Terms of Service

6.1 No Guarantee of Service Provider Conduct

PAKELP does not guarantee the behavior, actions, competence, honesty, reliability, or integrity of any Service Provider or user. While we may provide verification badges, ratings, and reviews, these do not constitute an endorsement, warranty, or guarantee of any kind. Verification only confirms that certain documents were submitted and reasonably matched — it does not guarantee the quality of service, professional ability, honesty, or trustworthiness of any individual or business.

6.2 Physical Interactions & Personal Safety

If you choose to meet, hire, or interact with any Service Provider or user in person, you assume full responsibility for your personal safety. PAKELP is not responsible for any harm, injury, theft, assault, property damage, or any incident that occurs during or as a result of any in-person meeting or service delivery arranged through the Platform. We strongly recommend that users take appropriate safety precautions including meeting in public places when possible, informing someone of your plans, and verifying the Service Provider's identity independently.

6.3 Financial Transactions & Losses

Any payment made directly to a Service Provider is a transaction between you and that Service Provider only. PAKELP is not responsible for any financial loss, fraud, overcharging, non-delivery of services, poor quality of work, or disputes arising from such payments. Users are advised to agree on prices, scope of work, and payment terms in writing before engaging a Service Provider.

6.4 No Warranty on Information Accuracy

Business listings, service descriptions, reviews, ratings, photos, prices, availability, and all other information displayed on the Platform is provided by Service Providers and users themselves. PAKELP does not independently verify this information and makes no warranty or representation regarding its accuracy, completeness, reliability, or currentness. Users should independently verify all claims and information before making any decisions based on Platform content.

6.5 Third-Party Links & External Services

The Platform may contain links to third-party websites, social media profiles, or external services provided by Service Providers. PAKELP is not responsible for the content, accuracy, safety, or practices of any third-party site or service. Accessing such links is at your own risk.

6.6 Service Quality & Outcomes

PAKELP does not guarantee the outcome, quality, timeliness, safety, or legality of services provided by Service Providers. We do not guarantee that services will meet your expectations or requirements. Any claims regarding service quality, defects, delays, or dissatisfaction must be addressed directly with the Service Provider.

6.7 Platform Availability

PAKELP does not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free access to the Platform. We may experience downtime for maintenance, updates, or due to circumstances beyond our control. We are not liable for any loss or damage resulting from Platform unavailability.

7.1 What Verification Means

Verification only confirms that the documents submitted reasonably match the person who submitted them. It does NOT guarantee the honesty, competence, skill, professionalism, trustworthiness, or future conduct of any User, and it is not an endorsement or warranty by PAKELP.

7.2 Consent & Purpose Limitation

By submitting verification documents, you expressly consent to our collecting and processing them solely to confirm identity and to prevent fraud and duplicate accounts. We do not use your selfie for facial-recognition profiling or for any purpose beyond one-time identity matching.

7.3 Secure & Restricted Storage

Verification documents are stored securely in an access-controlled location, separate from your Public Profile, and are accessible only to a limited number of authorized personnel for verification and fraud-prevention purposes. As with our other data, they may be stored on cloud infrastructure located outside Pakistan, subject to appropriate safeguards (see our Privacy Policy).

7.4 Fraud & Duplicate Detection

We may retain your CNIC number and compare submitted documents against existing records to detect and prevent duplicate, fake, or fraudulent accounts. Uploading a forged CNIC, using another person’s identity documents, or submitting false verification information is strictly prohibited and may be reported to the authorities, including the FIA.

7.5 Retention & Deletion

Verification documents are retained only for as long as reasonably necessary for verification, fraud prevention, and legal compliance, and are then securely deleted or anonymized. You may request deletion at any time, subject to our need to retain limited records to prevent re-registration fraud or to comply with law.

7.6 Never Public

Your CNIC images, CNIC number, and selfie are never displayed on your Public Profile or shared with other Users. Only your verification status may be shown.

10.1 Reviews & Ratings

Reviews and ratings must be genuine, based on a real first-hand experience, and must not be fake, incentivized, retaliatory, or manipulated. You must not post, buy, sell, or solicit fake reviews or attempt to manipulate ratings. You are solely responsible for the content of your reviews, including any defamatory, false, or unlawful statements, and you agree that PAKELP is not liable for reviews or ratings posted by Users.

10.2 Content Moderation

We may, but are not obliged to, monitor, review, moderate, edit, or remove any User Content at our sole discretion, including reviews, ratings, profiles, and messages that we consider to violate these Terms or applicable law. We are under no obligation to pre-screen User Content and are not responsible for User Content posted by others. Removal or refusal to remove content does not make us liable for it.

10.3 Your Content & Licence

You retain ownership of the content you upload. By posting User Content, you grant PAKELP a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, display, reproduce, adapt, and distribute that content only as necessary to operate, provide, secure, and promote the Platform. This licence ends when you delete your content or account, except to the extent the content has already been shared with others or must be retained by law. You represent that you have all rights necessary to grant this licence and that your content does not infringe any third-party rights.

Platform Ownership

All rights, title, and interest in the Platform — including the website, mobile app, logo, design, source code, database, content, images, brand name, and trademarks — are owned by PAKELP or its licensors and are protected under Pakistani and international intellectual property laws, including the Copyright Ordinance, 1962, the Trade Marks Ordinance, 2001, and the regulations of the Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan (IPO-Pakistan). You may not copy, reproduce, or exploit any part of the Platform without our prior written consent.

User Content License

You retain ownership of the content you upload. By posting content, you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, display, reproduce, adapt, and distribute such content only as necessary to operate, provide, secure, and promote the Platform. We do not claim ownership of your content. (See Section 10.3.)

Copyright & Trademark Complaints

We respect intellectual property rights. If you believe any content on the Platform infringes your copyright or trademark, please contact us at support@pakelp.com with:

• A description of the copyrighted work or trademark concerned
• The URL or location of the allegedly infringing content
• Your contact information and proof of your rights
• A statement, made in good faith and to the best of your knowledge, that the use is unauthorized and that the information you have provided is accurate

We will review valid complaints and may remove infringing content in accordance with the Copyright Ordinance, 1962 and applicable law.

Future Paid Features

We may in future introduce paid features such as subscriptions, paid or featured listings, advertisements, premium memberships, or commissions. Any such fees will be clearly disclosed to you before you incur them, and your use of a paid feature will be subject to any additional terms presented at that time.

Payment Processing

Where paid features are offered, payments would be handled by third-party payment processors regulated by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). By using such services, you would agree to the payment processor's own terms and conditions. We do not currently store card or wallet data.

Tax Obligations

Each User is solely responsible for their own applicable taxes, which may include:

• Federal and provincial sales tax (GST) where applicable
• Income tax on earnings under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001
• Withholding tax where applicable under FBR regulations
• Any other taxes payable under Pakistani law

Refund Policy

Any fees charged for platform features are non-refundable except where a refund is required by applicable consumer protection law. Where refunds are considered, they are handled on a case-by-case basis. To raise a billing query, please contact support@pakelp.com.

Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan without regard to conflict of law principles.

Negotiation & Arbitration

Any dispute arising from these Terms shall first be attempted to be resolved through good faith negotiations within 30 days. If negotiations fail, the dispute shall be resolved through arbitration by a sole arbitrator under the Arbitration Act, 1940 of Pakistan. The arbitration shall be seated in Lahore, Pakistan, and conducted in the English language.

Jurisdiction

Subject to the above, the courts of Lahore, Pakistan shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any disputes arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Platform.

21.1 Suspension & Termination by PAKELP

We may suspend or permanently terminate your account and access to the Platform, at our discretion and where reasonable without prior notice, for reasons including:

• Violation of these Terms or applicable law
• Fraud, scams, fake verification, or a forged or misused CNIC
• Abuse, harassment, or illegal activity
• Creating fake or multiple accounts
• Serious or repeated complaints from other Users
• Security reasons or extended inactivity (over 24 months)
• A court order, government or regulatory request, or direction from PTA, FIA, or another competent authority

21.2 Account Deletion by You

You may delete your account at any time through your account settings or by contacting support@pakelp.com. When you delete your account, your Public Profile will be removed from public view. We will delete or anonymize your personal data, except where we are required or permitted to retain certain information — for example, records needed to comply with law, resolve disputes, prevent fraud or re-registration abuse, or that have already been shared with other Users (such as reviews or messages sent to others).

21.3 Effect of Termination & No Refund

Upon suspension or termination, your right to use the Platform ceases immediately. Where permitted by law, no refund of any fees is guaranteed. Sections that by their nature should survive termination will continue to apply (see Section 23).

Severability

If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction in Pakistan, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

Survival

Provisions that by their nature should survive termination will do so, including the Platform Role & Relationship Disclaimers, Identity Verification, Intellectual Property, Disclaimer of Warranties, Limitation of Liability, Indemnification, Dispute Resolution, and Governing Law.

Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and PAKELP regarding the Platform and supersede all prior agreements.

Waiver

No waiver of any term shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or any other term.

Assignment

You may not assign or transfer these Terms or your rights under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

Force Majeure

We shall not be liable for any delay or failure due to causes beyond our reasonable control including acts of God, war, terrorism, riots, embargoes, acts of civil or military authorities, fire, floods, earthquakes, accidents, pandemics, strikes, internet or utility outages, or shortages of transportation, facilities, fuel, energy, labor, or materials.

Notices

All notices under these Terms shall be in writing and may be given by email, website notice, or in-app notification. Electronic notices shall constitute valid written notice under the Electronic Transactions Ordinance, 2002.