Terms and conditions

1. 01

   These terms, and what overrides them

   These terms govern services supplied by StackHog Private Limited (“we”, “us”). A signed engagement document — a scope, a statement of work, an order form or a master agreement — takes precedence over anything here where the two differ.

   Nothing else on this site is an offer. Prices, durations and availability described elsewhere are indicative until they are quoted in writing for your engagement.

2. 02

   Scope, and what happens when it changes

   Every engagement opens with a written scope stating what is included, what is excluded, and the price or the rate. Work begins once you accept it.

   A change to that scope is quoted as a change — a new or amended scope you accept before the work happens. We do not invoice for work you have not agreed to in writing.

3. 03

   Fees, invoicing and taxes

   Fixed-scope engagements are invoiced 40% on commencement and the balance on delivery, unless the engagement document says otherwise. Retainers and staffing engagements are invoiced monthly.

   Indian clients are billed in INR with GST added at the prevailing rate. Supplies to clients outside India are an export of services, zero-rated under a Letter of Undertaking; you remain responsible for any tax due in your own jurisdiction, including reverse charge where it applies.

   Invoices are payable within the period stated on them. We may suspend work on overdue invoices after written notice.

4. 04

   Intellectual property

   On payment in full for the relevant engagement, ownership of everything created for you transfers to you — source code, infrastructure-as-code, documentation, models and reports.

   We keep ownership of what pre-exists the engagement: our methods, templates, internal tooling and general know-how. Where any of it is embedded in your deliverables you have a perpetual licence to use it. Nothing we build is locked to us, and no deliverable requires hosting you cannot move.

   Third-party and open-source components stay under their own licences, which we identify at handover.

5. 05

   Engineers supplied to your team

   Where we supply engineers to work in your team, we are the employer of record. Their employment, payroll and statutory compliance in India are our responsibility. You direct their day-to-day work.

   You interview and approve every named engineer before they start, and we do not substitute anyone without your agreement. If the performance is not there in the first month, we replace the person and carry the cost of doing so.

   This is a supply of services. Neither of us becomes the other’s employer, and no employment relationship arises between you and our people.

6. 06

   Confidentiality

   Each of us will keep the other’s confidential information confidential, use it only for the engagement, and protect it with at least the care we use for our own. This survives the engagement.

   We will not name you as a client, use your logo, or publish anything about the work without your written permission.

7. 07

   Personal data

   Where either of us processes personal data on the other’s behalf, we will do so under a written data processing agreement and only for the purposes it sets out.

   How this site itself handles personal data is set out separately in the privacy policy.

8. 08

   Warranties

   We warrant that the services will be performed with reasonable skill and care by suitably qualified people, and that deliverables will materially conform to the scope you accepted.

   Tell us within a reasonable period of delivery if something does not conform and we will correct it. That correction is your primary remedy for a defect.

   We do not warrant that software will be free of every defect, and we give no warranty for third-party services, models or infrastructure we do not control.

9. 09

   Liability

   Neither of us is liable for indirect or consequential loss, lost profit, lost revenue, or lost or corrupted data, however caused.

   Each party’s total liability arising out of an engagement is capped at the fees paid under that engagement in the twelve months before the claim.

   Nothing here limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited, including for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.

   Open decision

   The cap is a commercial decision, not a default. Confirm the figure — a multiple of fees, or a fixed sum — before trading under these terms.

10. 10

    Term and termination

    Fixed-scope engagements end on delivery and acceptance. Retainers and staffing engagements run monthly, and either of us may end them on written notice.

    Either of us may end an engagement immediately for a material breach that is not remedied after written notice, or on insolvency.

    On termination you pay for work performed and accepted up to that date, and we hand over what has been paid for.

    Open decision

    Set the notice period for retainers and staffing engagements.

11. 11

    Non-solicitation

    During an engagement, and for a period after it, neither of us will directly solicit the other’s people who worked on it without consent. General public advertising is not restricted.

    Where the engagement is a permanent placement, this does not apply to the placed candidate — that is the point of the engagement.

12. 12

    Governing law

    These terms are governed by the laws of India, and the courts at Gurugram, Haryana have jurisdiction.

    Open decision

    Decide whether cross-border disputes go to those courts or to arbitration, and where any arbitration is seated. Buyers in the US, UK and EU will ask.

These terms state how StackHog intends to trade. They are not legal advice and have not been reviewed by a lawyer. Questions go to hello@stackhog.com.