Terms & Conditions

1. About these terms

These terms govern your use of the websites globalkayastha.com and gkcindia.org (the "Site") and your membership of the Global Kayastha Conference Trust ("GKC", "we"), a charitable trust registered under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 by Trust Deed No. 63 (Book No. 4, Volume No. 2, pages 163–184) at the District Registry Office, Patna, registered office B.G.-2 Royal Garden Apartment, Nageshwar Colony, Kidwaipuri, Patna, Bihar 800001. GKC is represented for these terms by its trustee and authorised signatory, Smt Ragini Ranjan. Membership is governed by the Trust Deed and the rules made under it; if these terms and the Trust Deed differ, the Trust Deed prevails. When you apply for membership you accept them by ticking "I agree". If you only browse the public pages, sections 7 to 13 apply to you.

2. Who can become a member

• Under the Trust Deed, membership is open to Indian citizens of the Kayastha community, and to other Indian citizens who support GKC's aims, who are 18 years of age or older. You must give your real date of birth.
• People who are not Indian citizens may register free of charge as Global Associates. Global Associates are supporters, not members of the Trust: they may take part in GKC activities and receive GKC updates, but do not hold membership rights, and GKC does not accept any payment from them.
• GKC's Managing Committee may accept or decline an application for membership.
• You must give true, accurate and complete details and keep them up to date from your dashboard.
• One person may hold one membership. Accounts are personal and may not be shared or transferred.
• GKC may decline or cancel a membership that was obtained with false details, including a false age.

3. Membership, card and renewal

• Membership becomes active when the membership fee is paid successfully. It is valid for 12 months from the date of payment, except for life members designated by GKC.
• You can renew from your dashboard from 30 days before your membership is due, or at any time after it has lapsed. Renewing early continues from your existing due date; renewing after it has lapsed starts a new 12-month term from the day you pay.
• Your digital membership card and its QR verification page belong to GKC. They show whether your membership is active, and become invalid if your membership lapses, your account is disabled or you delete your account. Do not alter, copy or misuse a card.
• Your chapter is assigned from your state or city. Chapter, state and national office-bearer roles are decided by GKC under its own rules.

4. Fees, payments and refunds

• The membership and renewal fee is shown before you pay (currently ₹11). Payments are processed by Razorpay; GKC never receives your card, UPI or bank login details.
• Fees are non-refundable once your membership is activated, including if you later delete your account or GKC cancels a membership under section 2 or 6. Under the Trust Deed, a member who takes back the fees paid ceases to be a member. Full details are in the Cancellation & Refund Policy, which forms part of these terms.
• If a technical error charges you twice for the same membership or renewal, write to us within 30 days with the payment reference and we will refund the duplicate payment after checking it.
• GKC accepts payments only in Indian rupees from Indian sources. Donations are voluntary gifts to the Trust, not payment for a service. Event fees are governed by the terms shown when you pay them.

5. Rules of conduct

While using the Site or GKC's member features you must obey the law and respect the rights and dignity of others. You must not:

• post or send anything threatening, harassing, hateful, defamatory, obscene, fraudulent, or that infringes someone else's rights;
• use office-bearer contact details, Member Search results or any other member's information for anything other than GKC work, in particular for selling, advertising, political campaigning, chain messages or spam, or share it outside GKC;
• harvest, scrape or copy member data or Site content by automated means, or build databases from it;
• impersonate any person, misstate your role in GKC, or suggest that GKC endorses something it does not;
• upload malware, probe or attack the Site, try to get around its security, or disrupt it for others;
• use the Site to advertise or sell goods or services without GKC's prior written consent.

Members who publish chapter posts or other content are responsible for it and confirm they have the right to publish it, including any photographs of other people.

6. Suspension and termination

As provided in the Trust Deed, membership ends on resignation, on acting against the objects of the Trust, on breaking its rules or these terms, or on removal by the Managing Committee or the founder of the Trust. GKC may also disable an account, remove content or cancel a membership if the account was obtained with false details, or where the law requires it. Decisions taken under the Trust Deed are final within GKC, without affecting any right you have under law. Where it is reasonable to do so we will tell you why. You may end your membership at any time by deleting your account from your dashboard, as described in the Privacy Policy.

7. GKC content, name and logo

Unless a page says otherwise, articles and materials published by GKC on the Site may be shared for non-commercial purposes only if they are reproduced in full and unchanged, credit GKC (and the author, if named) and link back to the Site (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives). Any other use needs GKC's prior written permission. The name "Global Kayastha Conference", "GKC", the GKC logo and emblem are GKC's marks and may not be used for any product, service, group or event without GKC's written consent.

8. Privacy

Our Privacy Policy explains how GKC collects, uses, shares, protects and deletes personal data, and your rights under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. It forms part of these terms.

9. Availability of the Site

We work to keep the Site available and secure, but it is provided "as is" and may sometimes be unavailable for maintenance, upgrades or reasons beyond our control. We may change, suspend or discontinue any feature.

10. Limitation of liability

To the extent the law allows, GKC, its trustees, office bearers and volunteers are not liable for indirect or consequential loss arising from the use of the Site, from content posted by members or third parties, or from the acts of other members. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, or your rights under the DPDP Act.

11. Other websites

Links to other websites and social-media pages are provided for convenience. GKC does not control and is not responsible for their content or practices.

12. Changes to these terms

Each version has a version number and an effective date. We will tell members about material changes by email and on the Site before they take effect and, where the law requires, ask you to accept them again.

13. Governing law and contact

These terms are governed by the laws of India, and the courts at Patna, Bihar have exclusive jurisdiction.

• Member support: support@globalkayastha.com
• Refunds: refunds@globalkayastha.com
• Privacy complaints and grievances: the Grievance Officer (General Secretary), grievance@globalkayastha.com
• Post: Global Kayastha Conference Trust, B.G.-2 Royal Garden Apartment, Nageshwar Colony, Kidwaipuri, Patna, Bihar 800001