Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

Creating an account, posting a project, submitting a proposal, or otherwise using MeritWorkX means you accept these Terms. If you're using MeritWorkX on behalf of a company, you're confirming you have authority to bind that company to these Terms.

2. Who Can Use MeritWorkX

You must be at least 18 years old and capable of entering a legally binding agreement to use MeritWorkX, whether as a Client (posting projects and hiring) or a Freelancer (applying to and completing projects). Clients and Freelancers may be based in India or internationally.

3. Accounts

You're responsible for the accuracy of your profile and for keeping your login credentials confidential — you're responsible for activity under your account. Sign up with email/password or Google Sign-In. One account per person; accounts may not be shared, sold, or transferred.

4. How Matching Works

MeritWorkX uses AI to score compatibility between a Freelancer's profile, skills, and portfolio against a Client's posted project, and to generate proposal rankings and fit/gap analysis. These scores are advisory — they help both sides make faster, better-informed decisions. They don't guarantee project outcomes, work quality, or a successful hire.

5. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• Arrange payment outside MeritWorkX for a project you sourced through it, to avoid platform fees.
• Post false, misleading, or plagiarized project descriptions, proposals, or portfolio content.
• Harass, discriminate against, or misrepresent your identity to other users.
• Attempt to circumvent, disable, or probe the platform's security, or scrape/harvest data beyond normal use.
• Use the platform for anything illegal, or that infringes someone else's rights.

Violating this section may result in warning, suspension, or termination of your account, at our discretion, without refund of platform fees already earned on completed transactions.

6. Fees — Platform Commission

Concretely, for a project valued at $1,000: the Client pays $1,050 (project value + 5% Client fee); the Freelancer receives $950 (project value − 5% Freelancer fee); MeritWorkX retains $100 as its platform fee. Payment gateway processing charges (currently via Razorpay) are separate from this platform fee and are absorbed by MeritWorkX out of its retained commission, not charged separately to Client or Freelancer.

7. How Payments Move

When a Client funds a project, the full amount (project value + Client fee) is collected via our payment gateway partner and held by MeritWorkX. Funds are marked "in escrow" until the Client reviews the delivered work and clicks "Approve & Release." Upon release, the Freelancer's balance becomes available for withdrawal to the payout method they've provided (bank transfer for India-based Freelancers; PayPal or Wise for international Freelancers). Once the Freelancer submits a withdrawal request, funds are typically transferred to their payout method within 3 to 5 working days.

8. Subscription Plans & Tokens (Freelancers)

Freelancers operate on a token system: applying to a project costs one token, except a Freelancer's very first proposal ever, which is free. Tokens are credited back when a proposal is shortlisted or the Freelancer is hired, and are not refunded on rejection. Freelancers may subscribe to Pro or Elite plans for a higher monthly token allowance and additional AI features (proposal writing, fit/gap analysis); subscriptions renew monthly until cancelled and are billed via our payment gateway partner. If a renewal payment fails, your plan may lapse to the free Starter tier until payment succeeds.

9. Intellectual Property

MeritWorkX owns the platform itself — its design, code, branding, and AI matching logic. You keep ownership of the content you create and upload (project descriptions, proposals, portfolio work, messages). By posting content, you grant MeritWorkX a limited license to store, process, and display it as needed to operate the service (e.g. showing your portfolio to a Client you've applied to). We don't use your content to train AI models shared across other users, and we don't sell it.

Ownership of the actual deliverables produced in a project (code, designs, documents, etc.) is a matter between the Client and Freelancer, governed by whatever they agree to for that project — MeritWorkX is not a party to that agreement.

10. User Content

You warrant that you own or have the necessary rights to anything you post (portfolio work, project descriptions, proposals, uploaded files) and that it doesn't violate any law or third party's rights. We don't pre-screen content, but we may remove content or suspend an account that violates these Terms.

11. Verification

MeritWorkX offers identity, phone, and business email verification to build trust between Clients and Freelancers. A verification badge is a signal, not a guarantee of a user's identity, reliability, or the legality of their activity.

12. Cancellations & Refunds

Cancellation and refund handling is governed by our separate Refund & Cancellation Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

13. Disclaimers

MeritWorkX is provided "as is," without warranties of any kind. We're a matching and payment-facilitation platform — we're not a party to the working relationship, contract, or scope of work agreed between a Client and Freelancer, and we don't guarantee the quality, legality, timeliness, or outcome of any project. AI-generated match scores, fit/gap analysis, and proposal drafts are starting points for your own judgment, not a guarantee of accuracy.

14. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, MeritWorkX is not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, lost profits, or lost data arising from your use of the platform. Our total liability to you for any claim is capped at the greater of the platform fees you paid us in the three months preceding the claim, or $100.

15. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold MeritWorkX harmless from any claim arising from your use of the platform, the content you post, your violation of these Terms, or your infringement of a third party's rights.

16. Termination

You may close your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms, engage in fraud, or attempt to circumvent platform fees, with or without notice depending on severity. Obligations relating to completed or in-progress transactions, and sections that by their nature should survive (IP, disclaimers, liability limits, indemnification), continue after termination.

17. Governing Law & Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of India, regardless of where a Client or Freelancer is located. If a dispute arises, we'll try to resolve it directly with you first; unresolved disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of India.

18. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by updating the "Last updated" date above, and where practical we'll make reasonable efforts to notify you. Continued use of MeritWorkX after changes take effect means you accept the revised Terms.

19. Miscellaneous

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and Refund & Cancellation Policy, are the entire agreement between you and MeritWorkX on these topics. If any provision is found unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision isn't a waiver of it. You may not assign your rights under these Terms without our consent; we may assign ours freely (e.g. in a merger or acquisition). Nothing here creates a partnership, joint venture, or employment relationship between you and MeritWorkX.

20. Contact

Questions about these Terms can be sent via our Contact page.