Last updated on 20 July 2021

1. Introduction – www.app.talkingtown.co and talkingtown.co (whether individually or collectively referred to as “Website”), together with any assessments, content, tools, features and functionalities offered on or through the Website (the “Service”) is operated and owned by Providentia Labs Private Limited (“Providentia”, or “Company”, or “us,” or “we” or “Our”) under the brand name and mark “Talkingtown”. Use of the Website and Service by any user (“User” or “You” or “Your”) is subject to the Terms and Conditions on this page (“Terms and Conditions”). By accessing or using any part of the Service, you represent that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions including any future modifications. Talkingtown reserves the right to amend, update or change these Terms and Conditions with or without notice.

2. Description of Service – The Service allows Users to take English proficiency assessments, created and certified by Talkingtown on Our proprietary online platform, based on the scoring systems set up by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages(CEFR). Providentia/ Talkingtown is an independent entity and has no affiliation with the Council of Europe or any other language governing body. However, it may bring in co-certification partners in future. The assessments are designed by language experts to cover evaluation of L-S-R-W: the four skills of language learning- Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.

These certifications and scores may be shared with organisations, educational institutions or other third parties. However, Providentia does not guarantee the acceptance or acknowledgement of its certification by any organization, university, institution, government body or the like. The purpose of the assessment under the Service is for self-assessment only.

The algorithm used on the Website is currently in beta stage, so results might be different from the actual expertise of the User. Talkingtown may, in its sole discretion, update, change, suspend, make improvements to or discontinue any aspect of the Service, certification criteria or decisions, or evaluation techniques temporarily or permanently, at any time.

3. Eligibility Criteria – In order to use the Service, you must:

1. be at least eighteen (18) years old and able to legally undergo contractual obligations. If not 18, You will only use the Services with the involvement, supervision, and approval or a parent or legal guardian;
2. complete the registration process;
3. agree to these Terms and Conditions; and
4. provide true, complete, and up-to-date contact and billing information.

Talkingtown may change eligibility requirements at any time. By using the Service, you represent and warrant that you meet all the requirements here, and that you will not use the Service in a way that violates any laws or regulations. By representing and warranting, you are making a legally enforceable promise.

4. Additional terms – By using or accessing the Website, you are consenting to Talkingtown’s use of cookies as follows: Cookies allow the Website to remember important information that will make your use of the site more convenient. Like most websites, Talkingtown uses cookies for a variety of purposes in order to improve Your online experience, for analytics and for marketing. Please check the browser’s cookie settings support pages to confirm the most up-to-date instructions to enable cookies.

You are solely responsible for all service, internet, data charges and/or other fees and costs associated with Your access to and use of the Website and Services, as well as for obtaining and maintaining all internet, hardware, and other equipment required for such access and use.

If You choose to use the Service by paying a fee, then You agree to pay, and will be responsible for payment of that fee and all taxes associated to it. If You provide credit card information to pay for such fees then You hereby represent and warrant that You are authorized to supply such information and hereby authorize Providentia to charge Your credit card for it.

If You choose to use the Service using a unique access key provided to you by an organization, institute or any third party, then You agree to use it only for one use for yourself, and to not share the key with anyone else for use or misuse.

5. User Conduct, representations and warranties for the use of Service – When taking an assessment on the Website, You agree to abide by and accept these Terms and Conditions, and undertake, represent and warrant:

1. To register for the assessment with correct and actual details requested at the time of registration, verifiable from legal identification documents, issued to you by a government entity in accordance with local laws;
2. To make the appropriate payment, if applicable, for taking the assessment, as detailed in Point 4 above;
3. That You are eligible to take the assessment as detailed in the eligibility criteria of these Terms and Conditions;
4. That the system you are accessing the assessments on has the necessary audio and typing capabilities, along with stable internet connection and bandwidth required to run the assessments smoothly till the results;
5. To carefully safeguard your account login information including password, user name, and account information, and will not share your password or user name with any third party. You will not allow any third party to access your Talkingtown assessments account for any purpose;
6. Not to challenge the results and certifications declared by Talkingtown basis the assessments taken by the User;
7. Not to use the assessments set up by Talkingtown to collect information about our processes or to develop strategy, guides or other testing preparation material or a similar assessment service;
8. Not to violate any rules applicable to the assessment or otherwise cheat, copy or circumvent the applicable procedures when taking an assessment;
9. Not to upload, display or write into the assessment with any content that: (i) is libelous, defamatory, abusive, threatening, harassing, hateful, offensive or otherwise violates any law or infringes upon the right of any third party (including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or other personal or proprietary rights); or (ii) in Talkingtown’s sole judgment, is objectionable or which restricts or inhibits any other person from using the Service or which may expose Talkingtown or its users to any harm or liability of any kind;
10. Not to attempt to gain unauthorized access to the assessments or Service, or the servers or networks connected to the Service;
11. Not to circumvent, remove, alter, deactivate, degrade or thwart any technological measure or content protections of the Service by cheating, hacking or any other means;
12. Not to use any robot, spider, crawlers or other automatic device, process, software or queries that intercepts, “mines,” scrapes or otherwise accesses the Service to monitor, extract, copy or collect information or data from or through the Service, or engage in any manual process to do the same;
13. Not to use the Service for illegal, harassing, unethical, or disruptive purposes;
14. Not to violate any applicable law or regulation in connection with your access to or use of the Service; and
15. Not to access or use the Service in any way not expressly permitted by these Terms.

In the event that Talkingtown determines in its sole discretion that User has cheated on an assessment, it may change its certification and evaluation decision on all assessments taken by that user, including notification about it to all third parties that the results have been sent to, by Talkingtown.

6. Disclaimer – User’s use of the Service is at their sole risk. The Service is provided on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis. The Service is provided without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, or course of performance.

Providentia, its subsidiaries, affiliates, and its licensors do not warrant that a) the Service will function uninterrupted, secure or available at any particular time or location; b) any errors or defects will be corrected; c) the Service is free of viruses or other harmful components; or d) the results of using the Service will meet your requirements.

7. Fees and Prices – Talkingtown, in its sole discretion and at any time, may modify the fees for the Service. Any fee change shall become effective as mentioned on the Website from time to time. These changes may be done due to market conditions, assessment termination, price changes, errors in advertisements, procurement related factors and other mitigating circumstances. However, the price paid at the time of purchase will be valid for the duration of the assessment. While We make sure to provide the most accurate and up to date information, in some cases one or more items on the Website may be priced incorrectly. This might happen due to human error, digital images, technical error or mismatch in pricing information received from suppliers involved.

8. Trademarks and other Intellectual Property Rights – The trademarks, service marks, and logos (the “Trademarks”) used and displayed on the Webite, in Service details, certifications issued, or in any Company content are Our registered or unregistered Trademarks/ Service marks or permitted thirds parties, and are protected pursuant to India and foreign trademark laws.Company exclusively owns all rights and copyrights in all questions, content and gorithms used on the Website and for the Service.

You acknowledge and agree that all content on the Website is the property of Providentia or its licensors and Providentia retains all proprietary rights in all content. You may not download, copy, reproduce, modify, distribute, republish, display, post or transmit any part of this Website without our express permission in writing.

9. Warranty and Scoring Disclaimer – THE ASSESSMENTS, WEBSITE, CONTENT, SCORING MECHANISMS, SERVICE, QUESTIONS IN VARIOUS FORMATS AND ANYTHING ELSE MADE AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH THE WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED “AS IS,” WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND AND, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE UNDER APPLICABLE LAW. THE COMPANY HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL SUCH WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON‐INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, FREEDOM FROM ERRORS, SUITABILITY OF CONTENT, OR AVAILABILITY.

10. Limitation of Liability – Notwithstanding anything contained in these Terms and Conditions, and to the fullest extent permissible under applicable law, in no event shall Providentia be liable to You or the User or any third party claiming through You, for direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or exemplary losses, damages, liabilities, claims and expenses (including but not limited to legal costs and defense or settlement costs under contract, tort or negligence) whatsoever, arising out of, or related to, material on the Website or the inability to use thereof, assessments, scores or the use of, inability to use, whether in contract, tort including negligence, statute or any other theory) even if Providentia had knowledge of the possibility of the potential loss or damage in advance or otherwise. Liability of Providentia for a breach of a condition or warranty implied by law or otherwise, and which cannot be excluded, is limited to the supply of the Service again or amount paid by the User for the Service.

11. Indemnification – You hereby agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Company, and its affiliates, officers, directors, agents, partners, employees, licensors, representatives and third party providers from and against all reasonably foreseeable losses, expenses, damages, costs, claims and demands, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and related costs and expenses, due to or arising out of Your breach of these Terms and Conditions, and any representation or warranty hereunder, or your negligence or willful misconduct.

12. Termination – We may terminate or suspend your account, without prior notice or liability, for any reason, including without limitation if you breach the Terms and Conditions. Upon termination, your right to use the Service shall immediately cease. In case you wish to terminate your account however, you may simply discontinue using the Service.

13. Refund Policy – Talkingtown follows  the refund policy mentioned and updated from time to time on its Website here- https://talkingtown.co/refund-policy/. Taking of an assessment is the independent decision of the User or registrant and should be done taking an informed decision.

14. Third Party Payment Processors – All financial transactions made in connection with the Service will be processed by a third party in accordance with their respective terms of use, privacy policy, and/or any applicable payment terms and conditions. Please be informed about the practices of such third party. In no event will Talkingtown be responsible for the actions or inactions of any third party payment processor, including, but not limited to, system downtime or payment service outages.

15. Third Party website links – Our Service or Website may contain links to third-party websites or services that are not owned or controlled by Talkingtown/ Providentia. Company has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for, the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party websites or services. You further acknowledge and agree that Providentia shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such content, goods, or services available on or through any such websites or services. We strongly advise you to read the terms of use and privacy policies of any third-party websites or services that you visit.

16. Compulsory Information Sharing – User, Service or any other information collected from You may need to be shared when it is requested or required by law or by any court or governmental agency or authority to disclose, for verification of identity, or for the prevention, detection, investigation including cyber incidents, or for prosecution and punishment of offences. These disclosures will be made in good faith and belief that such disclosures are reasonably necessary for enforcing these Terms and Conditions or for complying with the applicable laws and regulations.

17. Governing Law – These Terms and Conditions shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of India, and all disputes, whether or not such dispute involves a third party, shall be submitted exclusively to the competent courts of Bengaluru.

Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms and Conditions shall not be considered a waiver of those rights. These Terms and Conditions constitute the entire agreement between us regarding our Service, and supersede and replace any prior agreements we might have between us regarding the Service.

18. Privacy – Use of the Service is also governed by our Privacy Policy, a copy of which is located https://talkingtown.co/privacy-policy . By using the Service, you consent to the terms of the Privacy Policy.

19. Partial invalidity – If, at any time, any provision of the Terms and Conditions is or becomes illegal, invalid, or unenforceable in any respect under any law of any jurisdiction, neither the legality, validity, or enforceability of the remaining provisions nor the legality, validity, or enforceability of such provision under the law of any other jurisdiction shall in any way be affected or impaired.

20. Electronic Notifications – By using the Website and Service, or communicating with Company, You agree that Company may communicate with You regarding security, privacy, logistical and administrative issues and other issues relating to Your use of the Service or these Terms and Conditions via emails, messages, phone calls or through announcements on the Website. If the Company learns of a security system’s breach, the Company may attempt to notify You electronically by posting a notice on the Service or sending an email to You.

21. Contact Us – If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at info@talkingtown.co