EkSaya Terms & Conditions

Plain-language terms for the EkSaya personal-safety SOS app, the web dashboard, and the feature-phone SMS service — made for Nepal. Please read them before you rely on EkSaya.

1. Who runs EkSaya and what these terms cover

EkSaya is operated by EkSaya. These Terms & Conditions are the agreement between you and EkSaya for using:

• the EkSaya mobile app;
• the EkSaya web dashboard; and
• the EkSaya SMS service for basic (feature) phones.

By creating an account, installing the app, registering by SMS, or using the dashboard, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, please do not use EkSaya. These terms take effect when you start using EkSaya. If you have a question about these terms, contact us at hello@eksaya.com.

2. What EkSaya does

EkSaya is a personal-safety tool. When it is working as designed, it can:

• let you raise an SOS alert from the app (by tap, voice, or shake, depending on your device and settings) or by text message from a basic phone;
• share your location with the emergency contacts you have chosen, and with authorised dashboard staff, while an alert is active;
• notify your contacts through the app and by email;
• record each alert - who raised it, when, and what location was received - so there is a clear history; and
• let you mark yourself safe to close an alert.

EkSaya sends alerts to the people and accounts you have set up. It works through your phone, the mobile network, and the internet, in the way described in Section 6.

3. What EkSaya does not do

It helps to be clear about the limits from the start. EkSaya does not:

• replace calling emergency services;
• dispatch emergency responders;
• monitor you around the clock, or track your location while you are idle and no alert is active;
• guarantee that a contact, a dashboard user, or anyone else will see your alert or act on it; or
• send SMS messages at EkSaya's cost - texting from your phone is charged on your own plan (see Section 8).

4. In an emergency, call emergency services first

If you or someone else is in danger, call your local emergency number first. Do not wait for EkSaya. EkSaya itself does not dispatch emergency responders, and it is not monitored as an emergency line.

EkSaya is an extra way to reach people who know you - family, friends, or colleagues you have added as emergency contacts. Those people may be able to help, call you back, or contact emergency services for you, but EkSaya cannot make that happen. Always treat EkSaya as a backup to calling emergency services directly, never as a replacement for them.

If you are outside Nepal, call your local emergency number first and use EkSaya only as an additional alert.

5. No guarantee of rescue or response time

EkSaya does not promise that:

• an alert will be delivered, or delivered within any particular time;
• any contact or other person will respond;
• help will arrive, or arrive by any particular time; or
• a rescue will take place.

Mobile networks can be busy or unavailable, phones run out of battery, and people miss notifications. Those things are outside our control. You should not rely on EkSaya as your only safety plan.

6. Technical limits you should know

EkSaya is software running on phones and mobile networks. It has real limits. Please read these carefully, because they affect how much you can rely on it.

Your phone must be on and connected

• Your phone needs battery. A switched-off phone, or a phone with a flat battery, cannot send an alert or a location.
• Your phone needs mobile signal or an internet connection. In an area with no coverage, an alert may be delayed, queued, or not sent at all.
• Location comes from your phone's GPS and location services. If GPS is off, blocked (for example, deep indoors), or unavailable, EkSaya may have no location or only a rough one.

Smartphone app

• The app can send alerts by push notification and email, and can trigger SMS messages from your own phone to your contacts. Those SMS messages use your phone's own SIM and plan.
• Features such as shake-to-alert or voice triggers depend on your device, its sensors, and the permissions you have granted. If you turn off location or notification permissions, parts of EkSaya will stop working.

Basic (feature) phones and SMS

• A basic phone texting EkSaya carries no GPS. An SMS alert tells us who you are (from your registered number) but not where you are.
• You can add a place hint in the same message - for example, 0000 Ratnapark. Anything you type after 0000 is saved as your place hint and passed to your contacts. Without it, your contacts will only have your registered address and whatever they can learn by calling you back.
• Delivery of SMS depends on your mobile operator. Messages can be delayed or lost, especially in poor coverage.

What this means in practice: keep your phone charged, check that you have signal before you depend on EkSaya, keep location switched on if you want location shared, and always have a plan that does not depend on EkSaya alone.

7. Your responsibilities

EkSaya can only help if the information behind it is right. When you use EkSaya, you agree to:

• Keep your profile accurate. Use your real name, and keep your phone number up to date if you chose to provide one.
• Keep your emergency contacts accurate. Add 3 to 5 people who know you, check their numbers and email addresses regularly, and remove anyone who should no longer receive alerts. Tell your contacts that you have added them, so an alert from EkSaya is not a surprise.
• Keep your phone charged and ready. Charge your phone, keep mobile credit or an active plan if your operator requires it, and keep location services on if you want your location shared during an SOS.
• Test the app. Run a test alert after you set up EkSaya, and again after you change phones, numbers, or contacts, so you know what your contacts will see.
• Do not raise false alarms. Use the SOS only when you genuinely need help. Repeated false alarms can lead to suspension (see Section 10).
• Be old enough, or have a guardian's consent. EkSaya is for everyone. If you are under 18, you need the consent of a parent or legal guardian to create an account. A guardian who consents is responsible for the young person's use of EkSaya.

You are responsible for how your account and your phone are used. If someone else uses your phone or your account to raise an alert, we will treat that alert as coming from you until we are told otherwise.

8. Costs: your phone plan pays

EkSaya is designed so that mobile costs sit on your own phone plan, not on EkSaya:

• SMS messages sent from your phone - including SOS texts to your contacts and texts to EkSaya's number such as 0000 or SAFE - are charged by your mobile operator at your normal rate, or taken from your plan balance, as your operator decides.
• Mobile data used by the app or the dashboard is charged under your own plan.
• On EkSaya's side, contacts are reached through the app and by email. EkSaya does not promise to send paid SMS alerts on your behalf.

EkSaya does not reimburse SMS, call, or data charges. If cost is a concern, check your operator's rates before you test or use the SMS service.

One gap to plan for: a contact who has only a basic phone and no email address cannot receive an app push or an email alert. When you set up your contacts, keep at least one person who has the EkSaya app or an email address they check.

9. Using EkSaya on a basic phone

If you do not have a smartphone, you can still use EkSaya by SMS. Register once, then use two short commands.

For low-literacy users, the two things to remember are simple: 0000 means help, SAFE means I am okay. Keep them somewhere you can find them, such as a wallet card. If you make a mistake, text SAFE to cancel, and let your contacts know it was a mistake.

Only a registered number can raise an SOS. If you change your SIM or number, register again so we can link the new number to you.

10. Acceptable use and suspension

EkSaya is a safety tool for real people in real situations. Please use it that way. You agree not to:

• raise false or prank alarms, or use EkSaya to harass, threaten, or mislead anyone;
• impersonate someone else, register a number or account that is not yours, or add contacts without their knowledge in a way that causes them harm;
• try to break, overload, probe, or interfere with EkSaya, its dashboard, or its SMS gateway;
• use EkSaya to collect other people's personal information, track someone without their consent, or for any unlawful purpose; or
• copy, resell, or offer EkSaya as your own service.

If we reasonably believe an account, number, or user is misusing EkSaya - for example through repeated false alarms, abuse of contacts or staff, or attempts to disrupt the service - EkSaya may warn the user, limit or suspend alerts from that account or number, or close the account.

Where it is safe and practical to do so, we will tell you before or shortly after we act, and you can contact us at hello@eksaya.com to appeal. We may act immediately, without warning, where we believe someone's safety or the integrity of the service is at risk.

11. Dashboard accounts and keeping your credentials safe

Some EkSaya accounts can sign in to the web dashboard. Dashboard access is more sensitive than the app, because it can show alert history and locations.

• You are responsible for keeping your dashboard email, password, and any sign-in code private. Do not share them or reuse a password you use elsewhere.
• You are responsible for activity that happens under your dashboard login until you tell us it has been compromised.
• If you think someone else has used your account, or you notice activity you do not recognise, contact us at hello@eksaya.com at once and change your password.
• Dashboard accounts for staff and administrators are provided by EkSaya only. Do not try to create or guess an admin account, or to access records that are not yours.

We may require you to change your password or re-verify your identity if we believe your account is at risk.

12. Intellectual property

EkSaya, including its software, design, name, logo, text, and other materials, is owned by EkSaya or its licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws.

We give you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable permission to install and use the app, dashboard, and SMS service for your own personal safety purposes, in line with these terms. That permission does not give you ownership of EkSaya or any right to:

• copy, modify, reverse-engineer, or redistribute the software, except where the law expressly allows it;
• use the EkSaya name or logo as your own; or
• remove any copyright or ownership notice.

Information you provide - such as your name, contacts, and alert records - remains yours. You give EkSaya permission to store and use it only as needed to run EkSaya, as described in our Privacy Policy.

13. Limitation of liability

Please read this section carefully. It limits what EkSaya is responsible for if something goes wrong. To the maximum extent permitted by law:

• EkSaya is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including any promise that it will be uninterrupted, error-free, or fit for a particular purpose.
• EkSaya is not liable for any indirect or consequential loss - such as loss of income, business, or opportunity, or distress arising from an alert that was delayed, missed, or not acted on - except where the law says we cannot exclude that liability.
• EkSaya is not liable for loss caused by things outside our reasonable control, including mobile network failures, power cuts, GPS inaccuracy, a switched-off or damaged phone, or a contact who does not respond.
• Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited. If the law gives you stronger rights, those rights still apply.

If any part of this section is found unenforceable, the rest still applies, and liability will be limited to the smallest amount the law allows.

In plain terms: we have built EkSaya to help, and we work to keep it running, but we cannot promise it will work in every situation or be responsible for every outcome when it does not. That is why Section 4 asks you to call emergency services first.

14. Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms & Conditions from time to time - for example, when we add a feature, change how the SMS service works, or need to meet a new legal requirement.

• When we make a material change, we will announce it in the app, on the dashboard, by email, or by SMS, and note the update date when we announce it.
• If you keep using EkSaya after the updated terms take effect, we will treat that as acceptance of the new terms.
• If you do not agree with an update, please stop using EkSaya and delete your account before the change takes effect.

The version of these terms on the EkSaya website at the time you use the service is the version that applies.

15. Ending your use of EkSaya

If you want to stop

You can stop using EkSaya at any time. You can delete your account in the app where that option is offered, remove the app from your phone, or ask us to delete your account by writing to hello@eksaya.com from your registered email address or number. If you registered only by SMS, text us or contact support so we can verify and remove your number.

If we need to end access

EkSaya may suspend or end your access if you breach these terms, misuse the service, or if we must do so for legal or safety reasons. Where practical, we will give you notice and a chance to put things right first.

What happens afterwards

• Your contacts will no longer receive new alerts from your account.
• We will delete or anonymise your personal information as described in our Privacy Policy, except where we must keep a record - for example, for legal, accounting, or safety-audit reasons - or where a record of a past alert must be retained.
• Sections that by their nature should survive the end of your use - including Sections 12 and 13 - will continue to apply.

16. Governing law and how to reach us

These Terms & Conditions are governed by the laws of Nepal. If you have a dispute about EkSaya, please contact us first at hello@eksaya.com so we can try to resolve it.

If any part of these terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, that part will be read as narrowly as possible or removed, and the remaining terms will continue in full effect. If we do not enforce a part of these terms straight away, that does not mean we have given up the right to enforce it later.

Questions, corrections, or concerns: contact EkSaya at hello@eksaya.com. Please include your registered name and email address (or phone number, if you gave one) so we can find your account. For anything urgent about your safety, do not email us - call your local emergency number.