Terms of Service

These Terms of Service constitute a legal agreement between you and Pounding Water (operating as "TutorVault") and govern your use of the TutorVault platform and services. By using TutorVault, you agree to be bound by these terms.

1. Service Description

TutorVault is an AI-powered educational tutoring platform that provides:

• Curriculum-locked AI tutoring grounded in uploaded study materials
• Socratic, step-by-step guided learning for students
• Document ingestion and processing (OCR, text extraction, vector indexing)
• Teacher dashboards for material management and analytics
• Multi-tenant institutional deployment with data isolation

2. Account Types

B2B Institutional Accounts

Institutional accounts are managed by a designated administrator. The institution controls student account creation, material uploads, and platform access. Students access the platform using institution-assigned credentials (School ID + Roll Number + Activation PIN) without requiring personal email addresses.

B2C Individual Accounts

Individual accounts are self-registered using an email address. Individual users can upload their own study materials and access AI tutoring with limited monthly credits on the free tier.

3. Acceptable Use

You agree NOT to use TutorVault to:

• Circumvent academic integrity policies (e.g., generating exam answers for submission as original work)
• Upload copyrighted materials you do not have the right to use for educational purposes
• Attempt to access another institution's data or another user's account
• Reverse-engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract the AI models or algorithms
• Use the platform for any illegal purpose or in violation of applicable laws
• Transmit malware, viruses, or any harmful code through the platform
• Overload or disrupt the platform infrastructure through automated or excessive queries

TutorVault is designed as a learning aid, not a homework-completion service. The Socratic method is employed intentionally to guide understanding rather than provide direct answers.

4. Data Ownership

• Your Materials: Institutions and individual users retain full ownership of all uploaded curriculum materials. We claim no ownership rights over your content.
• Generated Responses: AI-generated tutoring responses are provided as part of the service. You may use them for educational purposes within your institution.
• Platform Data: Aggregated, anonymized usage analytics and platform improvements remain the property of Pounding Water.
• Export: Upon request, we will provide an export of your uploaded materials and account data in a standard format.

5. Service Availability & SLA

• We target 99.5% uptime for the platform during academic term periods.
• Scheduled maintenance will be communicated at least 48 hours in advance and performed outside peak usage hours where possible.
• We do not guarantee uninterrupted service and are not liable for temporary outages due to infrastructure issues, third-party service disruptions, or force majeure events.
• AI response quality depends on the quality and completeness of uploaded materials. We do not guarantee factual accuracy of AI-generated content.

6. Billing & Payment

• B2B institutional subscriptions are billed per academic term based on enrolled student count.
• Payment is due within 30 days of invoice issuance.
• Mid-term student additions are prorated. Student removals do not result in refunds for the current term.
• B2C free tier is provided at our discretion and may be modified or discontinued with 30 days notice.
• We reserve the right to adjust pricing with 60 days written notice before the next billing term.

7. Termination

• Either party may terminate an institutional subscription at the end of the current billing term with 30 days written notice.
• We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms immediately.
• Upon termination, we will retain your data for 30 days to allow export, after which it will be permanently deleted.
• B2C users may delete their accounts at any time through the platform or by contacting support.

8. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Pounding Water and its directors, employees, and affiliates shall not be liable for:

• Any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages
• Loss of academic performance, grades, or educational outcomes
• Inaccuracies in AI-generated tutoring responses
• Service interruptions or data loss beyond our reasonable control
• Actions taken based on AI tutoring content

TutorVault is provided on an "AS-IS" basis. Our total liability shall not exceed the fees paid by you in the twelve (12) months preceding any claim.

9. Disclaimer

TutorVault is an educational supplement, not a replacement for qualified teachers or professional instruction. AI-generated responses may contain errors. Students and institutions should verify critical information through authoritative sources. We do not guarantee specific educational outcomes or academic results.

10. Governing Law

These Terms of Service shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Nepal. Any disputes arising from these Terms shall be resolved through arbitration in Kathmandu, Nepal, unless otherwise agreed in writing by both parties.

11. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be communicated to institutional administrators via email at least 30 days before taking effect. Continued use of the platform after changes constitutes acceptance.

12. Contact

For questions about these Terms:

TutorVault (operated by Pounding Water)
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +9779861523737
Kathmandu, Nepal