Terms and Conditions

1. Acceptance of these Terms

These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") form a binding agreement between you and [Legal entity name], operating the NeedsDoctor platform at needsdoctor.com and its related sub-sites ("NeedsDoctor", "we", "us").

By accessing the platform, creating an account, booking an appointment, listing a practice, or otherwise using any part of the service, you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy, Medical Disclaimer, Refund & Cancellation Policy and Cookie Policy, each of which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. If you do not agree, please do not use the platform.

2. What NeedsDoctor is (and is not)

NeedsDoctor is a technology platform and directory. We help you discover registered medical practitioners, hospitals, and health service providers across allopathic, ayurvedic and homeopathic systems of medicine; request appointments; store your own health information; and communicate with providers.

We do not employ, engage, recommend or endorse any practitioner or facility listed on the platform, and we do not guarantee the accuracy of any qualification, registration number, availability, fee or other detail supplied to us by a provider. Listing order, search ranking and any "featured" placement are functions of our software and do not constitute a clinical recommendation.

3. Eligibility

• You must be at least 18 years of age and competent to contract under the Indian Contract Act, 1872.
• If you are creating an account or booking on behalf of a minor or a dependent, you confirm you are their parent or lawful guardian and are authorised to share their information and consent on their behalf.
• If you register as a doctor, hospital or vendor, you confirm you hold every registration, licence and permission required by law to offer the services you list, and that you will keep them valid.
• You must not use the platform if you have previously been suspended or removed by us.

4. Accounts and security

You are responsible for everything that happens under your account. Please keep your password confidential, use a password you do not reuse elsewhere, and tell us immediately at info@needsdoctor.com if you suspect unauthorised access.

• Provide accurate, current and complete information, and keep your profile up to date.
• Do not share your login, impersonate any person, or create an account using someone else's identity or credentials.
• We may require verification of your email address, mobile number, or professional registration before enabling certain features.
• Provider accounts may require review and approval by us before the listing becomes publicly visible. Approval is at our discretion and is not a clinical endorsement.

5. Terms for patients

• Information you record on the platform — including vitals, allergies, medication, personal and family history, past procedures and uploaded reports or images — is self-reported. It is your responsibility to ensure it is accurate. Never rely on the platform as your only medical record.
• An appointment request is a request. It is confirmed only when the provider accepts it. Providers may decline, reschedule or cancel.
• You are responsible for attending appointments on time and for informing the provider of anything clinically relevant, whether or not it is recorded on the platform.
• Reviews and ratings you submit must reflect your genuine, first-hand experience.

6. Terms for doctors and hospitals

If you register as a practitioner, clinic or hospital, you additionally agree that:

• You hold a valid registration with the National Medical Commission or the relevant State Medical Council (or the corresponding statutory council for your system of medicine), and you will provide proof on request.
• All information you publish — qualifications, registration numbers, specialities, services, fees, availability and facility details — is true, current and not misleading.
• You will comply with all applicable professional and ethical obligations, including the professional conduct regulations applicable to you and, where you consult remotely, the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines, 2020.
• You are solely responsible for the clinical care you provide, for maintaining your own statutory medical records, and for any prescription you issue.
• You will handle patient information you access through the platform confidentially and lawfully, and use it only for the purpose of providing care to that patient.
• Fees and service prices you publish must be accurate and inclusive of any charge you intend to levy, save for taxes stated separately.
• You will not use the platform to solicit patients away from it in breach of any agreement with us, nor to advertise in a manner prohibited by your professional council.

7. Terms for pharmaceutical vendors

• You may list product information only if you hold the licences required under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and its rules, and any other applicable law.
• Product listings are informational. The platform is not an online pharmacy and does not sell, dispense or deliver medicines.
• You must not list any product whose advertisement is restricted or prohibited, including under the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.
• Listings are subject to moderation. We may reject, edit the visibility of, or remove any listing at our discretion, and we do not guarantee approval or placement.
• You are responsible for the accuracy of composition, packaging, pricing, shelf life and any claim you publish.

8. Appointments and cancellations

Appointment requests, confirmations, rescheduling and cancellations are handled through the platform. Providers set their own availability and may operate their own cancellation rules.

• You may cancel or request to reschedule from your dashboard, subject to the provider's policy.
• We are not responsible if a provider is unavailable, is delayed, cancels, or does not attend.
• Repeated no-shows may result in restrictions on your account.

See our Refund & Cancellation Policy for how money is handled.

9. Fees and payments

• Access to the platform for patients is presently free. We may introduce paid features, memberships or provider subscriptions, and we will make any charges clear before you incur them.
• Consultation and service fees are set and charged by the provider, not by us. Where a fee is displayed on a profile, it is the figure supplied by that provider and is indicative.
• Where payments are processed online, they are handled by third-party payment providers under their own terms. We do not store complete card or bank credentials.
• You are responsible for applicable taxes.

10. Your content and reviews

You retain ownership of the content you submit. By submitting it, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to host, store, reproduce and display it strictly to operate and provide the platform.

• Do not post anything unlawful, defamatory, obscene, discriminatory, misleading, or infringing of another person's rights.
• Do not post another person's health information or identifiable details without their consent.
• We may moderate, decline to publish, or remove content — including reviews — that appears to breach these Terms, but we are under no obligation to monitor content.
• Reviews reflect the views of the individual reviewer, not ours.

11. AI-assisted features

Some parts of the platform — including the symptom checker, search assistance, summaries and chat assistants — are powered by third-party artificial intelligence services.

To provide these features, the text you enter may be transmitted to and processed by our AI service providers. Please see the Privacy Policy before entering identifiable or sensitive details into any AI feature.

12. Prohibited conduct

You agree not to:

• Break any applicable law, or use the platform for any fraudulent or harmful purpose.
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to any account, server or data, or probe, scan or test the vulnerability of our systems.
• Scrape, crawl, harvest or bulk-download listings, profiles or content without our written permission.
• Upload malware, or interfere with or disrupt the platform's operation.
• Post spam, or send unsolicited commercial messages to other users.
• Misrepresent your identity, qualifications or affiliation.
• Reverse engineer, decompile or create derivative works from any part of the platform.

13. Intellectual property

The platform, including its software, design, text, graphics, logos and the "NeedsDoctor" name and marks, belongs to us or our licensors and is protected by intellectual property law. We grant you a limited, revocable, non-transferable licence to use the platform for its intended purpose. No other right is granted. You may not use our marks without our prior written consent.

14. Third-party services and links

The platform integrates or links to services we do not control — including payment gateways, map providers, email and messaging services, content delivery networks and AI providers. Your use of those services is governed by their own terms and privacy policies. We are not responsible for third-party content, availability or practices.

15. Disclaimers

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the platform is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis, without warranty of any kind, whether express or implied, including any implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy or non-infringement.

We do not warrant that:

• the platform will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or error-free;
• any listing, fee, qualification, availability or other provider-supplied detail is accurate or current;
• any provider will accept, attend or satisfactorily perform any appointment; or
• any outcome — clinical or otherwise — will be achieved.

16. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, punitive or exemplary loss, nor for loss of profit, revenue, data, goodwill or anticipated savings, arising out of or in connection with your use of the platform.

In particular, and without limitation, we are not liable for the acts, omissions, advice, diagnosis, treatment, negligence or misconduct of any practitioner, hospital, laboratory, vendor or other third party discovered or contacted through the platform. Your relationship for clinical care is directly with that provider.

Where liability cannot lawfully be excluded, our total aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with these Terms is limited to the greater of (a) the total amount you paid us, if any, in the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) INR [amount to be confirmed].

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

17. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless NeedsDoctor, its officers, employees and agents against any claim, demand, loss, liability, cost or expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your breach of these Terms or applicable law, your content, or — if you are a provider — the services you deliver to a patient.

18. Suspension and termination

You may stop using the platform and request deletion of your account at any time by writing to info@needsdoctor.com.

We may suspend or terminate your access, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe you have breached these Terms or the law, if your professional registration lapses or is withdrawn, if your conduct risks harm to another user, or if we are required to do so. Provisions which by their nature should survive termination — including sections 13, 15, 16, 17 and 19 — will survive.

We may also modify, suspend or discontinue any part of the platform. Where a change materially affects you, we will make reasonable efforts to give notice.

19. Governing law and dispute resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of India. Subject to the paragraph below, the courts at Hyderabad, Telangana have exclusive jurisdiction.

Before commencing proceedings, please contact our grievance officer so we can try to resolve the matter informally. [If arbitration is intended, insert the agreed arbitration clause here — seat, number of arbitrators and appointing procedure under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.]

20. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. The revision date at the top of this page always reflects the current version. Where a change is material we will make reasonable efforts to notify you — for example by email or an in-platform notice. Continuing to use the platform after a change takes effect means you accept the revised Terms.

21. Grievance officer

In accordance with the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the rules made under it, the grievance officer for the platform is:

We aim to acknowledge complaints within 48 hours and resolve them within 30 days of receipt.

22. Contact us