Vendor Terms & Conditions

1. Onboarding & Setup Fee

By registering as a Cloud Kitchen or Manufacturer on The Homtaurants (and its sister brand Munchak — by The Homtaurants), you (the "Vendor") agree to pay the applicable one-time setup fee. The setup fee is displayed to you before submission and is non-refundable once your account has been activated by the platform admin.

2. Platform Commission

The Vendor agrees to a 20% platform commission on the gross value of every delivered order routed through The Homtaurants. Commission is calculated on the post-discount order total. Payouts to the Vendor equal the order total less commission.

3. Payments — Razorpay & Manual UPI

Customer payments are collected exclusively by The Homtaurants via its designated online payment gateway (currently Razorpay, live from 2026) with a manual UPI QR fallback. Vendor setup fees may be paid via either channel. For the manual UPI fallback, the Vendor is responsible for reconciling customer UTRs against their bank statement before confirming the order. The platform is not liable for fraudulent, delayed, or reversed UPI transactions on the manual channel.

4. Food Safety, Quality & Labelling

The Vendor represents and warrants that (a) all food items and packaged products are prepared and stored in compliance with applicable food-safety laws (FSSAI or the equivalent local regulator); (b) ingredient lists, allergen declarations, and nutrition information are accurate and truthful; (c) product images uploaded to the platform fairly represent the item served or shipped; and (d) all healthy-kids claims (sugar-free, preservative-free, high-protein, etc.) are substantiated.

5. Minimum Order & Promo Codes

The Vendor may set a Minimum Order Value (Cloud Kitchen) or Minimum Order Quantity (Manufacturer) and generate promotional codes offering a percentage discount. The Vendor bears the full cost of any promotional discount. Platform commission is calculated on the discounted total.

6. Fulfilment & Refunds

The Vendor is responsible for timely order fulfilment as per their published "Open & Serving" status and configured hours. In case of a valid customer complaint (missing item, spoilage, incorrect order), the Vendor agrees to issue a refund via UPI within 3 business days.

7. Intellectual Property & Content

The Vendor grants The Homtaurants a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to display the Vendor's business name, logo, product photographs, and menu descriptions on the platform. The Vendor warrants that they own or have rights to all uploaded content.

8. Account Suspension & Termination

The platform reserves the right to suspend or permanently remove a Vendor account (including cascading deletion of menus, plans, and reviews) for repeated food-safety complaints, fraudulent UTRs, breach of these terms, or a prolonged closed status without an active schedule.

9. Data & Recovery

The Vendor is responsible for keeping their contact details, security question, and recovery answer up to date. Historical customer order records are preserved even after account removal, subject to applicable data-protection laws.

10. Governing Law

These terms are governed by the laws of India. Any dispute shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

11. Order Management

All customer orders placed through the Platform shall be transmitted to the respective Manufacturer or Cloud Kitchen through its registered merchant account created on www.thehomtaurants.in. The Manufacturer / Cloud Kitchen shall be solely responsible for timely acceptance, preparation, packaging, and fulfilment of such orders in accordance with the quality and service standards prescribed by The Homtaurants.

12. Payment Collection and Settlement

(a) All payments from customers shall be collected exclusively by The Homtaurants through its designated online payment gateway, including but not limited to Razorpay.

(b) Razorpay presently follows a T+2 settlement cycle (or such revised settlement cycle as may be prescribed by Razorpay from time to time). Subject to successful receipt of funds from the payment gateway and after adjustment of applicable commissions, taxes, refunds, chargebacks, deductions, or other applicable charges, The Homtaurants shall endeavour to remit the net payable amount to the Manufacturer / Cloud Kitchen within T+3 business days from the date of receipt of settlement from the payment gateway.

(c) The Homtaurants shall not be liable for any delay in settlement arising on account of the payment gateway, banking channels, regulatory requirements, force majeure events, or circumstances beyond its reasonable control.

13. Online Payments Only

The Platform shall operate strictly on a prepaid online payment model. No Cash on Delivery (COD) facility shall be offered. Customers shall be required to complete payment through the payment options made available on the Platform before an order is confirmed and processed.

14. GST Compliance

(a) The Manufacturer / Cloud Kitchen shall be solely responsible for determining its liability under the applicable Goods and Services Tax ("GST") laws.

(b) Wherever applicable, GST shall be levied, collected, invoiced, and deposited by the Manufacturer / Cloud Kitchen in its own name and under its own GST registration.

(c) The Homtaurants shall not be responsible for the GST compliance obligations of any Manufacturer or Cloud Kitchen. Registration under GST shall be obtained by the Manufacturer / Cloud Kitchen as and when mandated under the applicable provisions of law or upon crossing the prescribed statutory threshold.

15. Food Safety Licence

Each Manufacturer and Cloud Kitchen shall obtain, maintain, and renew, at its own cost, all applicable licences, registrations, approvals, and permits required under applicable laws, including but not limited to a valid FSSAI licence / registration, in its own name. The Manufacturer / Cloud Kitchen shall ensure continuous compliance with all food safety, hygiene, packaging, labelling, and regulatory requirements. The Homtaurants reserves the right to suspend or remove any listing in the event of non-compliance.

16. Operational Availability and Termination

(a) Subject to these Terms, a Cloud Kitchen may mark itself as "Open" or "Closed" on the Platform based on its operational convenience and availability.

(b) Notwithstanding the above, once the Manufacturer / Cloud Kitchen has accepted recurring or subscription-based orders, including but not limited to school tiffin subscription services, it shall remain obligated to fulfil such orders for the entire committed subscription period in accordance with the agreed schedule and service standards.

(c) The Manufacturer / Cloud Kitchen may terminate its association with The Homtaurants only by providing not less than sixty (60) days' prior written notice. During the notice period, the Manufacturer / Cloud Kitchen shall continue to honour and fulfil all pending, confirmed, recurring, and subscription-based orders unless otherwise mutually agreed in writing by The Homtaurants.

17. Privacy Policy

The Homtaurants collects, stores, and processes personal data — name, email, phone number, delivery address, order history, and payment references — solely for the purposes of account creation, order fulfilment, customer support, statutory compliance, and (where separately consented) service updates. Data is processed lawfully, fairly, and in accordance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 ("DPDP Act") and the rules notified thereunder. Full details are available at /privacy.

18. Cookie Policy

The Platform uses only strictly necessary cookies and local storage entries required to keep you logged in, remember your cart, and enable secure checkout. No third-party advertising cookies are placed. You may clear this data at any time from your browser settings; doing so will log you out.

19. Children's Privacy Policy

The Platform is intended for adults (18 years and above). Personal data of a child (under 18) may be processed only with verifiable consent of a parent or lawful guardian, and strictly for the purpose of fulfilling meal / subscription orders on the child's behalf. The Homtaurants does not undertake behavioural profiling, tracking, or targeted advertising directed at children.

20. Data Retention Policy

Personal data is retained only for as long as necessary for the stated purpose or as required by applicable law (e.g., 8 years for GST invoices under Section 36 of the CGST Act). Upon account deletion or a valid erasure request, data is deleted or anonymised within thirty (30) days, except where retention is legally mandated.

21. Security Practices

Passwords are bcrypt-hashed; API sessions use signed JWTs with short expiry; payments run over TLS via a PCI-DSS-compliant gateway (Razorpay). Access to personal data is restricted to authorised personnel on a need-to-know basis. The Platform undertakes reasonable technical and organisational measures as prescribed under Section 8(5) of the DPDP Act.

22. Data Principal Rights

As a Data Principal under the DPDP Act, you have the right to: (a) access a summary of your personal data being processed; (b) correction, completion, or updating of inaccurate or outdated data; (c) erasure of personal data no longer necessary for the purpose collected; (d) nominate another individual to exercise these rights in the event of your death or incapacity; and (e) grievance redressal (see Section 25). Requests may be raised through the Privacy Request Portal below.

23. Consent Withdrawal Form

You may withdraw any consent previously granted, at any time, with the same ease with which it was given. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal. To withdraw, email foundingfoodie@thehomtaurants.in from your registered email address stating "Consent Withdrawal", or use the in-app form at /privacy/withdraw. Requests are acted upon within thirty (30) days.

24. Privacy Request Portal

All Data Principal requests (access, correction, erasure, nomination, portability, withdrawal) can be raised at /privacy/withdraw or by writing to foundingfoodie@thehomtaurants.in. You will receive an acknowledgment within seven (7) business days and a substantive response within thirty (30) days.

25. Grievance Redressal Policy

In case of any concern regarding the processing of your personal data or an unresolved privacy request, you may contact our Grievance Officer:

If the grievance is not resolved to your satisfaction within thirty (30) days, you may escalate to the Data Protection Board of India constituted under the DPDP Act.

26. Consent Withdrawal via Email

Customers may withdraw consent for the processing of their personal data at any time by sending a data withdrawal request from their registered email address to foundingfoodie@thehomtaurants.in. Upon receipt, we will delete or anonymise personal data within thirty (30) days, except where retention is required under applicable law (e.g., GST records).