These terms ("Terms") cover the use of those Skype consumer products, websites and services provided by Sify Technologies Limited ("Sify", "us", "we" or "our", as the context so requires), which provides the sales and distribution of Skype Credit, SkypeOut and Skype Subscriptions, and all other Skype paid products (the "Services"), via www.skype.com (the "Skype Website"), to users ("you") whose billing address indicates that they are currently located within India.
Sify is a company incorporated under the laws of India, with its principal place of business at II Floor, TIDEL Park, No. 4, Canal Bank Road, Taramani, Chennai – 600 113, India. "Skype" refers to the entity Skype Communications S.a.r.l, with its address at 23-29 Rives de Clausen, 2165 Luxembourg, Luxembourg, reg.no (B100468), VAT no. (LU20180340) as well as its group companies (including but not limited to Microsoft) where the context requires. "Microsoft" refers to the entity Microsoft Corporation, with its address at One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052, U.S.A. The Skype Website is provided to you and operated by Skype; however the payment gateway integrated within the Skype Website to facilitate payments via Local Payment Methods is operated by Sify and/or its authorized third party payment service providers.
"Skype Credit" means the credit with specified monetary value, paid for by means of Local Payment Methods, to be purchased by you before using the Services. "SkypeOut" means the product which allows users to place a call from the Skype Software to PSTN telephone numbers. "Skype Subscriptions" means the SkypeOut product purchased on a subscription basis (monthly, every 3 months, or annually as applicable). "Local Payment Methods" means your use of credit and debit cards, online and offline bank transfers in India and other payment methods deemed "local" to India by Skype from time to time, in order for you to purchase the Services.
This agreement between you and Sify is for your use of the Services, and should be read in parallel with the Microsoft Services Agreement (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/servicesagreement/), which you are also deemed to have accepted, and which governs your use of, among other things, the free, consumer Skype-branded services. Capitalized terms that are not defined in these Terms shall have the corresponding definition as set out in the Microsoft Services Agreement. You accept these Terms through your use of the Services (including making any payment via the Local Payment Methods), or by continuing to use the Services after being notified of a change to these Terms. You cannot accept these Terms if: (a) you are not lawfully entitled to use the Services in the country in which you are located or reside; or (b) if you are not of legal age to form a binding agreement with Sify.
1. Your Privacy.
Your privacy is important to us. Please read Sify’s privacy policy at http://www.sify.com/privacy.php, which is meant to be read in parallel with the Microsoft Privacy Statements as referenced in Section 1 of the Microsoft Services Agreement. By using the Services or agreeing to these Terms, you consent to Sify’s collection, use and disclosure of your data as described in Sify’s privacy policy.
2. Code of Conduct.
a. By agreeing to these Terms, you’re agreeing that, when using the Services, you will follow these rules:
i. Don’t do anything illegal.
ii. Don’t engage in any activity that exploits, harms, or threatens to harm children.
iii. Don’t send spam. Spam is unwanted or unsolicited bulk email, postings, contact requests, SMS (text messages), or instant messages.
iv. Don’t publicly display or use the Services to share inappropriate Content or material (involving, for example, nudity, bestiality, pornography, graphic violence, or criminal activity) or Your Content or material that does not comply with local laws or regulations.
v. Don’t engage in activity that is false or misleading (e.g., asking for money under false pretenses, impersonating someone else, manipulating the Services to increase play count, or affect rankings, ratings, or comments) or libelous or defamatory.
vi. Don’t circumvent any restrictions on access to or availability of the Services.
vii. Don’t engage in activity that is harmful to you, the Services or others (e.g., transmitting viruses, stalking, communicating hate speech, or advocating violence against others).
viii. Don’t infringe upon the rights of others (e.g., unauthorized sharing of copyrighted music or other copyrighted material, resale or other distribution of Bing maps, or photographs).
ix. Don’t engage in activity that violates the privacy or data protection rights of others.
x. Don’t help others break these rules.
b. Enforcement. If you violate these Terms, we may, in our sole discretion, stop providing Services to you or we may direct Skype to close your Microsoft account or Skype account. We may also direct Skype to block delivery of a communication (like instant message) to or from the Services in an effort to enforce these Terms, or we may direct Skype to remove or refuse to publish Your Content for any reason. When investigating alleged violations of these Terms, Microsoft or Skype reserves the right to review Your Content in order to resolve the issue, and you hereby authorize such review. However, we cannot monitor the entire Services and make no attempt to do so.
3. Your Account & Support.
a. Microsoft Account or Skype Account. You’ll need a Microsoft or Skype account to access the Services, and the Microsoft Services Agreement shall apply in respect of your use of your Microsoft or Skype account. Your Microsoft or Skype account lets you sign in to products, websites and services provided by Microsoft and some Microsoft partners. To access Skype on certain platforms, you have the option of using a Skype account or a Microsoft account.
b. Closing Your Account.
i. You can close your Microsoft account or Skype account at any time and for any reason, in accordance with your rights, and the requisite processes, as set out in the Microsoft Services Agreement.
ii. If your Microsoft account or Skype account is closed (for any reason whatsoever), in addition to the consequences as set out in the Microsoft Services Agreement, your right to use the Services stops immediately and we will delete Data or Your Content associated with your Microsoft account or Skype account or will otherwise disassociate it from you and your Microsoft account or Skype account (unless we are required by law to keep it). You should have a regular backup plan as Sify won’t be able to retrieve Your Content or Data once your account is closed.
c. Customer Support. Sify will offer to you customer support in relation to the Services by means of email (skype.cc@sifycorp.com).
4. Use of the Services.
a. No Access to Emergency Services. There are important differences between traditional telephone services and Skype. You acknowledge and agree that Skype is not required to offer access to Emergency Services under any applicable local and/or national rules, regulations or law. Skype’s software and products are not intended to support or carry emergency calls to any type of hospitals, law enforcement agencies, medical care units or any other kind of services that connect a user to emergency services personnel or public safety answering points ("Emergency Services"). You acknowledge and agree that: (i) it is your responsibility to purchase traditional wireless (mobile) or fixed line telephone services that offer access to Emergency Services, and (ii) Skype is not a replacement for your primary telephone service.
b. Quality. Sify cannot guarantee that the Services will always function without disruptions, delay or errors. A number of factors may impact the quality of your communications and use of the Services, and may result in the failure of your communications including but not limited to: your local network, firewall, your internet service provider, the public internet, the public switched telephone network and your power supply. Sify takes no responsibility for any disruption, interruption or delay caused by any failure of or inadequacy in any of these items or any other items over which we have no control.
c. Fair Use Policies. Fair usage policies may apply to your use of the Services. Please review these policies which are designed to protect against fraud and abuse and may place limits on the type, duration or volume of calls or messages that you are able to make. These policies are incorporated in these Terms by reference. You can find these policies at http://www.skype.com/en/legal/fair-usage/.
d. Personal/Noncommercial Use. The use of the Services are for your personal and noncommercial use. You are permitted to use your personal Skype account at work for your own business communications.
e. Services Charges.
i. All prices for SkypeOut are provided by Sify. The charges payable for calling phones outside of a subscription consist of a connection fee (charged once per call) and a per-minute rate as set out on www.skype.com/go/allrates. Call charges will be deducted from your Skype Credit balance. Sify or Skype may change its calling rates at any time without notice to you by posting such change at www.skype.com/go/allrates. The new rate will apply to your next call after publication of the new rates. Please check the latest rates before you make your call. Fractional call minutes and fractional paise charges will be rounded up to the next whole unit.
ii. Charges for Skype Subscriptions. Where you purchase Skype Subscriptions, you acknowledge and agree that this is a recurring payment and, where possible and subject to section 7(d) of these Terms, payments shall be made to Sify by the Local Payment Method you have chosen at the recurring intervals chosen by you, until the subscription is terminated by you or by Sify, Skype or Microsoft.
iii. Charges for Services other than Skype Credit or Skype Subscriptions ("Other Products"). The charges for Other Products (where applicable) will be confirmed to you before you complete a purchase from Sify. Sify or Skype may change the charges payable for the purchase of such Other Products at any time without any notice to you. You can choose whether or not to accept the new charges prior to completing your next purchase of the applicable Other Products. The new charges will apply to your next purchase of Other Products after the new charges have been published.
iv. Sales Tax. An applicable sales tax of 14.5% will be charged at the checkout when you purchase the Services.
f. Skype Credit.
i. Sify does not guarantee that you will be able to use your Skype Credit balance to purchase all Services. You can pay for selected Services using Skype Credit. You can purchase Skype Credit using any payment method made available to you by Sify from time to time. The Skype Credit that you purchase will be credited to your Skype account at the time of purchase (or if you are using a Skype Credit voucher, at the time you redeem that voucher).
ii. If you do not use your Skype Credit for a period of 180 days, Skype will place your Skype Credit on inactive status. You can reactivate the Skype Credit by following the reactivation link at http://www.skype.com/go/store.reactivate.credit.
iii. Sify reserves the right to remove or amend the available payment methods at its sole discretion.
iv. You can enable the Auto Recharge feature when you buy Skype Credit by ticking the appropriate box. If enabled, your Skype Credit balance will be recharged with the same amount and by your chosen payment method every time your Skype account balance goes below the threshold set by Skype from time to time. If you purchased a subscription with a payment method other than credit card, and you have enabled Auto-Recharge, your Skype Credit balance will be recharged with the amount necessary to purchase your next recurring subscription. You can disable Auto-Recharge at any time by accessing and changing your settings in your Skype account.
5. Service Availability.
a. The Services may be unavailable from time to time, may be offered on a limited basis, or may vary depending on your region or device.
b. We strive to keep the Services up and running; however, all online services suffer occasional disruptions and outages, and Sify is not liable for any disruption or loss you may suffer as a result. In the event of an outage, you may not be able to purchase the Services from Sify until the outage is remedied.
6. Changes to These Terms.
a. We may change these Terms at any time, and we’ll tell you when we do. Using the Services after the changes become effective means you agree to the new terms. If you do not agree to the new terms, you must stop using the Services, and, if you are a parent or guardian, your minor child must stop using the Services.
b. Additionally, there may be times when we need to remove or change features or functionality of the Services or stop providing a Service altogether. Except to the extent required by applicable law, we have no obligation to provide a re-download or replacement of any material or Services. We may release the Services or their features in a beta version, which may not work correctly or in the same way the final version may work.
7. Payment Terms.
If you purchase a Service, then these payment terms apply to your purchase and you agree to them.
a. Charges. If there is a charge associated with a portion of the Services, you agree to pay that charge in the currency specified. All prices for the Services are inclusive of applicable taxes, unless otherwise stated. You are solely responsible for paying such taxes or other charges. We may suspend or cancel the Services if we do not receive an on time, full payment from you. Suspension or cancellation of the Services for non-payment could result in a loss of access to and use of your account and its content.
b. Your Billing Account. To pay the charges for a Service, you will be asked to provide a payment method at the time you sign up for that Service. You can access and change your billing information and payment method by signing into your Skype account at the Skype Website and accessing your "My Account" page. Additionally, you agree to permit Sify to use any updated account information regarding your selected payment method provided by your issuing bank or the applicable payment network. You agree to keep your billing account and contact information current at all times. Changes made to your billing account will not affect charges we submit to your billing account before we could reasonably act on your changes to your billing account.
c. Billing. By providing Sify with a payment method, you (i) represent that you are authorized to use the payment method that you provided and that any payment information you provide is true and accurate; (ii) authorize Sify to charge you for the Services or available content using your payment method; (iii) authorize Sify to charge you for any paid feature of the Services that you choose to sign up for or use while these Terms are in force; and (iv) authorize Sify to share and store that payment method with Microsoft and Skype, so that you may choose to use such payment method for your future payments for other Microsoft or Skype products and/or services, in accordance with the terms of the Microsoft Services Agreement. For the avoidance of doubt, this may include purchasing Skype paid products directly from Skype via the Skype Website if your billing address is no longer in India. We may bill you (a) in advance; (b) at the time of purchase; (c) shortly after purchase; or (d) on a recurring basis for subscription Services. Also, we may charge you up to the amount you have approved, and we will notify you in advance of any change in the amount to be charged for recurring subscription Services. We may bill you at the same time for more than one of your prior billing periods for amounts that haven't previously been processed.
d. Recurring Payments. When you purchase a Skype Subscription, you acknowledge and agree that you are authorizing recurring payment, and payments shall be made to Sify by the method you have chosen at the recurring intervals you have agreed to, until the subscription for that Service is terminated by you or by Sify. By authorizing recurring payments, you are authorizing Sify to process such payments as either electronic debits or fund transfers, or as electronic drafts from your designated account (in the case of Automated Clearing House or similar payments), or as charges to your designated account (in the case of credit card or similar payments) (collectively, "Electronic Payments"). Subscription fees are generally billed or charged in advance of the applicable subscription period. If any payment is returned unpaid or if any credit card or similar transaction is rejected or denied, Sify or its service providers reserve the right to collect any applicable return item, rejection or insufficient funds fee and to process any such payment as an Electronic Payment, or to use your remaining Skype Credits (if any) to pay for the applicable recurring charges associated with the Skype Subscription instead.
e. Automatic Renewal. Provided that automatic renewals are allowed under applicable law, we will inform you by email before automatically renewing your Services, unless you have purchased a Skype Subscription. Once we have informed you that the Services will be automatically renewed, we may automatically renew your Services and charge you the then current price for the renewal term. We will also remind you that we will bill your chosen payment method for the Services renewal, whether it was on file on the renewal date or provided later. We will also provide you with instructions on how you may cancel the Services. You must cancel the Services before the renewal date to avoid being billed for the renewal.
f. Refund Policy. Unless otherwise provided by law or by a particular Service offer, all purchases are final and non-refundable. If you believe that Sify has charged you in error, you must contact the Sify Customer Support team at skype.cc@sifycorp.com within 30 days of such charge. No refunds will be given for any charges more than 30 days old. Sify reserves the right to issue refunds or credits at our sole discretion. If Sify issues a refund or credit, Sify is under no obligation to issue the same or similar refund in the future. This refund policy does not affect any statutory rights that may apply.
g. Canceling the Services. You may cancel a Service with Sify at any time, with or without cause by requesting for closure of your Microsoft or Skype Account (see section 3(b) of these Terms for further details), ceasing to use the Service and/or cancelling any recurring payments, as the context so requires. If you cancel, your access to the Services ends at the end of your current Service period or, if we bill your account on a periodic basis, at the end of the period in which you canceled.
h. Trial-Period Offers. If you are taking part in any trial-period offer, you must cancel the trial Service(s) by the end of the trial period to avoid incurring new charges, unless we notify you otherwise. If you do not cancel the trial Service(s) by the end of the trial period, we may charge you for the Service(s).
i. Promotional Offers. From time to time, Sify may offer Services for free for a trial period. Sify reserves the right to charge you for such Services (at the normal rate) in the event that Sify determines (in its reasonable discretion) that you are abusing the terms of the offer.
j. Price Changes. We may change the price of the Services at any time and if you have a recurring purchase, we will notify you by email at least 15 days before the price change. If you do not agree to the price change, you must cancel and stop using the Services before the price change takes effect. If there is a fixed term and price for your Service offer, that price will remain in force for the fixed term.
k. Payments to You. If we owe you a payment, then you agree to timely and accurately provide us with any information we need to get that payment to you. You are responsible for any taxes and charges you may incur as a result of this payment to you. You must also comply with any other conditions we place on your right to any payment. If you receive a payment in error, we may reverse or require return of the payment. You agree to cooperate with us in our efforts to do this. We may also reduce the payment to you without notice to adjust for any previous overpayment.
l. Compliance. You shall at all times ensure full compliance with the applicable provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and rules thereunder as applicable and as amended from time to time and also all applicable domestic laws, rules and regulations (including the provisions of any applicable exchange control laws or regulations in force) and International laws, foreign exchange laws, statutes, ordinances and regulations (including, but not limited to sales tax/VAT, income tax, octroi, service tax, central excise, custom duty, local levies, etc.) regarding your use of the Services.
8. Contracting Entity, Choice of Law, & Location for Resolving Disputes.
a. For your use of Services. For use of the Services, you are contracting with Sify, a company incorporated under the laws of India, with its principal place of business at II Floor, TIDEL Park, No. 4, Canal Bank Road, Taramani, Chennai – 600 113, India. The laws of the province or country where you live govern all other claims (including consumer protection, unfair competition, and tort claims). If you accepted these Terms by purchasing the Services, you and we irrevocably agree to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the courts of Chennai, India for all disputes arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services provided by Sify.
b. Your local consumer laws may require some local laws to govern or give you the right to resolve disputes in another forum despite these Terms. If so, the choice of law and forum provisions in section 10 apply as much as your local consumer laws allow.
9. Warranties.
a. SIFY MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, GUARANTEES OR CONDITIONS WITH RESPECT TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT USE OF THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR OWN RISK AND THAT SIFY PROVIDES THE SERVICES ON AN "AS IS" BASIS "WITH ALL FAULTS" AND "AS AVAILABLE." SIFY DOESN'T GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY OR TIMELINESS OF INFORMATION AVAILABLE FROM THE SERVICES. YOU MAY HAVE CERTAIN RIGHTS UNDER YOUR LOCAL LAW. NOTHING IN THESE TERMS IS INTENDED TO AFFECT THOSE RIGHTS, IF THEY ARE APPLICABLE. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT COMPUTER AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS ARE NOT FAULT-FREE AND OCCASIONAL PERIODS OF DOWNTIME OCCUR. WE DO NOT GUARANTEE THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE OR THAT CONTENT LOSS WON'T OCCUR, NOR DO WE GUARANTEE ANY CONNECTION TO OR TRANSMISSION FROM COMPUTER NETWORKS.
b. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW, WE EXCLUDE ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING FOR MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WORKMANLIKE EFFORT, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
10. Limitation of Liability.
a. If you have any basis for recovering damages (including breach of these Terms), you agree that your exclusive remedy is to recover, from neither Sify or its affiliates, resellers, distributors and vendors, direct damages up to an amount equal to your Services fee for the month during which the breach occurred (or up to Rs 500 if the Services are free).
b. You can't recover any (i) consequential losses or damages; (ii) loss of actual or anticipated profits (whether direct or indirect); (iii) loss of actual or anticipated income (whether direct or indirect); (iv) loss of contract or business or other losses or damages arising from your use of the Services in a non-personal capacity; (v) special, indirect, incidental or punitive losses or damages; (vi) any claim, damage or loss (whether direct or indirect) arising from or relating to: (a) your inability to use the Software to contact Emergency Services; (b) your failure to make additional arrangements to access Emergency Services; (vii) any product or service provided by a third party; and (viii) to the extent permitted by law, direct losses or damages in excess of the caps specified in section 10(a) above. These limitations and exclusions apply if this remedy doesn't fully compensate you for any losses or fails of its essential purpose or if we knew or should have known about the possibility of the damages. To the maximum extent permitted by law, these limitations and exclusions apply to anything or any claims related to these Terms, the Services, or the software related to the Services.
c. Sify is not responsible or liable for any failure to perform or delay in performing its obligations under these Terms to the extent that the failure or delay is caused by circumstances beyond Sify’s reasonable control (such as labor disputes, acts of God, war or terrorist activity, malicious damage, accidents or compliance with any applicable law or government order). Sify will endeavor to minimize the effects of any of these events and to perform the obligations that aren’t affected.
11. Miscellaneous.
This section, and sections 7 (for amounts incurred before the end of these Terms), 8, 9, 10 and those that by their terms apply after these Terms end will survive any termination or cancellation of these Terms. We may assign these Terms, subcontract our obligations under these Terms, or sublicense our rights under these Terms, in whole or in part, at any time without notice to you. You may not assign these Terms or transfer any rights to use the Services. In the event that there is any conflict between these Terms and the Microsoft Services Agreement, then these Terms shall take precedence, to the extent that they relate to the Services. In entering into these Terms, you have not relied on any statement, representation, warranty, understanding, undertaking, promise or assurance other than as expressly set out in these Terms. All parts of these Terms apply to the maximum extent permitted by relevant law. If a court holds that we can't enforce a part of these Terms as written, we may replace those terms with similar terms to the extent enforceable under the relevant law, but the rest of these Terms won't change. These Terms are solely for your and our benefit. These Terms are not for the benefit of any other person, except for Sify’s successors and assigns. Section headings are for reference only and have no legal effect.
12. Claims Must Be Filed Within One Year.
Any claim related to these Terms or the Services must be filed in court within one year of the date you could first file the claim. If not filed within that time, then it's permanently barred.
13. Export Laws.
You must comply with all domestic and international export laws and regulations that apply to the software and/or Services, which include restrictions on destinations, end users, and end use. For further information on geographic and export restrictions, visit http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=141397 and http://www.microsoft.com/exporting.
