Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Welcome to Freadd, a hyperlocal digital marketplace and technology platform operated by Varat E-Digital Services Private Limited (“Freadd”, “Company”, “we”, “us”, or “our”).

Freadd enables customers to discover, compare, purchase products, book services, communicate with vendors and service providers, and access other marketplace features. Freadd also enables vendors, businesses, service providers, freelancers and other eligible operators to create profiles, register businesses, list products or services, communicate with customers, receive orders or service requests, and manage their marketplace activities.

We recognise that privacy is important to our users. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, receive, use, disclose, store, retain, protect and otherwise process personal data when you:

• visit or use the Freadd website;
• use Freadd mobile applications;
• create or use a Freadd account;
• purchase products through Freadd;
• request or book services through Freadd;
• register as a vendor, business, service provider or freelancer;
• communicate with Freadd, vendors or service providers;
• contact customer support or submit a ticket or dispute;
• participate in promotions, surveys or other activities; or
• otherwise interact with Freadd.

This Privacy Policy should be read together with Freadd's Terms & Conditions, Vendor Terms, Cancellation and Refund Policy, Cookie Policy and other applicable policies or notices.

2. Identity of the Data Fiduciary / Organisation

For purposes of applicable Indian data-protection law, including the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDP Act”) and applicable rules, regulations and notifications issued under it, Varat E-Digital Services Private Limited may act as the organisation responsible for determining the purposes and means of processing personal data collected through Freadd.

Privacy Email: operation@varatedigitalservices.com

Grievance Officer: Advocate Bijoy Saha

3. Scope of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to personal data processed through:

1. Freadd websites and webpages;
2. Freadd Android applications;
3. Freadd iOS applications;
4. Freadd vendor/business dashboards;
5. Freadd service-provider and freelancer interfaces;
6. Freadd customer accounts;
7. Freadd administrative and support systems;
8. Freadd APIs and technology infrastructure;
9. communications sent by Freadd;
10. customer-support and dispute systems; and
11. other services, products or digital interfaces that expressly refer to this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy does not necessarily apply to third-party websites, applications, services or platforms that may be accessible through Freadd. Such third parties may have their own privacy policies.

4. Important Definitions

“Personal Data”

Means information relating to an identifiable individual, to the extent such information is covered by applicable law.

“User”

Means any individual who accesses or uses Freadd.

“Customer”

Means a user who purchases, orders, requests, books or otherwise obtains products or services through Freadd.

“Vendor”

Means a product seller, business, service provider, freelancer or other eligible person or entity offering products or services through Freadd.

“Business”

Means a business, establishment, organisation or other commercial or non-commercial operation registered on Freadd.

“Service Provider”

Means an individual or business offering services through Freadd.

“Freelancer”

Means an individual service provider who offers services independently through Freadd.

“Processing”

Includes collecting, recording, organising, storing, using, retrieving, sharing, analysing, updating, deleting or otherwise handling personal data.

5. Personal Data We May Collect

Depending upon how you use Freadd, we may collect different categories of personal data. We aim to collect information that is reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose.

5.1 Account and Registration Information

When you create an account, we may collect:

• name;
• mobile number;
• email address;
• username;
• password or authentication credentials;
• profile photograph, where provided;
• account preferences;
• communication preferences;
• referral information; and
• other information necessary to establish and maintain your account.

6. Customer Information

When you use Freadd as a customer, we may collect:

• name;
• mobile number;
• email address;
• delivery address;
• billing address;
• location information where required;
• order history;
• product/service preferences;
• booking information;
• transaction information;
• payment status;
• refund information;
• cancellation information;
• communication history;
• customer-support records;
• dispute information;
• ratings and reviews; and
• other information necessary to provide the requested service.

7. Vendor and Business Information

If you register as a vendor, business or service provider, Freadd may collect additional information required for verification and marketplace operations.

• operator/owner name;
• mobile number;
• email address;
• business name;
• business address;
• business type;
• registered address;
• operating address;
• product/service categories;
• business descriptions;
• business photographs;
• business documents;
• tax-related information;
• PAN information;
• GST-related information, where applicable;
• bank account information;
• payment settlement information;
• business registration information;
• licenses or permits where relevant;
• service-area information;
• business operating hours;
• vendor performance information;
• customer ratings and reviews;
• order and transaction information;
• cancellation and refund information; and
• other information reasonably required for onboarding, verification, settlement, compliance and marketplace operations.

8. Freelancer and Skill Verification Information

Where a freelancer or individual service provider is required to undergo skill or identity verification, we may collect information necessary to assess eligibility.

• professional information;
• qualifications;
• certificates;
• experience information;
• portfolio information;
• skill information;
• identity verification information;
• service-area information;
• photographs;
• documents supporting claimed qualifications; and
• verification results.

Freadd may display certain verified information publicly where necessary to help customers evaluate a service provider.

We will not intentionally publish confidential verification information merely because it was submitted for verification.

9. Identity and Verification Information

Depending upon the account type, transaction, legal requirement or risk-control process, Freadd may undertake verification through appropriate service providers.

Verification may include:

• mobile OTP verification;
• email verification;
• PAN verification;
• GST verification;
• bank-account verification;
• address verification;
• business verification;
• professional/skill verification; and
• other legally permitted verification procedures.

Where identity documents or verification information are required, we will process them only for legitimate and specified purposes.

10. Payment and Financial Information

When you make or receive payments through Freadd, we may process:

• transaction ID;
• order value;
• payment status;
• refund status;
• settlement information;
• payment method;
• bank-account details where required for vendor settlement;
• payment gateway reference information; and
• fraud/risk-related transaction information.

Where payment processing is handled by a third-party payment provider, the provider may independently process payment information according to its own privacy policy.

Freadd does not intend to store complete payment-card information unless specifically required and lawfully permitted for the relevant service.

11. Location Information

Location information may be used to:

• identify nearby vendors;
• identify nearby service providers;
• calculate service availability;
• determine delivery areas;
• display local marketplace results;
• improve marketplace relevance;
• estimate distance;
• facilitate service requests;
• support delivery or logistics;
• detect suspicious activity; and
• improve the operation of hyperlocal marketplace features.

Where operating-system permission is required, location access may depend upon the permission you provide through your device.

You may be able to disable location permissions through your device settings. Certain Freadd features may not function properly without relevant location information.

12. Device and Technical Information

This may include:

• IP address;
• device type;
• operating system;
• browser type;
• application version;
• device identifiers;
• language and regional settings;
• time zone;
• network information;
• approximate location derived from technical information;
• crash reports;
• diagnostic information;
• access times;
• pages/screens visited;
• interaction information;
• referring URLs;
• performance information; and
• security-related logs.

13. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Freadd may use cookies, SDKs, local storage, pixels, tags and similar technologies for authentication, session management, security, preferences, analytics, performance monitoring, personalisation, marketing where legally permitted, and fraud prevention.

You may be able to control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect the availability or functionality of some Freadd features.

14. Information from Communications

When you contact Freadd or communicate through Freadd, we may retain:

• emails;
• chat messages;
• support requests;
• ticket information;
• dispute submissions;
• call-related records where lawfully recorded;
• attachments;
• photographs;
• documents;
• feedback; and
• correspondence with vendors or service providers where available to Freadd.

15. How We Use Personal Data

A. Account Management

• creating accounts;
• authenticating users;
• maintaining accounts;
• securing accounts;
• recovering accounts; and
• managing user preferences.

B. Marketplace Services

• displaying products and services;
• processing orders;
• processing bookings;
• connecting customers with vendors;
• communicating order/service information;
• facilitating delivery;
• facilitating service fulfilment; and
• managing marketplace operations.

C. Vendor Operations

• onboarding vendors;
• verifying businesses;
• verifying service providers;
• managing listings;
• processing settlements;
• calculating applicable fees;
• managing subscriptions;
• monitoring vendor performance; and
• preventing fraudulent activity.

D. Payments

• processing transactions;
• confirming payments;
• processing refunds;
• processing vendor settlements;
• detecting suspicious transactions; and
• maintaining financial records.

E. Customer Support

• responding to enquiries;
• resolving complaints;
• handling tickets;
• handling disputes;
• investigating transaction issues; and
• improving customer support.

F. Security

• preventing fraud;
• preventing unauthorised access;
• detecting suspicious activity;
• protecting systems;
• enforcing platform rules;
• investigating security incidents; and
• protecting users and the Company.

G. Analytics and Improvement

• understanding platform usage;
• measuring performance;
• improving products and services;
• improving search and discovery;
• developing new features;
• identifying technical issues; and
• conducting internal analysis.

H. Personalisation and Matching

Freadd may use information such as location, product/service preferences, search activity, category interests, previous interactions, vendor/service attributes and marketplace activity to improve recommendations, search results, vendor discovery and matching.

16. AI-Driven Matching and Automated Systems

Freadd may develop or use algorithmic, machine-learning or AI-assisted systems to improve marketplace functionality.

Such systems may assist with:

• vendor discovery;
• service-provider matching;
• search relevance;
• product recommendations;
• fraud detection;
• categorisation;
• ranking;
• customer support;
• operational analytics;
• marketplace optimisation; and
• personalisation.

AI or automated systems may process information associated with your activity on Freadd.

Freadd will not intentionally use AI systems to make unlawful decisions or to circumvent applicable privacy, consumer-protection or other legal requirements.

17. Vendor Ranking, Badges and Marketplace Visibility

Freadd may use vendor activity to determine:

• verification badges;
• performance badges;
• response performance;
• cancellation performance;
• ratings;
• customer reviews;
• service quality indicators;
• sponsored listings;
• promoted listings;
• featured listings; and
• other marketplace indicators.

Commercial placement may be separately identified as sponsored, promoted or featured where applicable.

18. Advertising

Freadd may display advertisements or promotional content. Advertising may be based on general location, browsing or interaction patterns, category interests, marketplace activity and campaign participation.

Where third-party advertising or measurement providers are used, their own policies may apply.

19. Sharing Personal Data with Vendors

Freadd may provide a vendor or service provider with information reasonably necessary to fulfil an order or service request.

This may include:

• customer name;
• relevant contact information;
• delivery/service address;
• order details;
• booking details;
• information required to fulfil the service; and
• relevant communication necessary for fulfilment.

Freadd will seek to limit disclosure to information reasonably necessary for the relevant transaction.

20. Sharing Personal Data with Customers

Where necessary to facilitate a transaction, Freadd may display or provide customers with vendor information such as business name, business location, service area, public contact channels, business photographs, product/service information, ratings, reviews, verification badges and operating hours.

21. Third-Party Service Providers

Freadd may use third-party providers for:

• payment processing;
• identity verification;
• GST/PAN verification;
• bank verification;
• SMS/OTP;
• email;
• cloud hosting;
• databases;
• analytics;
• application monitoring;
• customer support;
• communication;
• security;
• fraud prevention;
• maps and location services;
• delivery/logistics;
• advertising; and
• other technology services.

We seek to use appropriate contractual, technical and organisational measures to protect personal data shared with service providers.

22. Legal and Regulatory Disclosures

Freadd may disclose personal data where reasonably necessary to:

• comply with applicable law;
• comply with a valid legal process;
• respond to lawful government requests;
• enforce legal rights;
• investigate fraud;
• investigate security incidents;
• prevent unlawful activity;
• protect users;
• protect Freadd's rights and property; or
• comply with applicable regulatory obligations.

23. Business Transfers

If Freadd or any part of its business is involved in a merger, acquisition, restructuring, financing, sale of assets, transfer of business, insolvency or similar corporate transaction, personal data may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to applicable law and appropriate protections.

24. Data Retention

We may retain personal data for as long as reasonably necessary for:

• providing requested goods or services;
• maintaining user accounts;
• completing transactions;
• processing refunds;
• vendor settlements;
• handling disputes;
• fraud prevention;
• security;
• accounting and financial records;
• legal compliance;
• regulatory requirements;
• exercising or defending legal claims;
• maintaining audit records; and
• other legitimate operational purposes.

When personal data is no longer required for a lawful purpose, Freadd may delete, anonymise or otherwise dispose of it in accordance with applicable law and its internal retention procedures.

25. Data Security

Freadd takes reasonable technical and organisational measures intended to protect personal data against unauthorised access, unauthorised disclosure, alteration, destruction, loss, misuse, fraud and other unlawful or unauthorised processing.

Security measures may include:

• access controls;
• authentication mechanisms;
• encryption where appropriate;
• secure communication protocols;
• monitoring;
• logging;
• backups;
• vulnerability management;
• administrative controls;
• employee access restrictions; and
• security incident response procedures.

No electronic system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Users are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their passwords, OTPs and account credentials.

26. Data Breaches and Security Incidents

If Freadd becomes aware of a personal-data breach or security incident, we may:

1. investigate the incident;
2. contain and mitigate the impact;
3. secure affected systems;
4. assess affected information;
5. preserve relevant evidence;
6. take corrective action;
7. notify affected users where required; and
8. make regulatory or other notifications where required by applicable law.

27. User Rights

Subject to applicable law, users may have rights relating to their personal data, including rights to:

• obtain information about processing;
• access personal data;
• correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
• update certain information;
• request deletion/erasure where legally available;
• withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
• raise grievances;
• nominate another individual where permitted by law; and
• exercise other rights provided under applicable law.

28. Withdrawal of Consent

Where Freadd processes personal data based on consent, you may withdraw that consent through the mechanism provided by Freadd.

Withdrawal of consent will not necessarily affect processing that occurred lawfully before withdrawal, is necessary for another lawful purpose, is required by law, is necessary for security or fraud prevention, or is otherwise permitted under applicable law.

29. Correction and Account Updates

Users should ensure that information submitted to Freadd remains accurate. Where account functionality allows, users may update information directly through their account.

If information cannot be updated through the platform, users may contact operation@varatedigitalservices.com.

30. Account Deletion and Personal Data Deletion

Subject to applicable law, users may request deletion of their Freadd account and/or personal data by contacting operation@varatedigitalservices.com.

Before completing a deletion request, Freadd may verify the identity of the requester.

Certain information may need to be retained where required or permitted by law, including information necessary for financial records, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, legal claims, regulatory compliance, security and enforcement of agreements.

31. Grievance Redressal

If you have a concern about Freadd's processing of your personal data, you may contact our grievance officer.

Please include your name, registered mobile/email where applicable, nature of the grievance, relevant account/order/ticket reference, supporting information if any, and the resolution you are seeking.

32. Children and Minors

Freadd is not intended to knowingly collect personal data from children in circumstances where such collection is prohibited by applicable law.

Where Freadd provides services involving children or minors, relevant legal requirements concerning parental or lawful-guardian consent, age verification, processing restrictions and safeguards will apply.

33. User Responsibilities

Users must:

• provide accurate information;
• provide information lawfully;
• not impersonate another person;
• not submit another person's identity information without authorisation;
• protect account credentials;
• not misuse personal information obtained through Freadd;
• not scrape or collect personal data from Freadd for unauthorised purposes;
• not use customer/vendor information for spam or unlawful marketing;
• not sell or distribute personal data obtained through Freadd without appropriate legal authority; and
• comply with Freadd's Terms and applicable law.

34. Vendor Privacy Responsibilities

Vendors receiving customer personal data must:

• use customer information only for legitimate transaction-related purposes;
• protect customer information;
• not sell or disclose customer information without lawful authority;
• not use customer information for unrelated marketing unless permitted by law and appropriate consent exists;
• not retain customer information longer than reasonably necessary;
• comply with applicable data-protection requirements;
• promptly report suspected data-security incidents where required; and
• comply with Freadd's contractual and platform requirements.

35. Communications

Freadd may send transactional communications such as:

• OTPs;
• account verification messages;
• order confirmations;
• booking confirmations;
• payment notifications;
• refund notifications;
• delivery/service updates;
• security alerts;
• account notices;
• support communications; and
• important policy or legal notices.

Where legally permitted and where applicable consent is required, Freadd may also send promotional or marketing communications.

36. SMS, Email and Telecommunication Services

Freadd may use third-party providers to deliver SMS, OTP, email and other communications. Such providers may process mobile number, email address, message content, delivery status, authentication information and technical metadata according to their applicable contractual arrangements and policies.

37. Analytics and Performance Monitoring

Freadd may use analytics and monitoring technologies to understand platform usage, feature usage, application and website performance, errors, crashes, conversion patterns, marketplace trends and general user behaviour.

38. Fraud Prevention and Risk Management

Freadd may analyse account, transaction, device, behavioural and marketplace information to identify suspicious transactions, fake accounts, account takeover, payment fraud, vendor fraud, misuse of promotions, abnormal activity, fake reviews, manipulation of marketplace rankings, unauthorised access and other prohibited activities.

39. Reviews, Ratings and Public Content

Freadd may allow users to publish ratings, reviews, photographs, comments, business information, product information, service information and other content.

Information intentionally submitted for public display may become publicly accessible. Users should not publish personal information belonging to another individual without appropriate authority.

40. Third-Party Links

Freadd may contain links to third-party websites, applications or services. Freadd is not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites. Users should review third-party privacy policies before providing personal information.

41. International Data Transfers

Freadd may use technology or service providers that process personal data from locations outside the user's state or country.

Where personal data is transferred or made accessible outside India, Freadd will take such steps as may be required under applicable Indian law and other applicable legal requirements.

42. Data Localisation

Where Indian law imposes specific requirements concerning storage, processing, transfer or access to particular categories of personal data, Freadd will implement its infrastructure and processing practices to comply with those requirements to the extent applicable.

43. Legal Basis / Permitted Purposes

Depending upon the circumstances, Freadd may process personal data based on:

• consent;
• provision of requested goods or services;
• legitimate and lawful business purposes recognised by applicable law;
• compliance with legal obligations;
• protection of users and platform security;
• fraud prevention;
• fulfilment of contractual or transaction-related obligations;
• regulatory requirements; or
• other grounds permitted under applicable law.

44. Data Minimisation

Freadd seeks to collect personal data that is reasonably relevant to the purpose for which it is processed. We do not intend to collect personal data merely because it is technically possible to collect it.

45. Accuracy of Information

Users are responsible for providing accurate, complete and current information. If information changes, users should update their account where possible or contact Freadd.

46. Data Used for Business Intelligence

Freadd may use aggregated, statistical, anonymised or appropriately de-identified information to understand vendor density, marketplace demand, category performance, service demand, geographic trends, customer behaviour, operational performance, platform growth and business trends.

47. Data Disclosure for Business and Operational Purposes

Freadd may disclose relevant information to employees, authorised personnel, contractors, technology providers, payment providers, verification providers, professional advisers, auditors, legal advisers, security providers, logistics providers, communication providers and other service providers where reasonably necessary for the operation, protection and development of Freadd.

48. Privacy of Business Information

Some information submitted by vendors may relate to a business rather than an identifiable individual. Freadd may publicly display business information intentionally provided for marketplace discovery, such as business name, category, address, hours, products, services, pricing, photographs, public contact channels, ratings, reviews and verification badges.

Where business information also contains personal data, applicable privacy protections may apply.

49. Changes to this Privacy Policy

Freadd may update this Privacy Policy from time to time because of new features, changes in technology, business operations, law, regulatory requirements, data-processing practices or security considerations.

When material changes are made, Freadd may provide appropriate notice through its website, application, email or other communication channel, where required.

50. Governing Law

This Privacy Policy shall be governed by the laws applicable in India, subject to applicable statutory rights and regulatory requirements.

Nothing in this Privacy Policy is intended to limit any rights that cannot lawfully be excluded or restricted under applicable law.

51. Contact Information

52. Privacy Requests

When submitting a privacy request, please provide enough information for us to identify your account and understand the request.

For security reasons, Freadd may require reasonable verification before processing requests involving account deletion, sensitive account information, identity information, payment information, vendor/business information or other requests that could affect another person's privacy or account.

53. Consent and Acknowledgement

By using Freadd, creating an account, submitting information, placing an order, requesting a service, registering as a vendor or otherwise interacting with Freadd, you acknowledge that you have been provided with this Privacy Policy and relevant privacy notices.

Where applicable law requires consent for a particular processing activity, Freadd will seek the required consent through an appropriate mechanism.

Consent to one purpose will not automatically be treated as consent to unrelated purposes where separate consent is legally required.

54. Severability

If any provision of this Privacy Policy is found to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue to operate to the extent permitted by law.

55. Entire Privacy Notice

This Privacy Policy, together with any applicable supplementary privacy notices presented at the point of collection, forms the principal privacy notice governing Freadd's processing of personal data.

Where a specific feature provides a more detailed privacy notice, that notice will supplement this Privacy Policy for that particular feature.

56. Effective Date

Effective Date: 15 September 2026

Last Updated: 15 September 2026

© 2026 Varat E-Digital Services Private Limited. All Rights Reserved.