APPLIED POLICY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE COUNCIL

Human Intelligence First

Terms of Use

Binding terms governing access to and use of the APAiCouncil website and Services.

Effective Date: 01 March 2026

Last Updated: 28 May 2026

This document is a defensively-drafted template prepared for the Applied Policy Artificial Intelligence Council ("APAiCouncil", "the Council", "we", "us", "our"). It reflects accepted international practice as at the effective date above and is intended to support the Council’s compliance posture across India (the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025), the European Union and the United Kingdom (the General Data Protection Regulation and the UK GDPR), the State of California (the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act), and other applicable data-protection regimes. The Council recommends qualified legal review prior to publication. Bracketed placeholders must be completed.

These Terms of Use (the "Terms") form a binding agreement between you and Applied Policy Artificial Intelligence Council ("APAiCouncil", "we", "us", "our") and govern your access to and use of the Council’s website at www.apaicouncil.org, all sub-domains, content, communications, donations, events, programmes, and other services made available by the Council (collectively, the "Services"). By accessing or using the Services, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and by the Council’s Privacy Policy and Cookie Notice, each of which is incorporated by reference. If you do not agree, do not use the Services.

By using the Services, you represent and warrant that you are at least eighteen (18) years of age and have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement under the laws of your jurisdiction. Where you use the Services on behalf of an organisation, you represent that you are authorised to bind that organisation, and references to "you" include such organisation.

The Council may modify these Terms or the Services at any time. Material modifications will be notified through the Website or by direct communication where required. Continued use of the Services after a modification takes effect constitutes acceptance of the modified Terms. The Council reserves the right, at any time and without notice, to discontinue, suspend, or alter any part of the Services.

Where the Services require registration, you agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information, and to keep such information updated. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any credentials and for all activities that occur under your account. The Council reserves the right to refuse, suspend, or terminate any registration or account at its discretion, in accordance with applicable law.

You agree not to, and not to permit any third party to:

· use the Services in any manner that violates applicable law or the rights of any person, including the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Indian Penal Code, 1860 / Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and applicable data-protection, intellectual-property, anti-discrimination, and anti-fraud laws;

· upload, post, transmit, or otherwise make available content that is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, hateful, threatening, harassing, infringing, deceptive, or that constitutes child sexual abuse material;

· impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent an affiliation;

· interfere with or disrupt the Services or servers or networks connected to the Services, including by introducing malware, viruses, worms, or other harmful code, or by attempting to gain unauthorised access;

· use any robot, spider, scraper, or other automated means to access the Services for any purpose without the Council’s prior written consent;

· decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to derive source code from any software components of the Services;

· use the Services to train artificial intelligence or machine-learning models without the Council’s prior written consent;

· use the Services to send unsolicited bulk communications, conduct surveillance, harvest information, or carry out activities that would breach the rights or expectations of any person;

· use the Services in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair them or interfere with any other party’s use and enjoyment.

The Council reserves the right, but is not obliged, to monitor use of the Services and to investigate suspected violations. The Council may suspend or terminate access for any user who, in the Council’s sole determination, has violated these Terms or applicable law.

All content made available through the Services, including text, graphics, logos, icons, images, audio and video clips, downloads, data compilations, software, design elements, and the selection and arrangement thereof (collectively, the "Council Content"), is owned by the Council or its licensors and is protected by copyright, trademark, database, and other applicable laws. The Council and "APAiCouncil" and the tagline "Human Intelligence First" are trademarks or service marks of the Council. Nothing in these Terms grants you any right or licence to use any Council trademark or service mark.

Subject to your continued compliance with these Terms, the Council grants you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable licence to access and use the Services and the Council Content for personal, non-commercial, informational purposes. Any other use, including any reproduction, modification, distribution, transmission, republication, display, or performance of the Council Content, requires the prior written consent of the Council.

Notwithstanding Section 6.2, the Council permits limited quotation, citation, and criticism of the Council Content under doctrines of fair dealing or fair use under applicable copyright law, provided that the Council is credited with appropriate attribution and a link to the source page on the Website.

If you submit, post, upload, or otherwise make available any content to the Council through the Services ("User Content"), including comments, awards nominations, applications, event materials, photographs, or correspondence, you represent and warrant that you own or have all necessary rights to such User Content and that its submission and the Council’s use of it as contemplated by these Terms does not infringe any third-party rights.

You grant the Council a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicensable, transferable licence to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, and otherwise exploit such User Content in connection with the Council’s research, publications, communications, and operations, in any media now known or hereafter devised, with appropriate attribution where reasonably practicable. Where User Content contains Personal Data of third parties, you represent that you have obtained any consents required by applicable law to enable the Council to Process such Personal Data.

Donations to the Council are voluntary contributions in support of its public-interest research and policy work. Except where required by applicable law, donations are non-refundable. Donations from sources outside India may be subject to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, and may be accepted only in accordance with that Act and the rules thereunder. Where applicable, the Council may issue receipts under Section 80G of the Income-tax Act, 1961; eligibility for any tax benefit is governed by the law of your jurisdiction, and the Council makes no representation in that regard.

Participation in events and programmes organised by the Council is subject to such additional terms as may be notified by the Council, including registration terms, codes of conduct, recording and image consent, and cancellation and refund policies. By attending an event, you consent to the recording of the event and the use of photographs, audio, and video for the Council’s editorial, archival, and promotional purposes, subject to applicable law and any specific notice given at the event.

The Services may contain links to or interoperate with third-party websites, services, or content. The Council does not endorse and is not responsible for any third-party content. Your use of third-party services is governed by their terms and policies.

The Council’s Processing of Personal Data is governed by its Privacy Policy, available at www.apaicouncil.org/legal/privacy, and the Cookie Notice, available at www.apaicouncil.org/legal/cookies. By using the Services, you acknowledge that you have read the Privacy Policy and the Cookie Notice.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE SERVICES AND THE COUNCIL CONTENT ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE", WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR QUIET ENJOYMENT, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING OUT OF COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE. THE COUNCIL DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, ERROR-FREE, OR FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS, OR THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED.

THE COUNCIL CONTENT IS PROVIDED FOR GENERAL INFORMATION AND POLICY-ANALYSIS PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL, FINANCIAL, MEDICAL, TAX, INVESTMENT, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. YOU SHOULD NOT ACT OR REFRAIN FROM ACTING ON THE BASIS OF ANY COUNCIL CONTENT WITHOUT SEEKING APPROPRIATE PROFESSIONAL ADVICE BASED ON YOUR SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COUNCIL, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, COUNCIL MEMBERS, EMPLOYEES, RESEARCHERS, AGENTS, CONTRACTORS, VOLUNTEERS, LICENSORS, OR SERVICE PROVIDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, USE, OR OTHER ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE SERVICES, EVEN IF THE COUNCIL HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF THE COUNCIL TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICES SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) INR 5,000 (FIVE THOUSAND INDIAN RUPEES) OR (B) THE AMOUNT YOU HAVE PAID TO THE COUNCIL IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM. THIS LIMITATION APPLIES IN AGGREGATE AND NOT PER INCIDENT.

NOTHING IN THESE TERMS EXCLUDES OR LIMITS ANY LIABILITY WHICH CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW, INCLUDING LIABILITY FOR DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY CAUSED BY NEGLIGENCE, FRAUD, OR FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATION.

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Council and its officers, directors, Council members, employees, researchers, agents, contractors, volunteers, licensors, and service providers from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of the Services; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) your violation of any rights of a third party, including intellectual-property and privacy rights; (d) any User Content you submit; or (e) your violation of applicable law. The Council reserves the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defence and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify the Council, and you agree to cooperate with the Council’s defence.

The Council may suspend or terminate your access to the Services at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice, including for any violation or suspected violation of these Terms or applicable law. Upon termination, the licences granted to you under these Terms will immediately cease, and you must stop using the Services. Sections 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, and 20 survive termination of these Terms.

The Council shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performance under these Terms to the extent caused by events beyond its reasonable control, including acts of God, natural disasters, epidemics or pandemics, governmental action, war, terrorism, civil unrest, labour disputes, failure of telecommunications or internet service providers, cyber-attacks, or other force majeure events.

These Terms and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them, their subject matter, or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) are governed by, and shall be construed in accordance with, the laws of the Republic of India, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles.

In the event of any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services (a "Dispute"), the parties shall first attempt to resolve the Dispute through good-faith negotiation. Either party may initiate negotiation by sending written notice describing the Dispute to the other party. The parties shall use reasonable efforts to resolve the Dispute within thirty (30) days of such notice.

Any Dispute not resolved through negotiation within the time set out in Section 18.1 shall be referred to and finally resolved by arbitration in accordance with the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The arbitration shall be conducted by a sole arbitrator appointed by the Council. The seat and venue of arbitration shall be [New Delhi], India. The language of the arbitration shall be English. The award of the arbitrator shall be final and binding. The parties expressly waive any right to participate in a class, collective, or representative action.

Subject to Section 18.2, the courts at [New Delhi], India shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any Dispute, including any proceeding for interim or equitable relief in support of arbitration.

If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable by a court or tribunal of competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid, legal, and enforceable, and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect. The failure of the Council to enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and Cookie Notice and any other terms expressly incorporated by reference, constitute the entire agreement between you and the Council in relation to the subject matter and supersede all prior or contemporaneous agreements, communications, and proposals. Notices to the Council shall be sent to [info@apaicouncil.org] or to the registered office set out in the Privacy Policy. Notices to you may be given by email to the address you have provided to the Council, or by posting to the Website.

You may not assign or transfer these Terms or any rights or obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of the Council. The Council may assign or transfer these Terms and any rights and obligations hereunder, in whole or in part, without your consent.

Applied Policy Artificial Intelligence Council

Registered Office: [RTIH, IIDT campus TIRUPATI, Tirupati Airport Road, Near Celkon Company, Renigunta, Andhra Pradesh, India]

General contact: [info@apaicouncil.org]

Data Protection Officer: [dpo@apaicouncil.org]

Grievance Officer: [grievance@apaicouncil.org]

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Human Intelligence First