Terms of Service

1. Agreement & definitions

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are a binding agreement between CloudOWS (SMC) Private Limited (“CloudOWS”, “we”, “us”) and the business or organisation that signs up for or uses our Services (“Customer”, “you”). By creating an account, ticking the acceptance box, connecting an account, or using the Services, you accept these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you accept on behalf of a business, you confirm you are authorised to bind it.

• “Platform” — the CloudOWS web application at app.cloudows.com, its APIs and related software.
• “Services” — the Platform and all apps, features, integrations, support and onboarding we provide.
• “Users” — the account owner and team members you invite.
• “End Customers” — people you communicate with or keep records about using the Services.
• “Customer Data” — all data, content and messages submitted to the Services by you, your Users or your End Customers, or received from platforms you connect.
• “Third-Party Platforms” — services not operated by us that you connect, such as Meta (WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram), e-commerce stores, couriers, payment providers, SMS and email gateways and AI providers.

2. Eligibility & accounts

• The Services are for businesses. You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into contracts.
• Accounts are activated after our review. We may refuse or cancel a sign-up at our discretion, for example where information cannot be verified or the business type is not permitted.
• Provide accurate, complete and current information, including your legal business name and contact details, and keep it up to date.
• You are responsible for your Users, for keeping credentials secure, for all activity under your account, and for the roles and app access you give team members. Tell us immediately at privacy@cloudows.com about any unauthorised use.
• Seats, contacts and other limits depend on your plan.

3. The Services

CloudOWS provides software including: WhatsApp Automation, WhatsApp Inbox, Omnichannel Communication, E-commerce Automation (including COD order confirmation), Customer CRM, Marketing Automation, AI Customer Support, AI Sales Assistant, Workflow Automation, Delivery & Logistics Automation, Appointment & Booking Automation, Payment & Invoice Automation, Business Analytics and Integrations & API. Which apps you can use depends on your plan and the add-ons approved for your account.

• Features marked Beta or Coming soon are provided as they are and may change or be withdrawn.
• We continuously improve the Services and may add, change or remove features. If we remove a material feature you pay for, we will give reasonable notice and, where appropriate, a pro-rated credit.
• CloudOWS is a tool. You decide who to contact, what to send and how to run your business. We do not send messages on our own initiative to your End Customers.

4. Meta, WhatsApp & other channels

CloudOWS connects to the WhatsApp Business Platform and other Meta products as a technology provider. By connecting a Meta account you:

• agree to and must comply with the WhatsApp Business Terms of Service, the WhatsApp Business Solution Terms, the WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy and WhatsApp Commerce Policy, the Meta Platform Terms, the Meta Community Standards and any other Meta terms that apply to your use (together, “Meta Policies”);
• authorise us to access your WhatsApp Business Account, phone numbers, templates, Facebook Page or Instagram account on your behalf, using the permissions you grant, solely to provide the Services;
• confirm you own or are authorised to use the phone numbers, business names and accounts you connect, and that your display name and business verification information are truthful;
• understand that Meta decides business verification, display name and template approval, messaging limits, quality ratings, pricing and any restriction or ban of numbers or accounts. We cannot override Meta's decisions and are not responsible for them, or for outages, changes or errors on Meta's side;
• accept that Meta conversation / message charges are separate from CloudOWS fees. Depending on your setup they are billed by Meta to your payment method or passed through by us at cost, as shown in your account;
• may disconnect at any time from the Platform or from your Meta Business settings. Disconnecting stops messaging through CloudOWS.

The same principles apply to other channels (SMS, email, web chat): you must follow the provider's terms and the law, including Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) rules on SMS where relevant.

5. Messaging rules

You are solely responsible for the messages you send through the Services and must:

1. Get consent first. Message people on WhatsApp only after they have given you their number and agreed to receive messages from your business on WhatsApp (opt-in), as required by the WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy. Keep records of opt-ins and show them to us or Meta on request.
2. Honour opt-outs promptly (for example when someone replies “STOP”, blocks you or asks not to be contacted) and do not message them again unless they opt back in.
3. Use approved templates for business-initiated messages outside the 24-hour customer service window, and keep messages relevant to what the person agreed to receive.
4. Never use purchased, rented, scraped or third-party contact lists, and never send bulk unsolicited messages (spam). Unsolicited messages may also be an offence under section 25 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016.
5. Clearly identify your business, and do not impersonate any person, brand or organisation.
6. Not ask End Customers for sensitive information (such as full card numbers, passwords, PINs or national identity numbers) through chat, except where the law and Meta Policies allow.
7. Comply with consumer protection, advertising, e-commerce and data protection laws that apply to you and your End Customers.

6. Acceptable use

You must not use the Services, or allow anyone to use them, to:

• sell, promote or facilitate products or services prohibited by the WhatsApp Commerce Policy or the law — including illegal drugs, prescription drugs without authorisation, tobacco and e-cigarettes, alcohol, weapons and ammunition, adult or sexual content, gambling, real or virtual currency trading and multi-level marketing schemes, counterfeit goods, animals or endangered species, and medical or health products in breach of the law;
• send content that is unlawful, fraudulent, deceptive, defamatory, hateful, harassing, threatening, obscene or that infringes anyone's rights; or run phishing, scams or chain messages;
• collect or process data about people without a lawful basis, or process special categories of data (such as health or financial data) in breach of the law;
• target or knowingly collect data from children in breach of the law or Meta Policies;
• upload malware, probe or attack the Platform, bypass limits or security, scrape it, or overload it;
• reverse engineer, copy, resell, sub-license or white-label the Services without our written agreement;
• use the Services to build a competing product or to benchmark it for publication without permission;
• use the Services in a way that could cause your or our Meta accounts to be restricted or banned.

We may investigate suspected violations, remove content, pause campaigns or automations, disconnect channels, and suspend or terminate accounts, and we may report illegal activity to authorities or to Meta.

7. Integrations & Third-Party Platforms

• Your use of Third-Party Platforms (stores, couriers, payment providers, calendars, AI and others) is governed by their own terms and privacy policies. You authorise us to exchange Customer Data with the platforms you connect, as configured.
• We do not hold or move your money. Payments made through payment links, wallets or banks go directly between your End Customer and the payment provider. Cash-on-delivery amounts are collected and remitted by your courier. You are responsible for reconciling payments and COD with those providers.
• Couriers are responsible for the parcels they carry. Delivery times, charges, losses and returns are between you and the courier.
• We are not responsible for Third-Party Platforms, their availability, data accuracy, changes to their APIs, fees or decisions. If a provider changes or stops its service, we may have to change or stop the related integration.
• You are responsible for API keys and webhooks you create in Integrations & API and for any systems you connect to them.

8. AI features

• AI Customer Support, AI Sales Assistant and other AI features generate content automatically using third-party models. Output may be inaccurate, incomplete or inappropriate. You are responsible for reviewing, configuring and supervising AI features, including what knowledge they use and whether replies are sent automatically.
• Tell End Customers they are talking to an automated assistant where required by law or Meta Policies, and give them a way to reach a person.
• Do not use AI features to give legal, medical, financial or other professional advice, or for decisions with legal or similarly significant effects on people, without human review.
• Customer Data processed by AI features is handled as described in our Privacy Policy and is not used to train models without your permission.

9. Customer Data & data processing

Ownership. You keep all rights in Customer Data. You grant us a limited licence to host, copy, transmit, process and display Customer Data only to provide, secure and support the Services, and as you instruct.

Your responsibilities. You are the controller of Customer Data. You confirm that you have a lawful basis, notices and consents needed to collect it, to share it with us and to have us process it (including on WhatsApp and through AI features), and that it does not infringe anyone's rights.

Our commitments as processor. We will:

1. process Customer Data only to provide the Services and on your documented instructions (these Terms, your configuration and your use of the Platform), unless the law requires otherwise;
2. ensure people authorised to process it are bound by confidentiality;
3. apply appropriate technical and organisational security measures, as described in our Privacy Policy;
4. use sub-processors only under written obligations that protect the data at least as well as these Terms, and remain responsible for them;
5. help you respond to requests from individuals exercising their rights, as far as reasonably possible;
6. notify you without undue delay (aiming for 72 hours) after becoming aware of a personal data breach affecting Customer Data;
7. at the end of the Services, let you export Customer Data for 30 days and then delete it, except where the law requires us to keep it;
8. make available information reasonably needed to show compliance with these commitments.

Aggregated data. We may use aggregated, de-identified usage statistics that do not identify you, your Users or End Customers to operate and improve the Services.

10. Plans, fees & billing

• Plans & add-ons. Fees depend on your plan, billing cycle (monthly or yearly) and approved add-on apps, as shown in your account and invoices. Apps included in your plan carry no add-on charge. Add-on prices are fixed for your account when approved.
• Currency & taxes. Fees are in Pakistani Rupees (PKR) unless stated otherwise and exclude applicable taxes, which are added to invoices where required.
• Free trials. If your account includes a trial, the first invoice is issued when the trial ends unless you cancel before then.
• Invoicing & payment. Invoices are issued in advance for each billing period (renewal invoices are issued a few days before renewal) and are due by the date shown. Pay by the methods listed on the invoice and upload proof of payment in the Platform. An invoice is paid once we verify the funds.
• Changes mid-cycle. Add-ons and upgrades during a billing period are charged pro rata for the remaining days. Downgrades take effect from the next period unless agreed otherwise.
• Price changes. We may change list prices with at least 30 days' notice. Changes apply from your next renewal.
• Late payment. If an invoice is unpaid after its due date your subscription becomes past due. After the grace period shown in your account we may suspend access to your apps until payment is received. Suspension does not delete your data.
• Refunds. Fees are non-refundable except where these Terms say otherwise, where we fail to provide the Services materially as described, or where the law requires.
• Third-party charges — Meta conversation charges, SMS costs, courier fees, payment provider fees and similar — are your responsibility and separate from our fees.

11. Suspension & termination

• You may cancel at any time by opening a ticket in Help & support or emailing us. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current paid period unless agreed otherwise. Already-paid fees are not refunded, except as stated in section 10.
• We may suspend or terminate the Services immediately if you materially breach these Terms (including messaging rules or acceptable use), fail to pay, create a security or legal risk, or if Meta or another provider requires it. Where reasonable we will give notice and a chance to fix the problem first.
• After termination, your access ends; you may export Customer Data for 30 days, after which we delete it as described in our Privacy Policy. Sections that by their nature should survive (such as fees owed, data, confidentiality, liability, indemnity and governing law) survive termination.

12. Intellectual property

• We and our licensors own the Services, software, designs, templates, documentation and the CloudOWS name and logo. We grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the Services during your subscription, for your internal business purposes, under these Terms.
• If you give us feedback or suggestions, we may use them freely without obligation to you.
• With your permission we may name your business as a customer. You can withdraw that permission at any time.

13. Confidentiality

Each party will keep the other's non-public business, technical and financial information confidential, use it only for this agreement, and protect it with reasonable care. This does not apply to information that is public, already known, independently developed or that must be disclosed by law (with notice where allowed).

14. Availability & support

• We aim to keep the Services available 24/7 but do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation. Planned maintenance is done at low-traffic times where possible.
• Support is provided through Help & support in the Platform and by email during Mon – Fri, 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM (PKT). Urgent tickets are prioritised.
• You are responsible for your own internet connection, devices and for keeping copies of important business records you need outside the Platform.

15. Disclaimers

Except as expressly stated in these Terms, the Services are provided “as is” and “as available”. To the extent permitted by law we disclaim all implied warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We do not guarantee any particular business result (such as sales, delivery success or COD confirmation rates), message delivery by Third-Party Platforms, or the accuracy of AI output.

16. Limitation of liability

• To the extent permitted by law, neither party is liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for loss of profits, revenue, business, goodwill or data, even if advised of the possibility.
• Our total liability arising out of or relating to these Terms and the Services is limited to the fees you paid us in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim.
• These limits do not apply to your payment obligations, your indemnity under section 17, or liability that cannot be limited by law.

17. Indemnity

You will defend and indemnify CloudOWS, its owners, staff and partners against claims, fines, penalties, losses and costs (including reasonable legal fees) arising from: your Customer Data; messages you send; your breach of these Terms, Meta Policies or the law; or your products, services and dealings with End Customers.

18. Governing law & disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The parties will first try to resolve any dispute in good faith for 30 days after written notice. If not resolved, the courts at Gujranwala, Pakistan have exclusive jurisdiction, without prejudice to either party's right to seek urgent interim relief from any competent court.

19. General

• Changes to these Terms. We may update these Terms. Material changes will be notified by email or in the Platform at least 15 days before they take effect, unless required sooner by law or by Meta. Continued use after that date means you accept the updated Terms.
• Notices to you may be sent to your account email or shown in the Platform. Notices to us: privacy@cloudows.com.
• Force majeure. Neither party is liable for delays caused by events beyond reasonable control, such as outages of Third-Party Platforms, internet or power failures, natural disasters, government action or strikes.
• Assignment. You may not transfer this agreement without our consent. We may assign it to an affiliate or a successor to our business.
• Entire agreement. These Terms, the Privacy Policy and any order, invoice or written plan details form the entire agreement. If any part is unenforceable, the rest remains in force. Failure to enforce a right is not a waiver.
• Independent parties. Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, agency or employment relationship.