Terms and Conditions

1. About These Terms

These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") govern access to and use of the website iconsherald.com and all related services (together, "IconsHerald," "the Platform," "we," "us," or "our"), operated by Aurel Labs LLP. By accessing or using IconsHerald, you ("you," "User," or "Member") agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Platform.

2. Nature of the Service

IconsHerald is a curated, invitation-and-application-based editorial platform that composes and publishes professional biographical profiles ("Profiles") on behalf of paying members ("Members"), following editorial review and the Member's explicit approval. IconsHerald is not a social network, a directory open to unrestricted self-listing, a recruitment platform, or a matrimonial or dating service. Publication of a Profile is at IconsHerald's sole editorial discretion and is not guaranteed by submission of an application or payment of any fee.

3. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years of age to apply for editorial profile creation or to submit a Contact Request. By applying, you represent that all information you provide is accurate, current, and that you have the right to provide it, including any photographs, documents, awards, or third-party material you submit for inclusion in your Profile.

4. The Application and Editorial Process

You submit an application, including a request for your preferred editorial package and a preferred profile address. IconsHerald's editorial team personally reviews each application at its sole discretion, looking for a demonstrable record of achievement, contribution, or distinction. If approved, you complete an editorial questionnaire appropriate to your chosen package, and make an upfront payment of 50% of the applicable Editorial Profile Creation fee plus GST. IconsHerald's editorial team then prepares a draft Profile. You will be shown the complete draft for review, and your Profile is published only after you provide explicit approval, recording the date, time, and version approved. The balance 50% of the fee plus GST is collected before or upon publication.

IconsHerald reserves the right to request identity documents or other substantiating material from an applicant at any stage, where the editorial team considers this reasonably necessary to verify a claim made in an application or Profile. An application may be paused or declined if requested material is not provided.

5. Fees, Payment, and Refunds

IconsHerald's pricing comprises three distinct types of fee, each published on the Editorial Services & Pricing page and revisable by IconsHerald at any time for future applications or renewals: (a) Editorial Profile Creation, a one-time fee that composes and publishes a Profile, inclusive of applicable GST; (b) Annual Profile Maintenance & Verification, a recurring fee that preserves a published archive, charged plus applicable GST; and (c) Editorial Services such as a Minor Editorial Update or Major Editorial Revision, charged separately according to scope, plus applicable GST, as and when commissioned. All fees are in Indian Rupees unless stated otherwise. During IconsHerald's early period, customer-initiated cancellation after the upfront advance is paid follows a tiered refund schedule (75% / 50% / none, depending on whether a draft exists and whether you have approved), described in the Refund and Cancellation Policy. Verified fault on IconsHerald's part is handled separately under that policy. After your approval or publication, the upfront advance is not refundable for customer-initiated cancellation.

6. Content Ownership and Licence

You retain ownership of the underlying factual information, photographs, and documents you supply ("Member Content"). By submitting Member Content, you grant IconsHerald a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to use, reproduce, edit, adapt, and publish that content as part of your Profile and in connection with operating and promoting the Platform. IconsHerald retains all copyright and other intellectual property rights in the editorial composition, layout, design, and presentation of your Profile. You may not reproduce, scrape, or republish a Profile without IconsHerald's written permission, except for personal, non-commercial sharing of your own Profile link.

7. Profile Address (Vanity URL)

Each published Member is allocated a permanent profile address in the form iconsherald.com/[chosen-name]. This address is reserved during editorial review and becomes permanent upon publication. IconsHerald reserves the right to decline, reassign, or require modification of a requested address that is offensive, misleading, or infringes a third party's rights or identity; to release a reserved address back into the available pool if an application is declined, withdrawn, or lapses without completion of editorial review within a reasonable window; and, in exceptional circumstances, to change a published address while maintaining a permanent redirect from the old address.

8. Accuracy of Profile Content

While IconsHerald's editorial team reviews and verifies information to the extent reasonably practicable, IconsHerald does not independently verify every credential, award, or claim submitted by a Member, and is not responsible for the accuracy of factual claims made by a Member about themselves. A Member is responsible for the truthfulness of the information they provide. If you believe a published Profile contains false or misleading information, please use the Grievance Redressal process.

9. Contact Request Facility

IconsHerald provides a Contact Request facility allowing visitors to send a message to a Member without the Member's personal phone number or email address being disclosed. IconsHerald relays such messages to the Member's registered email address. IconsHerald is not a party to, and assumes no responsibility for, any subsequent communication, relationship, transaction, or dispute arising from a Contact Request.

10. Prohibited Conduct

You agree not to impersonate any person or entity; submit false, defamatory, or infringing content; use the Contact Request facility to harass or send unsolicited commercial communications; attempt to scrape or systematically extract Profile data; or attempt to circumvent the Platform's security or access controls.

11. Termination and Removal

IconsHerald may suspend or remove a published Profile, or decline to renew Annual Profile Maintenance & Verification, if it reasonably believes a Member has breached these Terms, provided false information, or brought the Platform into disrepute. Where reasonably practicable, IconsHerald will give the Member notice and an opportunity to respond before removal, except in cases of urgent legal risk.

12. Business Continuity and Discontinuation

IconsHerald is built and operated with the intention of permanence. In the event that IconsHerald is sold, merged with, or has its business and assets transferred to another entity, published Profiles and the underlying records will transfer with the business, to be maintained under terms materially consistent with these Terms. In the event that IconsHerald ceases operations entirely, IconsHerald's policy is to provide each Member or, where applicable, their authorised family representative, with a complete export of their published Profile content, at no charge, in a durable downloadable format, and to provide no less than six (6) months' advance notice of discontinuation, except where this is not possible due to circumstances beyond IconsHerald's reasonable control. As an additional measure, IconsHerald may from time to time submit published Profile pages for independent archival snapshotting via publicly available web archiving services, so that a record may exist independently of IconsHerald's own systems. This Section states IconsHerald's operating policy and intention; it does not extend the limitation of liability in Section 14, and is not a warranty of perpetual operation.

13. Disclaimer of Warranties

The Platform and all Profiles are provided "as is." IconsHerald does not warrant that the Platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure, and does not endorse, vouch for, or guarantee the truth of any claim made within a published Profile.

14. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, IconsHerald's aggregate liability to any Member or visitor arising out of or relating to use of the Platform shall not exceed the amount of fees actually paid by that Member to IconsHerald in the twelve months preceding the claim. IconsHerald shall not be liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential loss, including loss of business, reputation, or opportunity.

15. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of India. Courts at [city to be inserted] shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising from these Terms, subject to the grievance redressal process.

16. Changes to These Terms

IconsHerald may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be notified to existing Members by email and/or prominent notice on the Platform at least 15 days before taking effect, except where a change is required to comply with law.

17. Contact

For questions about these Terms, contact [legal contact email to be inserted].