy experience; as with all of your messages, you can manage these communications, and we will honor the choices you make.
You share your information as you use and communicate through our Services, and we share your information to help us operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services.
Account Information. Your phone number, profile name and photo, online status and status message, last seen status, and receipts may be available to anyone who uses our Services, although you can configure your Services settings to manage certain information available to other users.
Your Contacts and Others. Users with whom you communicate may store or reshare your information (including your phone number or messages) with others on and off our Services. You can use your Services settings and the block feature in our Services to manage the users of our Services with whom you communicate and certain information you share.
Third-Party Providers. We work with third-party providers to help us operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services. When we share information with third-party providers, we require them to use your information in accordance with our instructions and terms or with express permission from you.
Third-Party Services. When you use third-party services that are integrated with our Services, they may receive information about what you share with them. For example, if you use a data backup service integrated with our Services (such as iCloud or Google Drive), they will receive information about what you share with them. If you interact with a third-party service linked through our Services, you may be providing information directly to such third party. Please note that when you use third-party services, their own terms and privacy policies will govern your use of those services.
We joined the Facebook family of companies in 2014. As part of the Facebook family of companies, WhatsApp receives information from, and shares information with, this family of companies. We may use the information we receive from them, and they may use the information we share with them, to help operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services and their offerings. This includes helping improve infrastructure and delivery systems, understanding how our Services or theirs are used, securing systems, and fighting spam, abuse, or infringement activities. Facebook and the other companies in the Facebook family also may use information from us to improve your experiences within their services such as making product suggestions (for example, of friends or connections, or of interesting content) and showing relevant offers and ads. However, your WhatsApp messages will not be shared onto Facebook for others to see. In fact, Facebook will not use your WhatsApp messages for any purpose other than to assist us in operating and providing our Services.
Learn more about the Facebook family of companies and their privacy practices by reviewing their privacy policies.
All of our rights and obligations under our Privacy Policy are freely assignable by us to any of our affiliates, in connection with a merger, acquisition, restructuring, or sale of assets, or by operation of law or otherwise, and we may transfer your information to any of our affiliates, successor entities, or new owner.
If you would like to manage, change, limit, or delete your information, we allow you to do that through the following tools:
Services Settings. You can change your Services settings to manage certain information available to other users. You can manage your contacts, groups, and broadcast lists, or use our block feature to manage the users with whom you communicate.
Changing Your Mobile Phone Number, Profile Name and Picture, and Status Message. You must change your mobile phone number using our in-app change number feature and transfer your account to your new mobile phone number. You can also change your profile name, profile picture, and status message at any time.
Deleting Your WhatsApp Account. You may delete your WhatsApp account at any time (including if you want to revoke your consent to our use of your information) using our in-app delete my account feature. When you delete your WhatsApp account, your undelivered messages are deleted from our servers as well as any of your other information we no longer need to operate and provide our Services. Be mindful that if you only delete our Services from your device without using our in-app delete my account feature, your information may be stored with us for a longer period. Please remember that when you delete your account, it does not affect the information other users have relating to you, such as their copy of the messages you sent them.
We may collect, use, preserve, and share your information if we have a good-faith belief that it is reasonably necessary to: (a) respond pursuant to applicable law or regulations, to legal process, or to government requests; (b) enforce our Terms and any other applicable terms and policies, including for investigations of potential violations; (c) detect, investigate, prevent, and address fraud and other illegal activity, security, or technical issues; or (d) protect the rights, property, and safety of our users, WhatsApp, the Facebook family of companies, or others.
You agree to our information practices, including the collection, use, processing, and sharing of your information as described in this Privacy Policy, as well as the transfer and processing of your information to the United States and other countries globally where we have or use facilities, service providers, or partners, regardless of where you use our Services. You acknowledge that the laws, regulations, and standards of the country in which your information is stored or processed may be different from those of your own country.
We may amend or update our Privacy Policy. We will provide you notice of amendments to this Privacy Policy, as appropriate, and update the “Last Modified” date at the top of this Privacy Policy. Your continued use of our Services confirms your acceptance of our Privacy Policy, as amended. If you do not agree to our Privacy Policy, as amended, you must stop using our Services. Please review our Privacy Policy from time to time.
If you have questions about our Privacy Policy, please contact us.
WhatsApp Inc.
Privacy Policy
1601 Willow Road
Menlo Park, California 94025
United States of America
WhatsApp Inc. (“WhatsApp”) has certified to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework and the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework with the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection and processing of personal data from our business partners in the European Union and Switzerland (“Partners”) in connection with the products and services described in the Scope section below and in our certification. To learn more about the Privacy Shield program please visit www.privacyshield.gov.
Scope: WhatsApp adheres to the Privacy Shield Principles for the following areas of our business (collectively the “Partner Services”):
Access. Within the scope of our authorization to do so, and in accordance with our commitments under Privacy Shield, WhatsApp will work with its Partners to provide individuals access to personal data about them that WhatsApp holds on behalf of its Partners. WhatsApp will also take reasonable steps to enable individuals, either directly or in connection with the Partners, to correct, amend, or delete personal data that is demonstrated to be inaccurate.
Third Parties. WhatsApp may transfer data within the Facebook family of companies and to third parties, including service providers and other partners. In accordance with the Privacy Shield Principles, WhatsApp is liable for any processing of personal data by such third parties that is inconsistent with the Privacy Shield Principles unless WhatsApp was not responsible for the event giving rise to any alleged damage.
Legal Requests. Personal data that is transferred to us by our Partners may be subject to disclosure pursuant to legal requests or other judicial and government process, such as subpoenas, warrants, or orders. For more information, review the “Law and Protection” section of the WhatsApp Privacy Policy.
Enforcement. WhatsApp's compliance with the Privacy Shield Principles is subject to the investigatory and enforcement powers of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
Questions and Disputes. Please contact us with any questions or concerns relating to our Privacy Shield certification. You have the option to resolve any applicable disputes you have with us in connection with our certification through TrustArc, an alternative dispute resolution provider based in the United States. You can contact TrustArc through their website. In certain circumstances, the Privacy Shield Framework provides the right to invoke binding arbitration to resolve complaints not resolved by other means, as described in Annex I to the Privacy Shield Principles. Additionally, as part of the Privacy Shield Framework, the U.S. State Department Senior Coordinator serves as the Ombudsperson to facilitate the processing of requests relating to national security access to data transmitted from the EU or Switzerland to the U.S.
For more information about WhatsApp's privacy practices please review our Privacy Policy.
WhatsApp Inc. ("WhatsApp," "our," "we," or "us") is committed to helping people and organizations protect their intellectual property rights. Our users agree to our Terms of Service ("Terms") by installing, accessing, or using our apps, services, features, software, or website (together, "Services"). Our Terms do not allow our users to violate someone else's intellectual property rights when using our Services, including their copyrights and trademarks.
As explained in more detail in our Privacy Policy, we do not retain our users' messages in the ordinary course of providing our Services. We do, however, host our users' account information, including our users' profile picture, profile name, or status message, if they decide to include them as part of their account information.
To report copyright infringement and request that WhatsApp remove any infringing content it is hosting (such as a WhatsApp user's profile picture, profile name, or status message), please email a completed copyright infringement claim to ip@whatsapp.com (including all of the information listed below). You can also mail a complete copyright infringement claim to WhatsApp's copyright agent:
WhatsApp Inc.
Attn: WhatsApp Copyright Agent
1601 Willow Road
Menlo Park, California 94025
United States of America
ip@whatsapp.com
Before you report a claim of copyright infringement, you may want to send a message to the relevant WhatsApp user you believe may be infringing your copyright. You may be able to resolve the issue without contacting WhatsApp.
To report trademark infringement and request that WhatsApp remove any infringing content it is hosting, please email a complete trademark infringement claim to ip@whatsapp.com (including all of the information listed below).
Before you report a claim of trademark infringement, you may want to send a message to the relevant WhatsApp user you believe may be infringing your trademark. You may be able to resolve the issue without contacting WhatsApp.
Please include all of the following information when reporting a copyright or trademark infringement claim to WhatsApp:
A cookie is a small text file that a website you visit asks your browser to store on your computer or mobile device.
We use cookies to understand, secure, operate, and provide our Services. For example, we use cookies:
You can follow the instructions provided by your browser or device (usually located under "Settings" or "Preferences") to modify your cookie settings. Please note that if you set your browser or device to disable cookies, certain of our Services may not function properly.
WhatsApp Inc. (“WhatsApp,” “our,” “we,” or “us”) provides messaging, Internet calling, and other services to users around the world, including the ability to send and receive payments through designated payment service providers (“PSPs”) in India (“Payments”) via Unified Payments Interface (“UPI”) developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (“NPCI”). Payments is a “Service” as defined in the WhatsApp Terms of Service (“Terms”), and the following WhatsApp Payments Terms of Service (“Payments Terms”) supplement the Terms and apply to your use of Payments. You agree to the Payments Terms when you use Payments.
Our Role. Payments is a service we provide through, and in coordination with, designated PSPs. We provide a convenient platform that enables you to submit transaction instructions to PSPs for processing via UPI. We are not a licensed financial institution, do not receive, transfer, or store any funds in connection with Payments, and are not responsible for UPI service interruptions or acts or omissions of PSPs or banks including the payment, settlement, and clearance of funds. You have a separate relationship with your bank regarding your bank account, and WhatsApp has no affiliation with your bank in this respect.
PSP’s Role. When you send or receive funds through Payments, a designated PSP receives the instructions and processes the transaction via UPI. By using Payments, you will also need to agree to the PSP’s terms and privacy policy, which will be presented to you when you first use Payments. The PSP’s terms and privacy policy are also available here. These Payments Terms govern the relationship between WhatsApp and you regarding Payments, and the PSP’s terms govern the relationship between the PSP and you.
Eligibility. To use Payments, you must use a phone number with the country code for India and have a bank account with a bank that supports UPI. The phone number you use for our Services must be the same phone number linked to your bank account used for Payments.
Registration and UPI PIN setup. You must be an owner of the bank account you use to send and receive funds through Payments. After you provide information to confirm your mobile banking account, WhatsApp facilitates creation of a UPI ID (virtual payment address) that is associated with your WhatsApp account. Since your transaction instructions are processed via UPI, you must have a UPI PIN to send payments. We will ask you to create a UPI PIN to send payments if you do not already have one for your bank account.
Age. You must be at least 18 years old to use Payments.
Credits. We may credit your bank account for purposes including rewards and special offers. Our affiliate WhatsApp Application Services Private Limited provides such credits on our behalf.
Fees and Taxes. You must pay any applicable fees arising out of your use of Payments, including any overdraft, transaction, or other fees charged by your bank, PSPs, or WhatsApp. You must comply with applicable tax laws in connection with your use of Payments, including reporting and payment of any taxes related to transactions made through Payments and any income received from such transactions. WhatsApp is not responsible for withholding, collecting, reporting, or remitting any sales, use, value added, or other tax arising from any transaction you complete using Payments.
WhatsApp cares about your privacy. Our Privacy Policy applies to your use of Payments. Because additional information will be collected and processed when you use Payments, the WhatsApp Payments Privacy Policy also applies to your use of Payments. The WhatsApp Payments Privacy Policy describes additional information practices applicable to Payments, including the types of information we receive and collect from you when you use Payments and how we use and share this information. If you use Payments, you agree to our data practices, including the collection, use, processing, and sharing of your information as described in our Privacy Policy and our Payments Privacy Policy.
Payment Amount. You are responsible for the total payment amount. You must ensure that you have sufficient funds in your bank account before executing any transaction through Payments. Your payment will not be sent if the PSP or your bank determines that your bank account lacks sufficient funds to cover the entire transaction amount.
Acceptable Use of Payments. You must access and use Payments only for legal, authorized, and acceptable purposes, according to our Terms and posted policies including merchant policies as may be published from time to time. A PSP or WhatsApp may impose limits on your ability to send or receive payments, including transaction limits. A PSP or WhatsApp may also cancel any transaction if we believe the transaction violates the Terms, these Payments Terms, posted policies, or the PSP’s terms.
Purchase Transactions. If you use Payments to pay for goods or services, you agree to make legitimate purchases and to be bound by any terms of the sale. We have no responsibility for any goods or services purchased using Payments, including for any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, chargebacks or disputes associated with transactions. WE MAKE NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO ANY PRODUCTS OR SERVICES PURCHASED USING PAYMENTS.
Payments Transactions Are Final. Once you submit a payment, it is final. WhatsApp does not provide refunds or facilitate chargebacks. WhatsApp is not liable for unauthorized transactions. We assume no responsibility for the underlying transaction of funds, or the actions or identity of any transfer recipient or sender.
Business Use of Payments. If you are a business and use our Services, you must comply with all applicable laws associated with your use of our Services, including Payments. You must clearly disclose any applicable terms and fees to your customers and promptly fulfill any goods or services you sell using Payments in accordance with any sale terms and applicable laws. WhatsApp is not a party to the transaction.
If there is any conflict between these Payments Terms and the Terms, these Payments Terms control solely with respect to your use of Payments and only to the extent of the conflict.
We may amend or update these Payments Terms. We will provide you notice of amendments to our Payments Terms, as appropriate, and update the “Last Modified” date at the top of our Payments Terms. Your continued use of Payments confirms your acceptance of our Payments Terms, as amended. If you do not agree to our Payments Terms, as amended, you must stop using Payments. Please review our Payments Terms from time to time.
The WhatsApp Privacy Policy helps explain our information practices. Our Services may include enabling you to send and receive payments (“Payments”), a service we provide through, and in coordination with, designated payment service provider (“PSP”) banks.
This Payments Privacy Policy helps explain our information practices when you use Payments. We use all the information we have to operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services. PSPs may also collect, use, and share information as set forth in their privacy policies, in conjunction with helping to provide Payments to you.
This Payments Privacy Policy supplements our Privacy Policy, which applies to the use of our Services, including Payments. Please also see WhatsApp’s Terms of Service (“Terms”), which describe the terms under which you use our Services including Payments, and the WhatsApp Payments Terms of Service (“Payments Terms”), which supplement the Terms, govern your use of Payments, and describe Payments in more detail. Please read all of these documents carefully.
In addition to what is described in our Privacy Policy, we receive information when we provide Payments.
We use all the information we have to operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services. This includes using the information to provide Payments and customer support, to protect you and others using our Services from fraud, abuse, or other misconduct, and to review your account activity to determine whether you continue to meet our Terms and Payments Terms. WhatsApp works with the other Facebook Companies to provide Payments, including to send payment instructions to PSPs.
In addition to what is described in our Privacy Policy, you share your information when you use Payments, and we share your information to help us operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market Payments.
Payment Senders And Recipients. You and people with whom you send or receive payments may store or reshare your BHIM UPI ID, name, or transaction information with others on or off our Services.
Service Providers. In conformance with our relationship with PSPs, WhatsApp works with service providers including Facebook. To send payment instructions to PSPs; maintain your transaction history; provide customer support; improve, understand, customize, support, and market Payments; and keep our Services safe and secure, including to detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, safety, security, abuse, or other misconduct, we share information we collect under this Payments Privacy Policy with service providers including Facebook. Facebook will have no access to encrypted BHIM UPI transaction information in clear format. When we share information with service providers, we require them to use your information on our behalf in accordance with our instructions and terms.
PSP Banks and NPCI. We share information with PSPs and NPCI to help us operate Payments. The PSP and NPCI receive transaction information such as payment amount and BHIM UPI IDs, so they can facilitate the movement of funds between the sender’s and receiver’s bank accounts. Please note that when you use PSP and NPCI services, their own terms and privacy policies will govern your use of those services.
If you would like to manage, change, limit, or delete your Payments information, we allow you to do that through your payment settings or by deleting your WhatsApp account. With your payment settings, you may register additional bank account(s), deregister existing bank account(s) from your BHIM UPI ID, change the PSP bank, and clear your transaction history. When you delete your WhatsApp account, your bank account will be deregistered from your BHIM UPI ID automatically.
We will notify you before we make changes to this Payments Privacy Policy and give you the opportunity to review the revised Payments Privacy Policy before you choose to continue using Payments.
These terms and conditions ("Terms") apply to and regulate the provision of a Unified Payments Interface Service–based electronic fund transfer and fund collection facility provided by ICICI Bank to its Users through the application owned and maintained by WhatsApp ("Facility") subject to the Terms herein specified.
The User may apply for the Facility by installing the WhatsApp mobile application on their device and completing a one-time activation/registration for the Facility. The User will have an option to set a virtual payment address ("VPA") by linking an Account maintained with any bank in India through a one-time registration process defined and standardised by NPCI/ICICI Bank and then start transacting. The process of registration is:
1. Definitions
In this document, the following words and phrases have the meanings set opposite them unless the context indicates otherwise. Words or expressions used in this form, but not specifically defined herein, shall have the respective meanings assigned to them by NPCI.
1.1. "Account(s)" refers to the resident Indian savings and/or current bank account(s) held and maintained with any bank in India which is used for operations through the Facility.
1.2. "User" means the applicant/remitter availing of the Facility through the Account(s) and satisfying the following conditions:
1.3. "ICICI Bank" means ICICI Bank Limited, a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956, and licensed as a bank under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and having its corporate office at ICICI Bank Towers, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai 400 051 (which expression shall, unless it be repugnant to the subject or context thereof, include its successors and assigns).
1.4. "NPCI UPI System" means the switch and related equipment and software owned by NPCI to provide the UPI-based fund transfer and funds collection facility including the National Financial Switch.
1.5. "Payment Order" means an unconditional instruction issued by the User through the WhatsApp Platform to effect a fund transfer for a certain sum of money expressed in Indian rupees, to the designated account of a designated beneficiary by debiting the Account(s) of the User.
1.6. "PSP (Payment Service Provider)" refers to banks which are allowed to acquire Users and provide payment services to Users and entities.
1.7. "UPI" refers to the Unified Payments Interface Service offered by NPCI in collaboration with its member banks.
1.8. "WhatsApp" means WhatsApp Inc., a Delaware, United States, company with offices at 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025. It provides smartphone users with certain services via their phone's Internet connection, including sending and receiving messages, calls, photos, videos, documents and voice messages.
1.9. "WhatsApp Application" means WhatsApp's existing and future applications and services including its business and consumer applications and services for mobile, desktop and web.
2. Applicability of Terms
The User hereby acknowledges that the User has read and understood the Terms and agrees that the rights and obligations provided therein and in these Terms insofar as it relates to the User shall be binding on the User with regard to every Payment Order issued by them for execution in the NPCI UPI System. The User understands and agrees that nothing in terms of availing the Facility shall be construed as creating any contractual or other rights against NPCI or any participant in the NPCI UPI System other than ICICI Bank. Notwithstanding anything contained herein, all terms and conditions stipulated by ICICI Bank in connection with the Account(s) shall continue to apply. The Privacy Policy and Customer Rights Policy of ICICI Bank shall continue to apply on the Users. These Terms and Conditions are in addition to any terms and conditions that WhatsApp may prescribe for the use of its WhatsApp Application.
3. Scope of the Facility
The Facility offers an instant, 24x7, interbank electronic fund transfer or fund collection service to the customers of UPI member banks. Users can put in a request for fund transfers or respond to funds collection in a secure manner for any of their linked Account(s) as per the Terms, which may be changed by ICICI Bank as it deems fit.
Rights and Obligations of the User
3.1. The User shall be entitled, subject to Terms, to issue Payment Orders for execution by ICICI Bank.
3.2. The Payment Order shall be issued by the User, in the form as prescribed by ICICI Bank, which is complete in all particulars. The User shall be responsible for the accuracy of the particulars given in the Payment Order for the Facility and shall be liable to compensate ICICI Bank for any loss arising on account of any error in the Payment Order.
3.3. The User shall be bound by any Payment Order executed by ICICI Bank if ICICI Bank has executed the Payment Order in good faith and in compliance with the instructions given by the User on the WhatsApp Application.
3.4. The User authorises ICICI Bank to act as a PSP and debit Account(s) as per instructions received by way of Payment Orders. The User understands that although multiple bank accounts can be linked with the Facility, debit/credit transactions can be done from the default account which is selected by the User before transactions until changed by the User for subsequent transactions. Each Account that may be linked with the UPI facility can be opened with a separate username. The User shall ensure availability of funds in their Account(s) towards the fulfillment of the Payment Order before/at the time of the execution of the Payment Order by ICICI Bank. The User hereby authorises ICICI Bank to debit the Account(s) of the User for any liability incurred by ICICI Bank on behalf of the User for execution of the Payment Order issued by the User. The User understands and agrees that once a fund collection request is accepted, the default account will automatically be credited with such amounts as may be mentioned in the Payment Order. The User understands and agrees that such amounts once credited to the default account cannot be reversed by the User.
3.5. The User agrees that the Payment Order shall become irrevocable when it is executed by ICICI Bank.
3.6. The User agrees that they shall not be entitled to make any claim against Reserve Bank of India ("RBI") and/or National Payment Corporation of India ("NPCI") in respect to the Facility.
3.7. The User shall provide correct beneficiary details to ICICI Bank at the time of availing the Facility. The User shall be solely responsible for entering wrong beneficiary details including but not limited to incorrect VPA, incorrect Aadhaar number or incorrect mobile number, due to which the funds are transferred to an incorrect beneficiary.
3.8. The User shall not hold ICICI Bank responsible for any damage, claim or issue arising out of or in connection with any purchase of goods/services from merchants through Payment Orders issued by the Facility. The User understands and agrees that all such losses, damages and issues shall constitute a claim against such merchants.
3.9. The User agrees that the Facility is offered in line with the RBI's guidelines on mobile banking which are subject to change from time to time.
3.10. The User shall inform ICICI Bank immediately of any inquiry, question or issue raised by any authority including but not limited to any statutory authority or official regarding and relating to ICICI Bank, as well as expeditiously notify ICICI Bank of any show causes, seizure or similar action and provide copies of any notices, memos or correspondences received from such authority. The User shall not unilaterally file any response/reply to such an authority without the prior approval of and vetting by ICICI Bank.
3.11. The User shall be solely liable for ensuring the availability of sufficient funds in the Account(s) at all times for the purpose of availing the Facility. The User agrees that in the event there are insufficient funds in the Account, ICICI Bank can decline the transaction instruction.
4. Undertakings and Representations
The User hereby undertakes, represents and warrants to ICICI Bank that:
4.1. The role of ICICI Bank hereunder is limited to acting as a Payment Service Provider, which would include receiving from WhatsApp, bank information/data of the User for the purpose of (i) creation of the VPA; and (ii) processing the transactions initiated by the User using the UPI Facility as per applicable law.
4.2. The User shall be in compliance at all times with applicable laws regarding the use of the Facility and shall not use the Facility in violation of the applicable laws.
5. General Terms
5.1. The laws of India shall govern these terms and conditions and/or the operations in the Account(s) maintained with ICICI Bank. Any legal action or proceedings arising out of these Terms shall be brought in the courts or tribunals at Mumbai in India. ICICI Bank may, however, in its absolute discretion commence any legal action or proceedings arising out of these Terms in any other court, tribunal or other appropriate forum, and the User hereby consents to that jurisdiction.
5.2. The clause headings in these Terms are only for convenience and do not affect the meaning of the relative clause.
5.3. ICICI Bank may subcontract and employ agents to carry out any of its obligations hereunder.
5.4. ICICI Bank has the absolute discretion to amend or supplement any of the Terms as stated herein at any time and will endeavour to give prior notice of 15 days for such changes wherever feasible. By using the new services, the User shall be deemed to have accepted the changed terms and conditions.
5.5. Notices under these Terms may be given in writing by delivering them by hand, or on ICICI Bank's website www.icicibank.com, or by sending them by post to the last address given by the User and, in the case of ICICI Bank, to its corporate office address. In addition, ICICI Bank may also publish notices of general nature, which are applicable to all Users, in a newspaper or on its website at www.icicibank.com. Such notices will have the same effect as a notice served individually to each User. Notice and instructions will be deemed served 7 days after posting or upon receipt in the case of hand delivery, cable, telex or facsimile.
5.6. Any provision of these Terms which is prohibited or unenforceable in any jurisdiction shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of prohibition or unenforceability but shall not invalidate the remaining provisions of these Terms or affect such provision in any other jurisdiction. ICICI Bank shall have the right of set-off and lien, irrespective of any other lien or charge, present as well as future on the deposits held in the Account(s) to the extent of all outstanding dues, whatsoever, arising as a result of the Facility extended to and/or used by the User.
6. Sharing of Information
6.1. The User irrevocably and unconditionally authorises ICICI Bank to access all the User's Account(s) and records for the purpose of providing the Facility. The User agrees that ICICI Bank and its affiliates (or their contractors) may hold and process their personal information and all other information concerning their Account(s) on computer or otherwise in connection with the Facility as well as for analysis, credit scoring and marketing.
6.2. The User hereby expressly consents to and permits ICICI Bank, its affiliates and all the parties involved in the payment system including but not limited to Payments System Providers, acquiring banks, partner banks, the issuer bank of the sender's funding account, the issuer bank of the beneficiary's bank account, NPCI and RBI to collect, store and share such information including but not limited to their personal information such as name, address, all transaction details carried out through the WhatsApp Platform or information with respect to third parties and the beneficiary including bank account number.
6.3. In the event the User is a beneficiary, the User hereby consents ICICI Bank to permit the remitter to store their information including but not limited to bank account number for the purpose of sending the payments.
6.4. The User understands and agrees that certain information collected by ICICI Bank, including information obtained from Payments System Providers, acquiring banks, partner banks, the issuer bank of the sender's funding account, the issuer bank of the beneficiary's bank account, NPCI and RBI or third parties, is shared between ICICI Bank and WhatsApp to provide the Facility. In addition, the User understands and agrees that ICICI Bank is required to share their personal information, such as name, email address and payment instrument details, with third parties for the purposes of processing transactions or for the use of the services to register their complaints. ICICI Bank will abide by NPCI guidelines and adhere to the customer dispute management process specified by NPCI.
6.5. The User agrees and understands that the transaction will be recorded in the statement of account as given to the User by the User's bank. The User agrees that they shall not be entitled to dispute the correctness of the execution of the Payment Order or the amount debited to their Account(s) if they fail to report the discrepancy as per NPCI guidelines.
7. Disclaimer of Liability
7.1. ICICI Bank does not hold out any warranty and makes no representation about the quality of the Facility. The User agrees and acknowledges that ICICI Bank shall not be liable and shall in no way be held responsible for any damages whatsoever, whether such damages are direct, indirect, incidental or consequential and irrespective of whether any claim is based on loss of revenue, interruption of business, transaction carried out by the User and processed by ICICI Bank, information provided or disclosed by ICICI Bank regarding Account(s) or any loss of any character or nature whatsoever and whether sustained by the User or by any other person. While ICICI Bank shall endeavour to promptly execute and process the transactions as proposed to be made by the User, ICICI Bank shall not be responsible for any non-response or delay in responding due to any reason whatsoever, including due to failure of operational systems or any requirement of law. ICICI Bank shall not be liable for any loss, claim or damage suffered by the User and/or any other third party arising out of or resulting from failure of a UPI transaction on account of time-out transaction; i.e., where no response is received from NPCI or the beneficiary bank to the transaction request and/or where mobile number or account number of the beneficiary does not exist. Further, ICICI Bank shall also not be liable for any loss, damage and/or claim arising out of or resulting from wrong beneficiary details, mobile number and/or account details being provided by the Customer. ICICI Bank shall, under no circumstance, be held liable to the User if Facility access is not available in the desired manner for reasons including but not limited to natural calamities, legal restraints, faults in the telecommunication network or network failure, or any other reason beyond the control of ICICI Bank.
7.2. The User is responsible for the accuracy and authenticity of the Payment Order provided to ICICI Bank and the same, if in the form and manner prescribed by ICICI Bank, shall be considered to be sufficient to operate the UPI Facility. ICICI Bank shall not be required to independently verify the Payment Order. ICICI Bank has no liability if it does not or is unable to stop or prevent the implementation of any Payment Order issued by the User. Once a Payment Order is issued by the User, the same cannot be subsequently revoked by the User.
7.3. ICICI Bank states that it has no liability or obligation to keep a record of the Payment Orders to provide information to the User or for verifying the Payment Orders. ICICI Bank shall refuse to comply with the Payment Orders without assigning any reason and shall not be under any duty to assess the prudence or otherwise of any Payment Order. ICICI Bank has the right to suspend the transactions with respect to the UPI Facility if it has reason to believe that the User's Payment Orders will lead to or expose to direct or indirect loss to ICICI Bank or may require an indemnity from the User before continuing to operate the UPI Facility.
7.4. All Payment Orders, requests, directives, orders and directions, entered by the User, are based upon the User's decisions and are the sole responsibility of the User.
7.5. Users shall not hold ICICI Bank responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for any losses/damages/costs incurred by the User for creation of the VPA and/or initiating/processing/cancelling any transaction on the WhatsApp Platform.
8. Fraud or Unauthorised Use
ICICI Bank shall not be responsible for, and the User shall solely be responsible for, any unauthorised access or use of their personal or financial information through the WhatsApp Platform.
9. Indemnity
The User agrees, at their own expense, to indemnify, defend and hold harmless ICICI Bank against any claim, suit, action or other proceeding brought against ICICI Bank, to the extent that such claim, suit, action or other proceeding brought against ICICI Bank is based on or arises in connection with the use of the Facility with reference to:
10. Assignment
ICICI Bank shall be entitled to sell, assign, securitise or transfer ICICI Bank's rights and obligations under these Terms and any security in favour of ICICI Bank (including all guarantee[s]) to any person of ICICI Bank's choice in whole or in part and in such manner and on such terms and conditions as ICICI Bank may decide. Any such sale, assignment, securitisation or transfer shall conclusively bind the User and all other persons. The User, their successors and assigns are bound by these Terms. However, the User shall not be entitled to transfer or assign any of their rights and obligations under these Terms.
11. Termination and Suspension
11.1. The User may request for termination of the UPI Facility anytime by giving a prior written notice of at least 15 days to ICICI Bank. The User will remain responsible for all the transactions made through the UPI Facility until the time of such termination.
11.2. ICICI Bank may withdraw or terminate the UPI Facility anytime either entirely or with reference to a specific UPI Facility without assigning any reasons whatsoever. ICICI Bank may suspend or terminate the UPI Facility without prior notice if the User has breached any of these Terms.
11.3. ICICI Bank may suspend or terminate the UPI Facility anytime without assigning any reason whatsoever without any prior notice upon the request of WhatsApp.
12. Miscellaneous
12.1. The laws of India shall govern these terms and conditions and/or the operations in the Account(s) maintained with ICICI Bank. Any legal action or proceedings arising out of these Terms shall be brought in the courts or tribunals at Mumbai in India.
12.2. ICICI Bank has the absolute discretion to amend or supplement any of the Terms as stated herein at any time and will endeavour to give prior notice of 15 days for such changes wherever feasible. By using the new services, the User shall be deemed to have accepted the changed terms and conditions. Notices under these Terms may be given in writing by delivering them by hand, or on ICICI Bank's website www.icicibank.com, or by sending them by post to the last address given by the User and, in the case of ICICI Bank, to its corporate office address.
12.3. Notice and instructions will be deemed served 7 days after posting or upon receipt in the case of hand delivery, cable, telex or facsimile.
These terms and conditions shall be in addition to HDFC Bank Privacy Policy.
To read HDFC Bank Privacy Policy, click here.
The user of this HDFC Bank UPI facility (the “User”) should have his mobile number registered with the Bank and should have existing relationship with his/her Bank for availing this Facility/Service, using HDFC Bank UPI facility.
The Facility/Service shall be made available only to the User satisfying the eligibility criteria and shall be provided at the sole discretion of HDFC Bank Ltd and may be discontinued by HDFC Bank Ltd at any time without notice.
The User shall be solely responsible and liable:
HDFC Bank Ltd shall not be held responsible and liable for any loss, cost and damage suffered by the User due to disclosure of his personal or other information to a third party including but not limited to statutory/regulatory authority by HDFC Bank Ltd for whatsoever reason, e.g., participation in any telecommunication or electronic clearing network in compliance with a legal or regulatory directive for statistical analysis or for credit rating or for any legal or regulatory compliance.
These terms and conditions form the contract between the User and the Axis Bank and shall be in addition to and not in derogation of other terms and conditions of any account or any other facility/services offered by the Bank and/or such other terms and conditions as may be specified by the Bank.
Definitions:
The following words and phrases shall have the meanings set out herein below in this document unless repugnant to the context:
“Application” or “Mobile Payment Application” refers to ‘WhatsApp’ mobile application by WhatsApp Inc that has tied up with Axis Bank for Unified Payment Interface services, which can be downloaded from Google Play store or Apple Store to avail UPI Services through this mobile application.
"Account(s)" shall mean an operative bank account maintained by the User with Axis Bank or any other Bank Account which User provides at the time of authentication process of Application, for availing the facility which is being offered.
“Account Holder” shall mean a User holding an Account, excluding Non-Resident Indians, Corporate Account Holders and Foreign Account Holders.
"Bank" and "Axis Bank" shall mean Axis Bank Limited, a company incorporated under the Companies Act 1956 and licensed as a bank under Banking Regulation Act, 1949 having its registered office at 'Trishul', 3rd Floor, Opposite Samartheshwar Temple, Law Garden, Ellis Bridge, Ahmedabad 380 006, Gujarat and corporate office at 131, Maker Towers 'F', Cuffe Parade, Mumbai. This term shall be inclusive of any 'affiliates' of the Bank which shall mean and include any company which a holding company or a subsidiary of ; a person under the control of the Bank or any person in which the bank has a direct/beneficial interest in more than 26% of the voting securities of such person. For the purpose of this definition, "control", when used with respect to any person would mean the power to direct the management and policies of such person, directly or indirectly, whether through the ownership of the vote carrying securities, by contract or otherwise howsoever; and "person" would mean a company, corporation, a partnership, trust or any other entity or organization or other body whatsoever.
“Debit Card” shall means and includes the debit card issued to the User in respect of an operative bank account maintained by the User with Axis Bank or any other Bank Account.
"Facility" shall mean UPI services offered by Axis Bank through WhatsApp to facilitate User to send or receive money via UPI platform, through said Mobile Application.
“Issuing Bank” shall mean member banks participating in UPI network to identify the bank account basis Mobile No in case of customer is registering through any PSP App.
"Mobile Phone Number" shall mean the mobile number of the User used during registration for Mobile/SMS Banking via secured channel with Axis Bank or for the Whatapp Application, for the purpose of availing the facility.
“UPI” shall mean unified payments interface is a service provided by NPCI that allows transfer of money using a virtual address (UPI ID) that is mapped to an account of the User after complete validation.
“NPCI” shall mean National Payment Corporation of India. The funds transfer feature (send and ask) is provided using UPI service of NPCI.
“Virtual Address/UPI ID” shall mean an identifier that can be uniquely mapped to an individual account using a translation service.
"Mobile Phone" shall mean a valid SIM card enabled smartphone (running on Android operating system/ iphone), which is owned by the User.
"Personal information" shall mean any information about the User provided by the User to and obtained by Axis Bank in relation to the facility.
“Services” shall mean UPI services offered by Axis Bank under the said facility on WhatsApp Application.
“Transaction” shall mean the fund transfer service to send or receive money; offered under the said facility on WhatsApp application.
"User" shall mean an Account Holder of Axis Bank as well as any other person (not necessary having any relationship with Bank) who has downloaded the WhatsApp application and who is eligible for availing fund transfer facility to send or receive money offered thereunder.
For the purposes of this document, all reference to the User in masculine gender shall be deemed to include feminine gender also.
Eligibility and Usage:
This facility shall be available to the Users in India, using WhatsApp Application. The User should have his/her Mobile Phone Number registered with his/her Bank for SMS/Mobile Banking and should have existing relationship with his/her Bank for availing this Facility and services thereunder, using this Mobile Payment Application.
This facility shall be made available only to the Users satisfying the eligibility criteria and shall be provided at the sole discretion of Axis Bank and may be discontinued by Axis Bank at any time, with or without prior intimation to the Users.
The User understands and accepts that any other condition that is a pre-requisite to access and avail benefits under the facility, including, but not limited to a Mobile Phone, Data Connection, etc. will be the sole responsibility of the User.
Authorization:
The User irrevocably and unconditionally authorizes Axis Bank to access his Account and the Personal details registered while authentication of Application for availing the service including effecting Banking or other transactions of the user through the facility.
The User expressly authorizes Axis Bank to disclose to the service provider or any other third party, all user information in its possession, as may be required by them to provide the services offered under the said facility to the User.
The authority to record the User’s details and transaction details is hereby expressly granted by the User to Axis Bank. All records generated by the transactions arising out of use of the facility, including the time of the transaction, beneficiary details, etc; recorded shall be conclusive proof of the genuineness and accuracy of the transactions.
The User authorizes Axis Bank to send any message or make calls to his mobile phone Number to enquire about any transaction/UPI related services and/or to inform him about any promotional offers including information regarding Banks' new products either now available or which Axis Bank may come up with in the future, or any other message that Axis Bank may consider appropriate to the User.
The User irrevocably and unconditionally agrees that such calls or messages made by the Axis Bank and/or its Agents shall not be construed as a breach of the privacy of the User and shall not be proceeded against accordingly.
The User authorizes Axis Bank to send any rejection message or to reject any transaction/request if it finds that the request sent by the User is not as per the requirements stipulated by Axis Bank for availing the facility.
Axis Bank shall make all reasonable efforts to ensure that the User’s information is kept confidential. Axis Bank, however, shall not be responsible for any divulgence or leakage of confidential User information.
The User expressly authorizes Axis Bank to carry out all request(s) or transaction(s) for and/or at the request of the User through WhatsApp Application and the Bank shall solely rely upon authenticity of any request or transaction purporting to have been received from the User through WhatsApp Application.
Liabilities and Responsibilities of the User:
Terms of Service:
These terms & conditions are in addition to the general terms & conditions of any account or any other facility provided by Axis Bank to its Customers.
Limitations on transactions
Transaction limits as prescribed by the regulator for the UPI facility shall be applicable to each User
Indemnity:
In consideration of Axis bank agreeing to provide the Facility and/or services to the User, the User shall, at his own expense, hereby irrevocably agrees, to indemnify and keep Axis bank its directors and employees, representatives, agents and/or affiliates (hereinafter referred to as “the related parties”), as the case may be, indemnified and harmless, at all times hereafter, from all losses, damages, costs, legal fees, charges and expenses and consequences whatsoever, on full indemnity basis, suffered or incurred or likely to suffer by Axis bank or the related parties on account of any claims, actions, suits or otherwise instituted by the User, or any third party whatsoever, arising out of or in connection with the use of the Facility and any and all transactions initiated by the use of the Facility, whether with or without the knowledge of the User, or whether the same have been initiated bona fide or otherwise which transactions, the User hereby acknowledges, Axis bank or the related parties has processed on the User’s transaction instructions and authority of the User in accordance with these terms and conditions and other applicable specific terms and conditions, as the case may be. The User further agrees and confirms that this indemnity shall remain valid and subsisting and binding upon the User notwithstanding partial withdrawal of the Facility.
The User will pay Axis Bank and /or the related parties such amount as may be determined by Axis Bank and/or the related parties to be sufficient to indemnify it against any such loss or expenses even though they may not have arisen or are contingent in nature.
The User agrees to pay any and all costs, damages and expenses, including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys' fees and costs awarded against it or otherwise incurred by or in connection with or arising from any such claim, suit, action or proceeding attributable to any such claim.
Confidentiality and Disclosure:
To the extent not prohibited by applicable law, the Axis bank shall be entitled to transfer any information relating to the User and/or any other information given by the User for utilization of the Facility to and between its branches, representative offices, affiliates, representatives, auditors and third parties selected by Axis bank, wherever situated, for confidential use in and in connection with the Facility. Further, Axis bank shall be entitled at any time to disclose any and all information concerning the User within the knowledge and possession of Axis bank to any other bank/association/financial institution or any other body. This clause will survive the termination of this agreement.
Accuracy of Information:
The User takes the responsibility for the correctness of the information supplied by him to the Bank through the use of the said facility or through use of the Application or by any other means.
The User herein accepts that in case of any discrepancy in the information provided by him with regard to this facility the onus shall lie upon the User only and thus agrees to furnish accurate information at all times to Axis Bank. If the User suspects that there is an error in the information supplied by Axis Bank to him, he shall inform the Bank immediately. Axis Bank will endeavor to correct the error promptly wherever possible on a best effort basis. Axis Bank shall also not be responsible for any incidental error which occurs inspite of necessary steps being taken by the Bank to ensure the accuracy of the information provided to the User and the User shall not have any claim against Axis bank in an event of any loss/damage suffered by the User as a consequence of the inaccurate information provided by the Bank.
Termination:
Axis Bank may, at its discretion, withdraw temporarily or terminate the Facility, either wholly or in part, at any time without giving prior notice to the User. Axis Bank may, without prior notice, suspend the Facility at any time during which any maintenance work or repair is required to be carried out or in case of any emergency or for security reasons, which require the suspension of the Facility. The closure of the account of the User will automatically terminate the Facility. Axis Bank may suspend or terminate Facility without prior notice if the User has breached these terms and conditions or Axis Bank learns of the death, bankruptcy or lack of legal capacity of the User. Except as otherwise provided by the applicable law or regulation, Axis bank reserves the right to terminate the Facility and/or expand, reduce or suspend the transactions allowed using this Facility, change the process and transaction limits associated with this Facility based on security issues, at any time, without any prior notice to the User.
Disclaimers:
Axis bank shall be absolved of any liability in case:
The User fails to avail the facility due to force majeure conditions including but not limited to not being in the required geographical range or any other reason including natural calamities; legal restraints any technical lapses in the telecommunication network or any other reasons beyond the actual control of Axis Bank, the Bank shall not be accountable. Also the Bank is herein absolved of any kind of liability arising due to a loss; direct or indirect incurred by the User or any other person due to any lapse in the facility owing to the above-mentioned reasons.
The User is acting in good faith on any transaction instructions received by Axis bank;
There is any unauthorized use of the User's UPI PIN, Password, Passcode, OTP or Mobile Phone or Mobile Phone Number for any fraudulent, duplicate or erroneous transaction instructions given by use of the User's UPI PIN, Password, Passcode, OTP or Mobile Phone or Mobile Phone Number;
There is loss of any information during processing or transmission or any unauthorized access by any other person or breach of confidentiality.
There is any lapse or failure on the part of the service providers or any third party affecting the said facility and that Axis bank makes no warranty as to the quality of the service provided by any such service provider or any third party.
Axis Bank does not warrant the confidentiality or security of the messages or notifications whether personal or otherwise transmitted through the Application in respect of the said Facility. Axis Bank makes no warranty or representation of any kind in relation to the system and the network or their function or performance or for any loss or damage whenever and howsoever suffered or incurred by the User or by any person resulting from or in connection with the Facility.
Axis Bank, its directors and employees, agent or contractors, shall not be liable for and in respect of any loss or damage whether direct, indirect or consequential, including but not limited to loss of revenue, profit, business, contracts, anticipated savings or goodwill, loss of use or value of any equipment including software, whether foreseeable or not, suffered by the User or any person howsoever arising from or relating to any delay, interruption, suspension, resolution or error of the Bank in receiving and processing the request and in formulating and returning responses or any failure, delay, interruption, suspension, restriction, or error in transmission of any information or message to and from the telecommunication equipment of the User and the network of any service provider and the Bank's system or any breakdown, interruption, suspension or failure of the telecommunication equipment of the User, the Bank's system or the network of any service provider and/or any third party who provides such services as is necessary to provide the Facility.
Notwithstanding anything in the contrary provided in this terms and conditions, Axis Bank shall not be involved in or in any way liable to the User for any dispute between the User and a cellular services provider or any third party service provider (whether appointed by the Bank in that behalf or otherwise).
Any loss incurred by the user due to use of the facility by any other person with an express or implied permission of the User. Axis bank shall not be held responsible for the confidentiality, secrecy and security of the personal or account information being sent through the facility for effecting the User's instructions.
Axis bank shall not be held liable for any loss suffered by the user due to disclosure of the personal information to a third party by the Bank, for reasons inclusive but not limited to participation in any telecommunication or electronic clearing network, in compliance with a legal directive, for statistical analysis or for credit rating.
Modification / Alterations To The Facility: Axis Bank reserves the absolute discretionary right to make any amendments in the given terms and condition at any time as it may deem fit without any prior notice to the User. Any such amendment shall be communicated to the User by displaying on the website http://www.axisbank.com (http://www.axisbank.com/) and the User shall be bound by such amended terms and conditions.
Communication:
Axis Bank and the User may give notice under these terms and conditions electronically to the mailbox of the User (which will be regarded as being in writing) or in writing by delivering them by hand or by sending them by post to the last address given by the User and in case of Axis Bank at its office at Service Quality Department, Axis Bank Limited, Corporate Office, Bombay Dyeing Mills Compound,Pandurang Budhkar Marg, Worli, Mumbai - 400025, Tel: (022) 2425 2525. In addition, Axis Bank shall also provide notice of general nature regarding the facility and terms and conditions, which are applicable to all Users of the Facility, on the website http://www.axisbank.com and/ or also by means the customized messages and notifications sent to the User over his Mobile Phone Number as short messaging service ("SMS"). In addition Axis bank may also publish notices of general nature, which are applicable to all users of the facility. Such notices will be deemed to have been served individually to each User.
Governing law and jurisdiction:
The construction, validity and performance of these terms and conditions shall be governed in all respects by the laws of India. The parties hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent Courts at Mumbai, India which courts shall have jurisdiction in the matter to the exclusion of any other courts, irrespective of whether such other courts have similar jurisdiction in the matter. Axis Bank is absolved of any liability arising, direct or indirect, for non-compliance with the laws of any country other than India where the facility is accessible.
Privacy Policy
The user adheres to the Privacy policy of the bank that is detailed out in https://www.axisbank.com/privacy-policy.