Terms of Service

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. Applying for ChatKatalog

ChatKatalog is launching with a curated first-150 founding-seller group. You apply by completing the form at /apply. We review every application personally and reply on WhatsApp within three business days. Approval is at our discretion. Until your application is approved, signup is gated. Approved applicants receive a one-time invite link valid for 14 days; if you don't complete signup within that window, the invite expires (see /privacy section 6 for what we do with the application data after that).

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. Founding Sellers — 3 months of Pro, free

The first 150 approved applicants receive ChatKatalog Pro free for three months from the day you complete signup. After the trial, Pro auto-renews at the price published on /pricing on the day you signed up. We honour that price for your first 12 months on Pro from the day signup completes (the "price lock"), even if our published pricing changes during that period. The price lock applies to the same Pro tier and stops if you downgrade or churn. Survivability of the price lock across corporate events (sale, restructure, sunsetting of the Pro tier) is subject to lawyer review at our M4.6 audit — see /docs/legal-deferred.md tracked publicly through the repository.

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. 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 (workflow pending lawyer review).
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

ChatKatalog does not process payments. We do not hold buyer card numbers, bank account details, or other payment instruments. 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. Manual onboarding (founding sellers)

Approved founding sellers receive a personal onboarding call (Zoom or WhatsApp video — your choice, scheduled by us). The call covers shop setup, listing your first products, and basic operations. The call is not recorded. If you would prefer to onboard yourself without the call, tell us — the seller dashboard is fully self-service.

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. The founding-seller 12-month price lock in section 4 supersedes this notice period for the 150 applicable accounts. Existing billing cycles 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.

Account inactivity and shop removal

We may pause or remove shops that show no activity over an extended period. Specifically:

• Shops created with no products added: we send reminder emails at 14 and 30 days. If no products are added by day 60, your shop subdomain enters a paused state and your shop URL stops resolving for buyers. At day 90, if no products have been added, the shop and all its data are permanently deleted. You can prevent this at any time by logging in and adding at least one product.
• Shops with products but no admin activity or new orders for 180 days: we send a reminder at day 170. At day 180, the shop is soft-suspended for 30 days. You can reactivate it by logging in. After the 30-day grace period, if there is still no activity, the shop and its data may be permanently deleted.
• Shops with recent traffic, orders, or admin activity 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.