Last updated: 2026-07-03 · Sevasannidhi LLP, Shimoga, India

Plain summary: SevaCart helps you discover temples, priests, and sevas, and pay for them safely. The seva itself is performed by the listed temple or priest (the "Partner") – not by SevaCart. We process your payment, send you the receipt, route your funds to the Partner, and help you raise a dispute if something goes wrong. By using the app or website you agree to these terms.

1. Who you are agreeing with

These Terms are a binding contract between you (the "Devotee") and Sevasannidhi LLP, the company that operates SevaCart, with registered office at No. 53, Mutaguppe Village Post, Soraba Taluk, Shimoga District, Karnataka 577434.

You must be 18 years or older, or be using the app under the supervision of a parent or guardian who accepts these Terms on your behalf.

2. What SevaCart is

2.1. SevaCart is an e-commerce entity under Section 2(16) of the Consumer Protection Act 2019 and an intermediary under Section 2(1)(w) of the Information Technology Act 2000. We provide a marketplace, payment routing, receipts, and a dispute flow.

2.2. SevaCart does not perform sevas, employ priests, own the temples or institutions listed, certify ritual correctness, or guarantee spiritual efficacy. Each listed entity is an independent Partner.

2.3. Partner verification: All institutions listed on SevaCart undergo identity and document verification (KYC) before their listing is published. SevaCart may suspend a Partner pending re-verification at any time. However, KYC verifies identity, not the quality or regularity of seva performance; SevaCart does not warrant the continuing ritual standards of any Partner.

3. Your seva contract is with the Partner

3.1. When you make an offering, your payment is for a service supplied by the Partner listed on that seva page. SevaCart is not a party to that underlying religious-service contract. SevaCart is the platform that brings you and the Partner together and the agent that collects payment, retains its disclosed platform fee, and remits the seva amount to the Partner.

3.2. The Partner is responsible for performing the seva on the date of the offering, strictly in accordance with the tradition, agama (canonical scripture set), paddhati (procedural ritual manual), and parampara (guru-disciple lineage) that the Partner has declared on the institute's public listing. These declarations are visible to you on every temple page so you can choose an institute whose tradition matches your intent. Once published, the Partner cannot change these declarations through self-service; material changes require SevaCart admin review and are recorded in an audit log, so the tradition listed on the day you made the offering is the tradition you are entitled to. The Partner is also responsible for uploading proof (photograph or short video) where the seva listing promises it.

3.3. If you are particular about a specific tradition or lineage (for example, you require strictly Vaikhanasa Pancharatra worship, or only a Madhva paddhati, or only a priest from a specific sampradaya), please confirm the institute's declared tradition before you make an offering. SevaCart shows the declared values prominently for this purpose. SevaCart does not adjudicate disagreements over religious authority between different schools. See Wisdom – Choosing a temple for a plain-language explainer of what each label means + how to use it to pick the right temple.

3.4. If you believe the Partner did not perform the seva, or performed it incorrectly, you may raise a dispute through the in-app dispute flow within fifteen (15) days of the offered seva date. SevaCart will mediate in good faith but is not the adjudicator of religious correctness. If the Partner disputes your claim or does not respond within seven (7) calendar days, SevaCart's Grievance Officer will adjudicate based on platform records (offering confirmation, proof uploads, communication logs) and may process a refund unilaterally where evidence supports non-performance.

3.5. Force majeure. Neither SevaCart nor the Partner shall be liable for failure to perform their obligations due to causes beyond reasonable control, including natural disasters, acts of God, government orders, temple closures by competent authority, communal disturbances, epidemic or pandemic declarations, or extended power failures. The affected party will notify you within 48 hours and use reasonable efforts to reschedule or refund.

4. Payments, fees, refunds

4.1. Payments are processed by Cashfree Payments India Private Limited, a Reserve Bank of India authorised payment aggregator. SevaCart does not store your card details.

4.2. The price you see at checkout is the total you pay, shown as itemised lines — the seva amount plus a small platform fee (the fee schedule is published at /pricing). SevaCart retains the platform fee for running the service and remits the seva amount to the Partner; you are never charged more than the total shown.

4.3. Cancellation window. Each Partner sets a cancellation window for each seva (default: 24 hours before the offered date). For a cancellation inside the window, the refund is initiated to your original payment method within 1 working day; the bank credit then reaches you in 7–10 business days, depending on your bank or card network. See the refund policy for the calculation and the cancellation policy for the mechanics.

4.4. Outside the window. Refund requests outside the cancellation window are forwarded to the Partner for good-faith consideration. SevaCart does not unilaterally release funds back from the Partner once the cancellation window has closed. SevaCart may, at its sole discretion, facilitate a partial refund in exceptional circumstances (bereavement, medical emergency) documented and submitted to grievance@sevacart.com within 48 hours of the offered date, subject to the Partner's agreement.

4.4A. You will not be charged any amount beyond the total displayed on the checkout screen.

4.5. Partner non-performance. If the Partner confirms in writing (or via the dispute flow) that the seva was not performed, SevaCart will process a full refund out of the next settlement payable to the Partner.

5. Offerings, dakshina, prasada

5.1. Contributions marked as such on the listing are direct gifts to the Partner. The Partner is responsible for issuing any 80G or 12A receipt that may apply. SevaCart does not issue tax-deduction certificates on behalf of the Partner.

5.2. Dakshina paid to a priest is paid to the priest's vendor account configured by the Partner. SevaCart does not adjudicate the appropriateness of dakshina amounts.

5.3. Where prasada or physical items are promised, fulfilment is the Partner's responsibility (Indian Post / courier or pickup). SevaCart facilitates address collection only.

5A. Cash on Delivery (prasad only)

Cash on Delivery (prasad only). Cash on Delivery, where offered, applies solely to the physical prasad parcel; the seva itself is always paid online. The amount payable on delivery (the prasad price plus a cash-handling charge) is collected in cash by the institution's own courier. A cash-on-delivery prasad parcel that is refused, returned, or left undelivered is non-refundable, as the prasad is sanctified and perishable and is dispatched specifically for you. SevaCart does not handle the cash collected on delivery; it is collected and retained by the institution.

6. Causes & temple contribution campaigns

6.1. SevaCart enables Partner institutions to list temple contribution campaigns (renovation, annadana, gauseva, festival, general welfare – collectively "Causes") alongside their regular seva catalogue. Causes are distinct from sevas: they are open-ended or time-bound campaigns where your contribution is pooled for a stated purpose.

6.2. Contributions to Causes are not guaranteed to be tax-deductible. Tax deductibility under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act 1961 depends on each institution's own registration status, which SevaCart does not certify. The Partner institution is solely responsible for issuing any 80G certificate (Form 10BE) and fulfilling all reporting obligations.

6.3. SevaCart may collect and forward your PAN to the Partner institution to assist with statutory reporting (see §7). SevaCart does not verify PAN accuracy.

6.4. Contributions to Causes are generally non-refundable once disbursed to the institution. Where a campaign is cancelled before disbursement, SevaCart will facilitate a refund to your original payment method; the refund is initiated within 1 working day of the campaign being cancelled and the bank credit reaches you in 7–10 business days.

7. PAN collection for tax records

7.1. SevaCart may request your Permanent Account Number (PAN) at checkout when your cart includes a Cause contribution. Providing your PAN is optional but may be required by the Partner institution to issue an 80G certificate.

7.2. Your PAN, once saved to your profile, is auto-filled at future checkouts. You may update or remove it at any time from your Profile page.

7.3. SevaCart does not verify PAN. You are responsible for the accuracy of the PAN you provide. SevaCart shares it with the relevant Partner institution for their statutory reporting only and will not use it for any other purpose.

7.4. PAN is stored under our Privacy Policy and the DPDP Act 2023. You may request deletion by writing to grievance@sevacart.com.

8. Acceptable use & intellectual property

You agree not to:

Submit false or impersonating devotee information (name, gotra, nakshatra, contact).
Use SevaCart to launder funds, route prohibited foreign contributions, or evade taxes.
Post defamatory, obscene, or hate-inciting content in reviews, sankalpas, or messages.
Attempt to compromise the platform's security, scrape data, or evade fraud controls.
Resell, rebrand, or commercially exploit any listing, image, or content from SevaCart without written permission.

Breach of this section may result in immediate account suspension, refund hold pending investigation, and reporting to law enforcement.

Intellectual property. All content on the SevaCart platform – including text, graphics, logos, photographs, jyotisha computation outputs, audio, video, platform code, design, and database structure – is owned by Sevasannidhi LLP or its licensors and is protected under the Copyright Act 1957, Trade Marks Act 1999, and applicable international intellectual property laws. Your use of SevaCart grants you a limited, personal, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable licence to access and use the platform for its intended devotional purpose only. No copyright, trademark, patent, or trade-secret rights are transferred to you by these Terms or by your use of the platform. Content you submit (sankalpa text, devotee profile photograph) remains yours; by submitting it you grant Sevasannidhi LLP a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to store, display, and transmit it solely for the purpose of delivering your seva and maintaining your offering record.

9. Privacy & your data

9.1. We collect and process your personal data as described in our Privacy Policy under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

9.2. Sankalpa details (name, gotra, nakshatra, parents' name, purpose) are shared with the performing priest for ritual purposes only. The Partner is a Data Fiduciary for any devotee data they download or store outside SevaCart.

9.3. You may exercise your DPDP rights (access, correction, erasure, grievance) by writing to grievance@sevacart.com.

10. Disclaimer & limitation of liability

10.1. SevaCart provides the platform on an "as-is" and "as-available" basis. We do not warrant that the platform will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that any seva, priest, institute, or piece of information is suitable for any particular religious, spiritual, or astrological purpose.

10.2. Subject to applicable consumer-protection law, our total liability to you, for all claims arising from or related to your use of SevaCart, shall not exceed the total amounts you paid through SevaCart in the three (3) months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, including loss of religious merit, loss of devotional standing, or claims of spiritual harm.

10.3. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited under Indian law, including liability for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by SevaCart's negligence.

11. Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be notified to you via in-app inbox and email at least thirty (30) days before the effective date. Continued use of the platform after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

12. Governing law & disputes

12.1. These Terms are governed by the laws of India. Courts at Shimoga, Karnataka have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute not first resolved through mediation or the Consumer Protection Act 2019 grievance mechanism.

12.2. As a consumer, your statutory right to approach the appropriate Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission under the Consumer Protection Act 2019 is preserved and not waived by this clause.

13. Grievance Officer (CPA + IT Rules + DPDP)

In compliance with the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules 2020, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2021, and DPDP Act §13, the following officer handles devotee complaints:

Grievance Officer: Manjunatha M V Bhat Email: grievance@sevacart.com Phone: Address: No. 53, Mutaguppe Village Post, Soraba Taluk, Shimoga District, Karnataka 577434

Grievances will be acknowledged within 24 hours and resolved within 15 days (IT Rules 2021 §3(2)). If your data-protection complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may escalate to the Data Protection Board of India under the DPDP Act 2023.

14. Receipt, review & disputes

14.1 Your seva receipt. For every seva the institution uploads its receipt for the seva (a photo or a PDF) showing the seva you requested and the amount you paid (it need not list each person's sankalpa). SevaCart separately issues you a payment receipt when you pay. A ritual photograph or video may be added by the institution but is optional (priests often cannot carry a phone into the sanctum). The seva is closed, and settlement released to the institution, once the receipt is uploaded and you accept (or the review window passes).

14.2 Your review window. Once the receipt is uploaded you have 6 hours to Accept it or raise a dispute. If you take no action within 6 hours the seva is auto-accepted and settlement is released. You may still raise a dispute up to 15 days after the offered date; auto-acceptance does not waive your statutory consumer rights.

14.3 Rescheduling with your consent. If the institution cannot perform on the scheduled date it may propose a new date with a reason. You have 3 hours to Accept (the seva moves to the new date) or Reject (the offering is cancelled and fully refunded). If you do not respond within 3 hours the new date is confirmed automatically; you keep your full right to review and dispute.

14.4 Raising a dispute. To dispute you must give a written reason. While a dispute is open, the funds stay held by SevaCart's RBI-authorised payment partner (Cashfree) — not released to the institution — and SevaCart refers the matter to the Grievance Officer, who decides on the uploaded receipt and platform records. SevaCart never pools your money in its own account; funds are released to the institution only once the seva is performed and no dispute is open. A Grievance Officer decision is a platform decision on settlement and refunds only — it does not determine the legal rights between you and the institution, which you remain free to pursue, including before the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.

14.5 Outcomes. Upheld (the seva was not performed, or not as described) means a full or partial refund. Rejected (the receipt and records show the seva was duly performed) means settlement proceeds to the institution.

14.6 If you disagree with the decision. Either party may seek one internal appeal within 7 days; that review is final on SevaCart. Beyond it you retain every statutory remedy, including the National Consumer Helpline (1915) and the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.

14.7 Misuse. Three (3) disputes rejected as unfounded may result in suspension of your account. Suspension does not remove your right to approach the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.

15. Contact

General support: support@sevacart.com

These Terms are governed by the laws of India. For questions or complaints, write to grievance@sevacart.com. Material changes will be communicated as required by Section 11.