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Terms

Terms of Service

Last updated: 14 July 2026

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1. Acceptance

By creating a ChatKatalog account, you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, don't use the service. We may update these terms; material changes will be announced via email to the address on your account, and the "Last updated" date at the top of this page is authoritative.

2. Signing up for ChatKatalog

ChatKatalog is open to every Sri Lankan SME seller. You sign up at /signup using Google or email; there is no application form, no approval queue, and no waiting list. Every new shop starts on Pro for 45 days free. You agree to these Terms, our /privacy policy, and the seller /guidelines at signup. We may suspend or close accounts that violate the guidelines or these Terms (see section 11 for the closure tiers).

3. Your account

You are responsible for keeping your login credentials safe and for the activity on your account. One account per legal entity. You must be at least 18. We may suspend accounts that breach these terms.

4. The 45-day Pro free trial

Every new shop starts on ChatKatalog Pro for 45 days from the day you complete signup. No card is required at signup. We email you at day 38 and again at day 45 so the day-46 transition is never a surprise. On day 46 your shop moves to the Free tier automatically — your products, categories, and shop URL all stay live. Anything beyond the Free caps (extra products, extra images, extra variation depth) is preserved but hidden from your public catalog; if you upgrade back to Pro at any point those items return to view. Pro is currently provided free of charge; LKR billing for Pro is coming soon (see /pricing for the standard rate). Pro can also be granted manually by ChatKatalog where appropriate; reach out via the contact section on /.

5. Your content (publishing tool, not a marketplace)

You retain ownership of every product, image, and description you upload. You grant us a limited, non-exclusive licence to host and display that content as required to run your shop. ChatKatalog is a publishing and catalog tool — we display your listings; we do not sell them on your behalf. The contract for the goods is between you and the buyer. You confirm you have the right to upload everything you upload, including any necessary licences for images and product descriptions.

6. Acceptable use and prohibited items

ChatKatalog is for legitimate Sri Lankan sellers. The categories below are not permitted on the platform, and these restrictions apply equally to services offered for booking — not only to physical goods. Suspected violations are reviewed manually; confirmed violations are removed; repeat violations result in suspension. The list is illustrative, not exhaustive.

  1. Illegal narcotics and controlled substances regulated under the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance.
  2. Firearms, ammunition, explosives, knives and other weapons regulated under the Firearms Ordinance.
  3. Tobacco and tobacco products regulated under the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol Act.
  4. Alcoholic beverages, unless the seller holds a valid Excise Department licence — pre-approval required from ChatKatalog before listing.
  5. Pharmaceuticals, prescription medicines, and medical devices regulated by the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA).
  6. Adult content, sexual services, escort services, and other materials regulated under the Obscene Publications Ordinance.
  7. Counterfeit, replica, or otherwise infringing goods (trademarks, copyrights, patents) under the Intellectual Property Act.
  8. Wildlife, protected fauna, protected flora, ivory, and animal parts regulated under the Flora and Fauna Protection Ordinance.
  9. Antiquities, archaeological artefacts, and other items regulated under the Antiquities Ordinance.
  10. Live animals, unless permits from the Department of Animal Production and Health are in place.
  11. Currency, securities, lottery tickets, gambling services, and other financial instruments restricted to licensed dealers.
  12. Stolen goods, or goods you do not have lawful authority to sell.
  13. Hazardous chemicals, fireworks, asbestos, and other materials whose retail sale is restricted under Sri Lankan environmental or safety law.
  14. Items that violate human dignity — human remains, organs, blood — or goods marketed primarily as instruments of harassment or hatred against any community.

7. Service availability

We aim for high availability but do not currently offer a formal uptime SLA. Where scheduled maintenance is likely to disrupt sellers, we provide at least 24 hours' notice through the admin dashboard or via email. The service is provided "as is", without warranty of fitness for any particular purpose.

8. ChatKatalog does not process payments and takes no commission

ChatKatalog does not process payments and charges no commission on any sale. We do not hold buyer card numbers, bank account details, or other payment instruments, and we take no cut of the transaction amount — the full order value flows directly between buyer and seller. When a buyer checks out, our software composes a pre-filled WhatsApp message that opens the buyer's own WhatsApp; the conversation, the order confirmation, the payment, and the fulfilment all happen between buyer and seller through WhatsApp and the seller's own payment methods (bank transfer, cash on delivery, or the seller's own payment processor — outside ChatKatalog). Disputes about an order, a payment, or a refund are between the buyer and the seller. ChatKatalog is not a party to any transaction.

9. Help with onboarding

The seller dashboard is fully self-service. If you would prefer a personal walkthrough (Zoom or WhatsApp video — your choice, scheduled by us), message us via the contact section on / and we will set one up where capacity permits. The call covers shop setup, listing your first products, and basic operations. The call is not recorded.

10. Pricing and changes

The free tier remains free as described on /pricing. Paid tier pricing may change with 30 days' notice to active subscribers. Existing billing cycles, once LKR billing ships, are honoured at the price you signed up at.

11. Termination

You may close your account any time from your dashboard. We may close accounts for breach of these terms on the following tiers: (a) immediate suspension for prohibited-items violations, fraud, or any conduct that puts other sellers or buyers at risk; (b) 7 days to cure for material breaches (e.g. account-sharing, unpaid invoices on Pro); (c) 30 days' notice for closures for our convenience (e.g. winding down the launch group if we discontinue the platform). On closure, you have 30 days to export your data; after that window, data is deleted in line with /privacy section 6.

12. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of Sri Lanka. Disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Colombo. There is no mandatory arbitration clause.

13. Contact

Questions about these terms: legal@chatkatalog.com.

14. Payment details and disputes

Sellers are responsible for the accuracy of the payment information they provide (bank account details, QR codes, payment links). ChatKatalog displays this information but does not process payments and does not verify bank account validity; disputes arising from incorrect payment information are between buyer and seller. Payment details on order pages are masked by default — the seller controls when to share full details with each buyer through a dashboard action, and ChatKatalog logs every share action with the seller's account ID and timestamp. Shared payment details remain visible to the buyer for 7 days from the share, or until the order status changes to Confirmed or Cancelled, whichever comes first. Sellers can re-share or hide details at any time.

15. Bookings and services

Some shops list services that a buyer can request or book. A booking request sent through ChatKatalog is an arrangement between the buyer and the seller — ChatKatalog is not a party to it. The seller's own cancellation, no-show, and refund policy governs the booking; ChatKatalog does not mediate booking disputes. Sellers offering services must hold any licence, registration, or qualification their trade requires under Sri Lankan law (for example clinics, tour guides, or vehicle rentals). Any credentials a seller shows on their shop are self-declared: ChatKatalog does not verify them and makes no representation about a seller's qualifications. The acceptable-use and prohibited-listing rules in section 6 apply to services just as they do to goods.

Account inactivity and shop removal

ChatKatalog protects active shops and removes only those that go fully dormant. The current rules:

  • Shops that don't complete the publish-gate checks within 14 days of signup are moved to an archived state. This removes test or abandoned shops that never went live to buyers.
  • Shops that have published but receive no admin logins for 365 days enter the long-inactivity pipeline: pre-archive warning at day 365, archived state at day 395 (public URL stops resolving but data is preserved), final notice at day 730, permanent deletion at day 760. Archived shops can be restored at any time by emailing legal@chatkatalog.com.
  • Shops with regular admin activity, new orders, or new products are never auto-deleted.

If you want to keep a shop indefinitely without using it, contact us before any inactivity threshold and we will mark it manually preserved.

For the trial-specific retention timing (120-day excess-content window after the 45-day Pro trial ends), see section 14 of our Privacy Policy .

Lawyer-deferred clauses

Limitation of liability and indemnification clauses are intentionally not yet set; they will be added in a future update after Sri Lankan-qualified counsel review. Until then, Sri Lankan general contract and tort law governs.