Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (the "Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between FirstGrad Private Limited, a private limited company incorporated in India with its registered office in Bangalore, Karnataka ("FirstGrad," "we," "us," or "our"), and you, the user of our Services ("you," or, where you are a Minor, your Guardian, as defined in Section 2(a)). These Terms govern your access to and use of our website, applications, dashboards, and related services (collectively, the "Services").

By clicking "I Agree," "Get Started," "Submit," or any similar button presented to you, or by otherwise accessing or using our Services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference. Where there is a conflict regarding data handling, the Privacy Policy governs; for everything else, these Terms govern. If you do not agree, you must not use the Services.

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS CAREFULLY.

They include an arbitration clause for most disputes but nothing here limits your right to approach a Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, if you qualify as a consumer (see Section 10).

FirstGrad does not guarantee any admission, visa, loan, scholarship, or insurance outcome; those decisions are made independently by universities, immigration authorities, lenders, and insurers.

If you are under 18, a parent or legal guardian must accept these Terms on your behalf (see Section 2(a)).

1. Overview & Our Role

(a) What We Do. FirstGrad provides student counseling and application-facilitation services, including profile evaluation, university and course shortlisting, documentation support, visa guidance through Partners, education loan and scholarship facilitation through lending Partners, health-coverage facilitation through insurance Partners, accommodation and "essentials" support, and technology features such as dashboards and AI-assisted recommendations. We may add, modify, or discontinue any feature at any time, with reasonable notice for material reductions in service.

(b) No Legal, Immigration, Financial, or Insurance Advice. FirstGrad is a counseling and facilitation service; not a law firm, registered immigration consultancy, bank, NBFC, insurance broker, or insurance agent, unless separately disclosed to you. Nothing we provide, including AI-generated recommendations, constitutes legal, immigration, financial, tax, or insurance advice. For visa matters, confirm requirements with the relevant authority or a licensed professional. For loans and insurance, your contract is directly with the lender or insurer, governed by their terms.

FirstGrad assists with the preparation and review of application documents (including Statements of Purpose, CVs, and essays) based solely on the information you provide. We do not independently verify the accuracy or completeness of the information you submit. You are solely responsible for ensuring all content in your application is truthful, accurate, and compliant with each institution's requirements.

C) Relationship with Partners. A "Partner" is any university, lender, insurer, accommodation provider, or other entity we work with to deliver the Services. FirstGrad is not the agent of any Partner, and no Partner is our agent. Nothing here creates a partnership, joint venture, or agency relationship between FirstGrad and any Partner or you.

2. Roles and Obligations of Parties

(a) Eligibility & Minors. Where the Service User is under 18 (a "Minor"), these Terms are entered into by, and binding upon, the Minor's parent or legal guardian ("Guardian") because under Indian law, a contract directly with a minor is not enforceable against them. By accepting on a Minor's behalf, the Guardian (i) confirms lawful authority to do so, (ii) agrees to supervise the Minor's use of the Services, (iii) assumes legal and financial responsibility for the Minor's compliance, and (iv) consents to our processing of the Minor's data as described in our Privacy Policy. Users 18 or older accept these Terms in their own capacity.

(b) Your Obligations. You must (i) provide accurate, truthful information and keep your Account secure; (ii) submit required documents on time; (iii) pay applicable institutional or Partner fees directly to them; (iv) follow our and our Partners' reasonable instructions; (v) maintain timely communication with us; and (vi) comply with applicable law. You are responsible for all activity on your Account. We may verify any information or document you submit, and may suspend or terminate your access if it is inaccurate or misleading. (vii) where you request application submission support, you authorise FirstGrad to submit applications, enquiries, and supporting documents to universities and Partner institutions on your behalf. This authority covers all institutions in your agreed shortlist and may be withdrawn in writing at any time, provided that FirstGrad is not liable for any submissions already made prior to receiving your withdrawal notice.

C) Restrictions. You will not: (i) submit fraudulent or misleading information or impersonate any person; (ii) harass, abuse, or threaten FirstGrad staff, counselors, or Partners; (iii) access our systems without authorization, introduce malware, or attempt to bypass our security; (iv) reverse-engineer, scrape, or copy our Platform without written permission; (v) frame, mirror, or incorporate our Services into another product, or use them to build a competing product or train AI/ML models; (vi) gather or store other users' personal data without consent, or misuse our communication channels for spam; (vii) ask FirstGrad or any Partner to do or advise on anything unlawful, unsafe, or unconscionable; or (viii) upload, share, or request any photograph or personal information of a minor without that minor's parent or guardian's verifiable consent. Violating this Section may result in immediate suspension or termination, and may expose you to legal liability.

(d) Partners & Non-Circumvention. We do not guarantee admission, visa, loan, scholarship, or insurance outcomes, these are independent third-party decisions, and we are not liable for a Partner's delays, decisions, or policy changes. Our AI-assisted tools support our counselors and may be inaccurate; they do not replace a Partner's independent decision. Where we introduce you to a lending, insurance, or accommodation Partner for a specific opportunity, you agree not to bypass FirstGrad to contract directly with that Partner for the same opportunity in a way intended to deprive us of compensation we would otherwise be entitled to. This does not restrict you from applying directly to any university, or dealing directly with any Partner for an opportunity we did not introduce.

3. Fees and Partner Compensation

(a) Current Pricing. Counseling and advisory services are currently free. Institutional or third-party fees collected through the Platform on your behalf (e.g., application fees) are forwarded to the relevant institution or processor; we do not retain them unless explicitly stated to you in advance.

(b) Partner Compensation. We may receive a referral fee or commission from lending, insurance, or accommodation Partners when you use their services through us. This comes from the Partner, not you; it does not increase your price or interest rate, and does not influence our shortlisting recommendations.

C) Future Paid Services. We may introduce paid offerings in the future. Pricing will be clearly published, and you will be notified and asked to agree before any charge is incurred.

(d) No Hidden Fees. No FirstGrad counselor is authorized to charge you any fee beyond what is clearly disclosed in advance. Contact hello@firstgrad.in if asked to pay a fee you do not recognize.

(e) Refunds. Refund requests are subject to the relevant institution's or Partner's policies. We are not responsible for their delays or decisions, but will assist you in raising a request where reasonably possible.

4. Disclaimer and Force Majeure

(a) Disclaimer. This disclaimer applies to our technology platform and AI-assisted tools, not to the professional standard of care with which our counselors perform the Services. To the maximum extent permitted by law, our website, dashboards, and other technology features are provided "as is" and "as available," without warranty that they will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that AI-generated recommendations will be accurate. Nothing here limits our obligation to perform the counseling and facilitation Services with reasonable skill and care.

Timelines for application submissions, visa guidance, loan processing, and other facilitation services depend on factors outside FirstGrad's control, including your timely submission of required documents, Partner processing times, and institutional deadlines. FirstGrad is not responsible for the availability, functionality, security, decisions, acts, omissions, delays, errors, outages, or policies of any third-party platform, institution, authority, lender, insurer, accommodation provider, or other service provider, or circumstances beyond our reasonable control.

(b) Force Majeure. We are not liable for any failure or delay caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including natural disasters, government action, changes in visa policy, war, civil unrest, pandemic, or failure of a third-party system or Partner. We will notify you and resume performance once such circumstances are resolved.

5. Intellectual Property, User Content & Feedback

(a) Your Content. You retain ownership of any data, documents, or materials you submit ("User Content"). You grant FirstGrad a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to use and share it solely to deliver the Services and with Partners where you have consented. You represent that you own or are authorized to share your User Content and that it violates no law or third-party right.

(b) Feedback. If you give us suggestions or feedback about our Services, you grant FirstGrad a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable license to use it for any purpose, without obligation to credit or compensate you.

C) Success Stories. We may wish to feature your admission results, success story, and related information (including name, photograph, and program details) in our promotional and marketing materials. We will seek your prior written consent (email/sms/whatsapp confirmation is sufficient) before doing so. If you have previously given consent and wish to withdraw it, you may do so at any time by writing to hello@firstgrad.in; we will remove your story from future materials, though materials already published or distributed may not be retroactively withdrawn.

(d) Our IP. All Platform content, software, designs, trademarks, and related IP are owned by or licensed to FirstGrad. We grant you a limited, revocable, non-transferable license to use the Platform for personal, non-commercial purposes. You may not copy, modify, distribute, or create derivative works from our IP without written permission.

6. Confidentiality, Privacy & Communications

(a) Confidentiality. Your information is handled per our Privacy Policy. Our counselors and staff are bound by confidentiality obligations regarding your personal and academic information, and we will not disclose it to any third party except as described in our Privacy Policy, with your consent, or as required by law.

(b) Data Protection. Our collection, use, and protection of your personal data, including Sensitive Personal Data such as passport, visa, and financial documents, is described in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

C) Communications. By using the Services, you consent to receive communications via WhatsApp, email, SMS, and phone regarding applications, deadlines, and updates, these continue regardless of marketing preferences, as they are necessary to deliver the Services you requested. You may opt out of promotional messages anytime via the unsubscribe link or by contacting hello@firstgrad.in.

(d) Electronic Communications & Notices. Your electronic acceptance of these Terms (e.g., clicking "I agree" or using our website) is valid and binding under the Indian Contract Act, 1872, and the Information Technology Act, 2000. We may send notices to your Account email or phone; you should send notices to us at hello@firstgrad.in. Notices are deemed received 24 hours after sending, absent evidence of non-delivery.

7. Termination and Survival

We may suspend or terminate your access, with or without notice, for breach of these Terms, fraudulent or misleading conduct, non-compliance with our reasonable instructions, or security concerns or illegal activity. On termination, you must stop using the Services. Sections relating to intellectual property, confidentiality, limitation of liability, indemnity, dispute resolution, and governing law survive termination.

Where suspension or termination is not due to fraud, illegal activity, or an immediate security concern, we will endeavour to provide you with 7 days' written notice and an opportunity to respond before access is permanently terminated. This does not apply where immediate action is necessary to protect FirstGrad, its Partners, or other users.

8. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless FirstGrad, its affiliates, directors, employees, and Partners from claims, losses, and reasonable legal fees arising from your breach of these Terms, your misconduct or violation of law, your violation of a third party's rights, or User Content you submit. This indemnity does not apply to losses caused by FirstGrad's own fraud, gross negligence, or willful misconduct.

9. Limitation of Liability

(a) Indirect Damages. To the maximum extent permitted by law, FirstGrad and its affiliates, directors, employees, and Partners are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including loss of profits, data, or goodwill, arising from third-party systems or institutional decisions, service outages, unauthorized Account access through no fault of ours, reliance on AI-generated recommendations, or policy changes, rejections, or denials made by a third party.

(b) Direct Damages. Our aggregate liability for claims related to these Terms or the Services is limited to the amount you paid FirstGrad directly in the 12 months preceding the claim.

C) Mandatory Exceptions. Nothing here excludes liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law, including for fraud, gross negligence, willful misconduct, death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or breach of our statutory data-protection obligations.

10. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

(a) Governing Law. These Terms are governed by the laws of India. Courts in Bangalore, Karnataka have exclusive jurisdiction over matters not subject to arbitration and over applications for interim relief.

(b) Informal Resolution & Arbitration. Before formal proceedings, you agree to first try resolving disputes informally at hello@firstgrad.in. If unresolved within 30 days, disputes shall be settled by binding arbitration in Bangalore, Karnataka, under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, in English, before a sole arbitrator.

C) Your Right to a Consumer Forum. This arbitration clause does not take away your right, as a consumer, to bring a complaint before a District, State, or National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, if your dispute qualifies. Indian courts have held an arbitration clause cannot override a consumer's statutory right to choose a consumer forum instead of arbitration, choosing arbitration is your election, not an obligation.

(d) Interim Relief. Either party may seek interim or injunctive relief from a competent court to prevent irreparable harm.

11. Miscellaneous

(a) Entire Agreement. These Terms, with our Privacy Policy, form the entire agreement between you and FirstGrad.

(b) Severability. If any provision is found invalid, the rest remain in force, and the invalid provision will be interpreted to best reflect the parties' original intent.

C) No Waiver. Our failure to enforce any right or provision does not waive it.

(d) Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without our written consent. We may assign our rights, including in a merger or sale of assets, with reasonable notice to you.

(e) No Third-Party Beneficiaries. These Terms benefit only you and FirstGrad; no Partner may enforce them.

(f) Changes to These Terms. We may revise these Terms at any time. Updates will be posted with a revised Effective Date, with additional notice (e.g., by email) for changes materially affecting your rights. Continued use after changes take effect means you accept them.

(g) Contact Us. Questions about these Terms: hello@firstgrad.in.

By using FirstGrad's Services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms of Service.