Privacy Policy

1. Who provides UtsavArpan

UtsavArpan is provided by Sarsam Inc. for festival Mandals to manage donations, receipts, expenses, reports and authorized team access. In this policy, “UtsavArpan”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to Sarsam Inc. and the UtsavArpan service.

2. Our relationship with Mandals

Each Mandal decides why donor and transaction information is collected and which authorized members may use it. UtsavArpan processes that information to provide the service. Sarsam Inc. separately manages account security, subscriptions, enquiries, product administration and legal compliance.

The person registering a Mandal confirms that they are authorized to provide its information and manage access for its President and other members.

3. Information we handle

• Account information: Google account name, email address, account identifier and sign-in/session information.
• Mandal and team information: Mandal name and address, member names, email addresses, phone numbers, roles and access status.
• Donor and transaction information: donor name, optional Indian mobile number, donation amount, date, payment mode, category, receipt details and collector attribution.
• UPI setup and payment-claim information: UPI ID, payee name, receiving-account type, an authorized collector’s name and role when a member’s personal UPI account is used, an optional amount suggested after discussion with a donor, donor-selected amount, payment note, claim status, bank or UPI reference, verification or rejection details, and related audit information.
• Accounting information: expenses, opening balances, transaction notes, reports, changes, void reasons and approval records.
• Enquiries and technical information: enquiry details, security events, audit logs and basic service diagnostics.

A donor may decline to provide a mobile number and still use the public donation flow or receive a valid downloadable, printable or device-shared receipt. UtsavArpan is not designed to collect card numbers, full bank-account credentials, UPI PINs, bank passwords or similar payment credentials. Never enter a UPI PIN or bank password into UtsavArpan.

4. Why we use information

• To create and manage Mandal and Utsav ledgers.
• To identify donors, compare previous-year donation history and generate receipts.
• To prepare a donor-selected UPI payment instruction, record a payment claim, prevent duplicate references, support Mandal verification and create a receipt only after verification.
• To record expenses, calculate balances and prepare PDF or Excel reports.
• To enforce role permissions, secure accounts and maintain audit records.
• To provide support, troubleshoot problems, test improvements and maintain backups.
• To respond to enquiries, manage subscriptions and comply with applicable law.

We process information only for stated service purposes, with consent or another basis permitted by applicable law, including India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 where applicable.

5. Authorized access during development

UtsavArpan is currently under development. Authorized Sarsam Inc. personnel may access Mandal, donor and transaction information only when reasonably necessary for testing, troubleshooting, security, backup, service support or legal compliance. Mandal members receive access according to their assigned role.

We do not sell donor information or allow it to be used for unrelated advertising.

6. When information may be shared

Information may be available to authorized members of the relevant Mandal, service providers that help us operate UtsavArpan, or government and regulatory authorities when legally required. Google is used for sign-in. When a user chooses to share a receipt through WhatsApp or another app, that provider’s own privacy terms apply.

An authorized Mandal member may also display a time-limited QR code so a donor can retrieve one specific receipt. The QR contains an unguessable private link, expires automatically and stops working if the related donation is edited or voided. Anyone who receives that link before it expires may open that receipt, so members should disable it after the donor has saved the PDF.

Service providers must receive only the information reasonably needed for their function and are expected to protect it.

Optional UPI donation flow

When an authorized Mandal role activates UPI donations, the public donation screen shows the UPI ID, payee name and whether funds go to a Mandal account or an authorized member’s account. If a member’s personal UPI account is used, the member’s approved collector name and role are also shown. These details are encoded in the payment QR or app link together with the amount selected by the donor and a payment note.

The donor authorizes payment inside a third-party UPI application. That application, the participating banks and the UPI network process the payment under their own privacy terms. Sarsam Inc. does not receive or hold the funds and does not receive the donor’s UPI PIN, bank password or full account credentials.

After payment, a donor may provide a name and optional phone number and tap “I have paid”. This creates an unverified claim, not a bank confirmation. The donor can submit the claim within 48 hours after starting payment. Authorized Mandal users can see the claim, compare it with the receiving account, record a bank or UPI reference, match it to the Mandal’s donor pool where appropriate, and verify or reject it. After 7 days an unresolved claim is marked Verification overdue but remains available for review; a late verification stores the Mandal user’s reason in the audit record. Name or phone matching may suggest possible donor records, but a Mandal user must confirm the correct person. Past donation amounts and expected contribution amounts are not shown in a personalized payment link.

A personalized donor payment link contains a time-limited token associated with the intended donor. An authorized Mandal role may store an amount discussed with the donor and prefill it on that page. The intended donor can see, increase or reduce that amount before starting payment. Anyone who receives the link before it expires may open the payment page, so Mandal members and donors should not forward it unnecessarily.

Optional mandal notifications

If you choose to follow a public mandal page and allow notifications, we store your browser’s push endpoint and encryption keys, the mandal you followed, and the time you opted in. No donor record, phone number, email or sign-in is required. These details are used only to send that mandal’s public announcements and tests you request. Your browser’s push provider, such as Apple, Google, Mozilla or Microsoft, carries the encrypted notification and processes connection information under its own terms.

You can stop notifications for a mandal on its public page; this removes that mandal’s stored subscription for your device. You can also block all notifications in browser or device settings. Expired subscriptions are removed when the push provider reports them. Broadcast logs record sending outcomes, not whether you read an alert. Subscription endpoints are not shown to mandal managers or other visitors.

7. Storage and international processing

UtsavArpan uses cloud infrastructure to provide the service. Information may therefore be processed or stored outside the state or country where it was entered, subject to applicable legal restrictions and appropriate safeguards.

8. Retention and deletion

We retain information while a Mandal account is active and for as long as reasonably needed for accounting records, payment reconciliation, dispute handling, security, backup, recovery or legal obligations. This may include UPI settings, payment claims, bank or UPI references, verification outcomes and related audit records. Deleted Utsavs may remain recoverable for the period shown inside the app before permanent deletion becomes available.

A deletion request may not immediately remove information that must be retained by a Mandal or by law, or that remains temporarily in protected backups.

9. Security

We use safeguards appropriate to the service, including Google authentication, role-based access, Mandal-level data separation, session controls, audit records, encrypted network connections and controlled administrative access. No online system can guarantee absolute security, so Mandals must also manage member access carefully and promptly remove people who no longer require it.

10. Your choices and requests

Subject to applicable law, a person may ask to access, correct or erase their personal information, withdraw consent, or raise a grievance. A donor may omit the optional phone number and may choose not to use the UPI feature. Donors should first contact the Mandal that collected their information because the Mandal can identify the relevant claim, receipt or transaction and is responsible for payment verification and refunds. UPI transaction-status or banking complaints should also be raised through the donor’s UPI application or bank. Requests relating to the UtsavArpan service may be sent through our enquiry form.

11. Children’s information

UtsavArpan is intended for use by authorized adult Mandal members. Mandals must not knowingly enter a child’s personal information unless they have the authority and any verifiable parental consent required by applicable law.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the service, security practices or legal requirements change. The updated date will appear at the top of this page. Material changes may also be communicated inside the service.

13. Contact and grievances

For a privacy question, correction, deletion request or grievance, use the UtsavArpan enquiry form and write “Privacy request” in the Mandal name field. Include only the information needed to identify your request. We may need to verify your identity and Mandal relationship before acting.