Terms of Service

The service is operated and provided by Lightning Technologies Private Limited.

We are candid about our stage, because you can check it in thirty seconds and we would rather you found it here. The company name is reserved with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs : SPICe+ Part A, SRN AC5330599, filed 15 August 2026 under Rule 9 of the Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014 : and incorporation is in progress. The certificate has not issued yet, so there is no CIN, no registered office on record, and no GSTIN to give you today. We are not on the MCA register as a company, and we do not describe ourselves as one.

Until the certificate issues, the service is provided by the promoters trading as Lightning. On incorporation, the company will adopt these terms and your order, and we will write to you to say that it has : which is what makes an agreement signed today enforceable by and against the company afterwards. Clause 23 gives us the right to make that transfer, and gives you the assurance that nothing else about your agreement changes when it happens.

The day the certificate, registered office and GST registration exist, they will be published at the foot of this page and on every invoice, and we will tell existing customers.

Lightning Pharos is a business operating system delivered as software over the internet. It is multi-tenant: your organisation gets a workspace, and your workspace is isolated from every other customer’s. What your workspace can do depends on the edition, modules and packs on your order.

We improve the service continuously, which means screens and features change. We will not remove a capability your order depends on without telling you at least 30 days beforehand. If we withdraw one anyway, clause 9 says what you get back.

You decide who has access to your workspace and what each person can do. Administrators you appoint can invite people, change roles, see the records those roles permit, and remove access. You are responsible for keeping that list current and for what your users do with their access.

Some editions allow portal users : people outside your company, such as customers, suppliers or candidates, who get a limited login to your workspace. They are your users for the purposes of these terms: you decide what they may see, and you are responsible for inviting them and for the terms on which you do.

Keep credentials confidential. Tell us promptly at ansh@getlightning.cloud if you believe an account has been compromised.

You own the data you and your users put into the service : employee records, customers, inventory, financial entries, documents, everything. We process it to provide the service to you, on your instructions, on the terms in clause 13 and as described in our Privacy Policy. We do not sell it, and we do not use your workspace data to train models.

You are responsible for having a lawful basis to put personal data about your employees and customers into the service, and for telling those people what you are doing with it. Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 you are the Data Fiduciary for that data and we are your Data Processor.

Where a feature produces a suggestion, a summary or a figure automatically, treat it as a draft. Automated output is probabilistic, it can be confidently wrong, and it is not reviewed by us before you see it. Check anything you are going to act on, file or pay.

Do not use the service to:

• break the law, or help somebody else break it
• store or send material you have no right to, or that infringes somebody else’s rights
• probe, scan, or attempt to breach the service, another customer’s workspace, or our infrastructure : unless we have agreed a security test with you in writing
• resell, sublicense, or provide the service to a third party as your own, unless your order says you may
• interfere with the service’s operation, including by placing automated load on it beyond what your order provides for

Every edition is sold through an agreed order rather than an anonymous plan purchase. We may give you a private Quote ID after the commercial terms are agreed; entering it on our website shows the server-held price, term, seats and modules before Razorpay collects payment. Guided setup is included from Essentials upward. Current editions, seat classes, add-ons and rates are published on our pricing page, and the figures that apply to you are the ones on your order. Your order is the document we both sign or that you accept in writing; where it and these terms conflict, clause 23 says which wins.

• Prices are in Indian rupees and exclude tax. Clause 7 covers tax.
• Editions may be billed monthly in arrears of the month, or annually in advance for a fixed term : your order says which, and annual billing may be invoiced up front or quarterly if your order provides for it.
• An edition may carry a monthly minimum charge. Where it does, that minimum is assessed for each month of the subscription and is met by any mix of the seats, workers and locations you are using: you pay the greater of the minimum and what your usage comes to, month by month, and an annual invoice is the sum of those months.
• Payment for an accepted Quote ID may be collected by Razorpay on getlightning.cloud. Razorpay handles the payment instrument; we do not receive or store the complete card, bank or UPI credentials. Pharos itself never asks for those details.
• Until we are GST-registered, an online payment receives a non-GST payment receipt rather than a GST tax invoice. The document identifies the verified seller and says this expressly; clause 7 explains the tax position.
• Invoices are payable by the date on the invoice. If an invoice is more than 15 days overdue we may suspend the workspace on 7 days’ written notice; suspension is not termination and deletes nothing.

Adding seats, modules or locations mid-term is charged pro-rata from the date they are switched on. Reductions take effect at your next renewal on an annual term, or on 30 days’ notice on a monthly one.

Prices exclude GST and any other indirect tax. GST is charged at the applicable rate on invoices issued once we are GST-registered; our GSTIN will then appear on this page and on every invoice, and only invoices carrying it can support an input tax credit claim.

For customers in India, you will give us your correct GSTIN and registered address before your first invoice. Place of supply for a B2B service follows your registered location, which decides whether the invoice carries CGST and SGST or IGST. A GSTIN given late or wrongly is not a ground to reissue an invoice, and any credit lost as a result is yours.

If you are required to deduct tax at source, deduct it at the correct rate, remit it, and give us the certificate. The deducted amount counts as paid against the invoice. Everything else on the invoice remains due on the due date.

If you are established outside India, you are responsible for any tax arising where you are, including under any reverse-charge mechanism, and will give us whatever we reasonably need to characterise the supply correctly.

Your subscription runs for the term on your order. Where the order does not say, a monthly subscription runs month to month and an annual subscription runs for 12 months from the start date. Longer terms are available and are stated on the order.

• A monthly subscription renews each month and either of us can stop it with 30 days’ written notice.
• A fixed term renews for a further term of the same length unless either of us gives written notice at least 30 days before it ends.
• We may change rates at renewal. We will tell you at least 45 days before the renewal date, which is more notice than the 30 days you need to decline it. If we do not tell you in time, the existing rates carry into the next term.
• A multi-year term fixes your rates for the whole of that term.

Rate changes never apply in the middle of a term you have already committed to.

You can cancel at any time. Cancelling stops the next renewal and takes effect at the end of the term you have paid for; fees already invoiced for the current term remain payable, because the capacity behind them is already committed.

We refund the unused part of a term in two cases: if we terminate your subscription for our own convenience, or if we withdraw a capability your order depends on and you tell us within 30 days that you do not want to continue without it. The refund is pro-rata from the date the service or the capability stops.

Cancelling a pilot or a demonstration workspace costs nothing and involves no invoice. If you think an invoice is wrong, email ansh@getlightning.cloud : we would rather correct an invoice than argue about one.

Eligible new customers can start a 7-day free trial for one administrator and three modules they select. We do not ask for a card to begin one. A trial ends automatically unless you place an order; nothing renews into a paid subscription by silence.

We may also give you a seeded demonstration workspace. Pilots and demonstration workspaces are provided for evaluation and as-is: the availability, warranty and indemnity clauses below do not apply to them, and we may end one at any time. Do not put real production or personal data into a demonstration workspace : the data in one is expected to be disposable.

Data migration, implementation and training are separate from the subscription. They are quoted per engagement, disclosed before you commit, and invoiced separately from subscription fees. Rates and ranges are on the pricing page; your quote is what binds.

A migration is only as good as what it is given: you provide the source files and the answers we need, and you review and confirm the result before it is used for anything that matters. Anything we build for you as part of an engagement : configuration, templates, reports : is yours to keep and use. The underlying product remains ours, as clause 18 says.

We work to keep the service available and we monitor it, but we do not promise it will never be interrupted, and we do not publish an uptime figure we have not contracted to meet. A specific uptime or response-time commitment applies only if your order says so in writing.

We may take the service down for maintenance, and we aim to do disruptive work outside Indian business hours. Support is by email at ansh@getlightning.cloud unless your order provides for another channel.

This clause is the data processing agreement between us. It applies for as long as we hold personal data in your workspace, and it is the contract the DPDP Act requires you to have with a processor. If your own template is required by a customer of yours, tell us and we will look at it.

What we process, and why

Subject matter and purpose: providing the service on your order. Duration: the term of your subscription, plus the exit window in clause 16. Categories of individuals: your employees, contractors, customers, suppliers, candidates and portal users : whoever you put in. Categories of data: whatever your configuration collects, which in practice can include contact details, employment and attendance records, payroll and bank details, health-related leave records, biometric attendance where you enable it, and documents you upload.

We act only on your instructions

We process workspace personal data only to provide, secure, maintain and support the service, and otherwise only on your documented instructions : your order, your configuration, and requests your administrators make to us. We do not sell it, use it for advertising, or use it to train models. If a law requires us to process it otherwise, we will tell you before we do unless that law forbids us from telling you.

People and security

Everyone at Lightning with access is under a confidentiality obligation that survives their leaving, and access is granted only to those who need it to do their job. The technical measures we actually operate are listed in the Privacy Policy, stated as what they are rather than as a badge. We will not materially weaken them during your term.

Sub-processors

The complete list of sub-processors is published in the Privacy Policy. We will give you at least 30 days’ notice before a new one begins processing workspace data. If you object on reasonable data-protection grounds and we cannot resolve it, you may terminate the affected part of the service without penalty and we will refund the unused portion.

Helping you answer the people in your data

If an individual asks us directly about data in your workspace, we will not act on it : we will point them to you. Where you need to answer a request for access, correction, completion, updating, erasure or nomination under sections 11 to 14 of the DPDP Act, and the product does not already let you do it yourself, we will help you within a reasonable time and without extra charge.

Deletion, return, and evidence

On termination we delete or return workspace data as clause 16 sets out, and we will confirm the deletion in writing if you ask for it.

On audit we will be straight with you rather than grant a right we cannot service. We do not offer an on-site audit right at our present size, and we will not pretend otherwise. What we do offer, once a year and whenever you are renewing, is a written answer to your security questionnaire, a description of our controls and hosting, and a call with the person who runs them. If your own compliance obligations need more than that, raise it before you sign so we can agree what is realistic.

If we become aware of a security incident affecting personal data in your workspace, we will tell you without undue delay : with what we know, what we do not know yet, what we are doing about it, and what we suggest you do. We will not wait until we are certain before telling you that something has happened, and we will keep telling you as we learn more.

The obligation to notify the Data Protection Board of India and the individuals affected sits with you as Data Fiduciary. We will give you what you need to discharge it, including the facts and the timeline, and we will not charge you for that help.

For personal data we hold in our own right : your account and contact records, and enquiries made through our website : we are the Data Fiduciary and we will notify the Board and the people affected ourselves.

You may stop using the service at any time; clause 9 covers what happens to fees. Either of us may terminate for a material breach the other has not fixed within 30 days of being told about it.

We may suspend access immediately, without that notice period, if your use puts the service, our other customers, or somebody’s safety at risk. We will tell you why, and we will restore access as soon as the cause is resolved. Suspension for non-payment follows clause 6 and its notice period instead.

While your workspace is active you can export your data from within the product : Excel, CSV or PDF depending on the record : and you can ask us for a full export at ansh@getlightning.cloud at no charge.

After a subscription ends we keep your data exportable for 90 days, so you can retrieve it without needing us to be in a hurry. We will provide a full export in a machine-readable format within 10 working days of a written request made in that window. After the 90 days we delete it from active systems; copies inside backups age out on the normal backup cycle. If you need a different retention or deletion arrangement, agree it with us in writing before you terminate.

Each of us will protect the other’s non-public information with reasonable care and use it only for the purpose it was shared for. This does not cover information that is already public, that the recipient already had, or that must be disclosed by law : and where the law requires disclosure, we will tell you unless we are forbidden to. These obligations continue for three years after the agreement ends, and indefinitely for anything that is a trade secret.

The software, its design, and our documentation remain ours. These terms give you a right to use the service during your subscription, not a right to the code. If you send us feedback we may act on it freely, without owing you anything for it : and acting on it never gives us rights over your data.

We warrant that:

• the service will perform materially as described in our documentation during your subscription, and if it does not, we will fix it or, if we cannot, refund the unused portion of the affected part;
• we have the right to grant you the rights these terms grant; and
• we will not knowingly introduce malicious code into the service.

Beyond those, and beyond anything your order commits us to, the service is provided as-is. We do not warrant that it will be uninterrupted or error-free, and we do not hold a security or quality certification : we will not claim one we have not earned.

The product helps you run payroll, accounts, tax and compliance processes, but it is not a substitute for professional advice: figures it produces are yours to check, and you remain responsible for what you file and what you pay.

We will defend you against a third-party claim that the service, used as we intended, infringes that party’s intellectual property rights in India, and we will pay damages finally awarded or agreed in settlement. If such a claim looks likely we may modify the service, obtain a licence, or terminate the affected subscription and refund the unused portion. This does not apply where the claim arises from your data, your modifications, or your use of the service in a way we told you not to.

You will defend us against a third-party claim arising from data you or your users put into the workspace, or from your use of the service in breach of clause 5, and pay damages finally awarded or agreed in settlement.

Either way: tell the other side promptly, let them control the defence, and co-operate. Amounts paid under this clause count towards the cap in clause 21 except where that clause says otherwise.

Neither of us is liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for lost profits, revenue, goodwill, or anticipated savings. Each party’s total liability arising out of these terms is limited to the fees paid or payable by you for the twelve months before the claim.

That cap does not apply to your obligation to pay fees, to either party’s indemnity under clause 20, or to a breach of clause 17. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including for fraud, wilful misconduct, or death or personal injury caused by negligence.

You may optionally sign in with Google. If you do, Google authenticates you and tells us which account signed in; your Google password is never sent to us. Signing in with Google is subject to Google’s own terms as well as these. You can always use an email address and password instead.

If you connect the service to another system you use, that system is governed by its own terms and its own privacy policy, not ours. You are responsible for what you authorise it to read and write, and we are not responsible for what it does, for its availability, or for a change it makes to its interface. If a connection breaks because the other side changed, we will tell you and do what we reasonably can.

Order of precedence

If a signed order and these terms conflict, the order wins for that customer and that conflict only. If a document we both sign refers to a policy on this website, the version of the policy in force when the document was signed is the one that applies to the current term.

Notices

Notices to us are validly given by email to ansh@getlightning.cloud, and to you by email to the address on your order or to an administrator on your workspace. Email counts as writing throughout these terms. We do not yet have a registered postal address, so postal notice is not a route we can promise to receive; when we have one it will be published at the foot of this page.

Assignment and change of control

Neither of us may assign this agreement without the other’s consent, except that we may assign it to Lightning Technologies Private Limited on its incorporation, or to a successor in a merger, reorganisation or sale of the business. An assignment does not change your rates, your term, or anything else in your order, and we will tell you when one happens.

Publicity

We will not name you as a customer, use your logo, or describe your business in our marketing without your written consent. If you give it, you can withdraw it and we will stop.

Force majeure

Neither of us is liable for a failure caused by something genuinely outside our control : a natural event, war, a state action, a general internet or power failure. This does not excuse paying for service you have already had. If it lasts more than 30 days, either of us may terminate the affected subscription and we will refund the unused portion.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. If a change materially reduces your rights we will give you at least 30 days’ notice, and the version in force when your current term began is the one that governs it. The date at the top of this page tells you when it last changed.

Survival, severability, waiver

Clauses 4, 13, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23 and 24 survive termination, along with any obligation to pay. If a court finds part of these terms unenforceable, the rest stands. Not enforcing something once does not waive it. There are no third party beneficiaries, and neither of us is the other’s agent or partner.

These terms are governed by the laws of India. Once our registered office is on record, the courts at that place will have exclusive jurisdiction, and this clause will name the city. Until then we have not named an exclusive forum, because doing so before there is a registered office would be a clause you could not check.

Before either of us starts proceedings, we will each raise the issue in writing and give the other 30 days to resolve it. That is not a bar to seeking an urgent injunction.

For anything about personal data : a request, a complaint, or an answer you were not satisfied with : our Grievance Officer is Bhuwan Meshram, reachable at ansh@getlightning.cloud. We acknowledge within 2 business days and aim to resolve within 15 days, and in no case later than one month. The full route, including escalation to the Data Protection Board of India, is set out in the Privacy Policy.

Questions about these terms, an order, or an invoice: ansh@getlightning.cloud. Or book a walkthrough.