Cancellation & Refund Policy
This policy explains how cancellations, rescheduling, failed payments, and refunds are handled for consultations and add-on services booked through Sukhi Bharat. This is not a "no refund" policy — refunds are available in the circumstances described below, assessed case by case, and always subject to applicable Indian law.
A. Scope of this policy
This policy applies to paid consultations and paid add-on services booked through the Sukhi Bharat platform. It does not apply to any work done directly with a third-party advocate you separately engage — Sukhi Bharat is not a law firm and does not itself provide legal representation (see our Disclaimer).
B. Key definitions used in this policy
Cancellation means you or Sukhi Bharat ending a booked consultation or add-on order before it is delivered. Rescheduling means moving a booked consultation to a different date/time without cancelling it. Refund means returning some or all of the amount you paid. Failed payment means a payment attempt that did not complete successfully at Razorpay's end (see clause H). These are treated differently below — cancelling is not automatically the same as getting a refund, and rescheduling is not a cancellation at all.
C. Payment is required before service delivery
As set out in our Terms & Conditions, a consultation must be paid for (where it is not offered free of charge) before it can be assigned to an expert, scheduled, or conducted. Opening the payment checkout screen does not itself constitute payment — only a successfully verified payment is treated as payment received.
D. Cancelling before an expert is assigned
If you cancel a paid consultation or add-on order before an expert has been assigned and before any consultancy work has begun, you are eligible for a full refund of the amount paid, subject to clause N (payment gateway/processing charges, if any).
E. Cancelling after an expert is assigned but before the consultation is conducted
If you cancel after an expert has been assigned or a time has been scheduled, but before the consultation actually takes place, you are ordinarily eligible for a full or substantial refund. Sukhi Bharat may deduct a reasonable amount to reflect preparation already undertaken by the assigned expert, disclosed to you at the time of cancellation.
F. Cancelling after the consultation has been delivered
Once a consultation has been conducted, or add-on work has been substantially performed, the service has been delivered and is generally not eligible for a refund on the basis of cancellation alone. This does not affect your right to a refund where the service delivered was defective, materially different from what was described, or not delivered at all — see clause I.
G. Rescheduling is not a cancellation
You may request to reschedule a consultation to a different date/time. Rescheduling does not cancel your booking, does not trigger a refund, and does not require a new payment, provided it is requested with reasonable notice before the scheduled time. Repeated last-minute rescheduling may be treated at Sukhi Bharat's discretion as a no-show for the purpose of clause F.
H. Failed or incomplete payments
If a payment fails, is declined, or is not completed at Razorpay's end, no consultation or add-on order is treated as paid, and you have not been charged by Sukhi Bharat. If money was deducted from your account despite a failed or incomplete transaction, that is a payment-gateway-level issue and is typically auto-reversed by Razorpay/your bank within their standard timelines; Sukhi Bharat will assist you in following this up if it does not resolve on its own.
I. Service not delivered / materially defective service
If a consultation you paid for was not delivered at all (for example, no expert was ever assigned or the session never took place through no fault of yours), or if what was delivered was materially different from what was described and paid for, you are entitled to a full refund of the amount paid for that item. This clause exists independently of, and is not limited by, clauses D–G above.
J. No guarantee of any particular legal outcome
A refund under this policy is never available on the basis that you were unhappy with the legal advice, outcome, or result of a matter. Sukhi Bharat does not and cannot guarantee any particular outcome (see our Disclaimer), and dissatisfaction with an outcome is not, by itself, a basis for a refund of a consultation that was actually delivered.
K. Cancellation initiated by Sukhi Bharat
If Sukhi Bharat is unable to deliver a paid consultation or add-on service (for example, no expert is available, or the request falls outside what Sukhi Bharat can lawfully assist with), you will be notified and offered a full refund or, if you prefer, rescheduling/reassignment at no extra cost.
L. How to request a cancellation or refund
Requests can be made from within your client portal against the relevant consultation or add-on order, or by writing to support@sukhibharat.vishavkalyan.com with your case number and payment reference. [BUSINESS DECISION REQUIRED: confirm final support contact channel(s) before launch.]
M. Refund review and approval
Every refund request is reviewed individually against this policy. Requesting a refund does not guarantee that it will be approved, and approval is not automatic — Sukhi Bharat assesses each request against the clauses above (in particular whether and how much of the service was actually delivered) before approving any refund.
N. Payment gateway and processing charges
Where legally permissible, any payment-gateway or processing charges that are non-recoverable by Sukhi Bharat may be deducted from a refund. [BUSINESS DECISION REQUIRED: confirm whether Sukhi Bharat will absorb these charges or pass them through, and disclose the exact amount/percentage before launch.]
O. Refund method and timeline
Approved refunds are issued to the original payment method used, via Razorpay. Once a refund is processed on Sukhi Bharat's end, crediting to your account typically takes 5–7 business days, depending on your bank or payment provider — this timeline is set by the banking system, not by Sukhi Bharat, and is provided for guidance only.
P. Partial refunds
Where only part of a paid service was delivered, or where a deduction applies under clause E or N, a partial refund may be issued instead of a full refund. The remaining, unrefunded amount and the reason for it will be communicated to you.
Q. Add-on services
Add-on services (document preparation and similar case-related assistance) follow the same principles as consultations above: a full refund before work begins, a possible partial refund for work partly done, and no refund once the service has been substantially and correctly delivered, subject always to clause I.
R. Free consultations
Where a consultation type is offered at no charge, this policy's refund provisions do not apply to it (there being nothing to refund), though the cancellation and rescheduling provisions in clauses D–G still apply to the booking itself.
S. Statutory rights are not affected
Nothing in this policy limits, excludes, or is intended to override any right you have under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, or any other applicable Indian consumer-protection law. Where this policy is found to conflict with a mandatory statutory right, the statutory right prevails. This policy does not, and does not intend to, describe any refund outcome as "legally guaranteed" — it describes Sukhi Bharat's internal process, without prejudice to your independent legal rights and remedies (including approaching a consumer forum).
T. Changes to this policy
Sukhi Bharat may update this policy from time to time. The version that applied at the time you made a booking and payment will govern that specific booking, unless a later version is more favourable to you and Sukhi Bharat chooses to apply it retrospectively.
U. Governing law
This policy is governed by the laws of India. [BUSINESS DECISION REQUIRED: specific jurisdiction/courts for dispute resolution, consistent with clause 12 of the Terms & Conditions.]