Privacy Policy for Submerce

1. About this policy#

Submerce is an online software service for Indian businesses. You can sign up, get an online store at yourname.submerce.in or your own domain, and manage orders, products, customers, payments, shipping, GST invoices and reports from a web dashboard.

In this policy, “we”, “us” and “our” mean Submerce.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, when we share it, and what rights you have under Indian law, including the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

Our website is https://submerce.in.

2. Who this policy applies to#

This policy applies to you if you:

• visit our website;
• create a Submerce account;
• use Submerce for your business;
• contact us for support; or
• are a customer of a merchant whose store runs on Submerce.

If you are a merchant, you are responsible for your own store, your own customers, and your own privacy notices and policies towards them. Submerce is a technology platform. We are not a party to sales between you and your customers.

3. Personal data we collect#

We collect and process the following data.

Merchant account details#

When you create or use a Submerce account, we may collect:

• name;
• email address;
• phone number; and
• password, stored in hashed form.

Business details#

We may collect business details that you add to your account, such as:

• legal name;
• address;
• GSTIN or PAN.

Store data you add#

When you use Submerce, you may add or generate store data, including:

• products;
• orders;
• your customers’ names;
• your customers’ phone numbers;
• your customers’ email addresses; and
• your customers’ addresses.

We process this store data on your behalf.

Technical data#

When you use Submerce, we may collect technical data such as:

• log-in session cookie;
• IP address;
• device and browser details; and
• usage logs.

4. Why we use personal data#

We use personal data for the following purposes:

• to create and manage your Submerce account;
• to provide the SaaS dashboard and online store;
• to help you manage orders, products, customers, payments, shipping, GST invoices and reports;
• to process monthly subscription billing for paid plans;
• to show prices before you confirm payment;
• to support plan changes when you move to a bigger plan later;
• to provide support when you contact us;
• to keep you logged in through a session cookie;
• to understand usage of the service through technical logs;
• to send email, SMS or WhatsApp messages when such messaging is enabled;
• to provide AI features when you use them; and
• to meet duties under applicable Indian law.

5. Legal basis and consent#

We process personal data with your consent, and for certain legitimate uses allowed by the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

These legitimate uses may include cases where you voluntarily give us data for a specific purpose, or where processing is needed to comply with law.

You may withdraw consent by contacting us. If you withdraw consent, some parts of Submerce may not work for you, because we may need certain data to run your account, your dashboard or your store.

6. Merchant customer data#

If you are a merchant, you decide what customer data you collect through your store and why you collect it. You are responsible for your products, prices, taxes, shipping, returns, refunds and policies towards your customers.

Submerce processes your customer data on your behalf so that your store and dashboard can work. This may include processing customer names, phone numbers, email addresses and addresses for orders and related store functions.

You must make sure that you have the right notices, consents and legal basis for collecting and using your customers’ personal data.

7. Payments and billing data#

Paid plans are monthly recurring subscriptions charged in INR through Razorpay, our payment partner. The plan price is shown before you confirm payment. Any applicable taxes are shown before you pay.

Payments on a merchant’s store are processed by the payment gateway that the merchant connects.

Card and bank details are handled by the payment partner. Submerce does not store card and bank details.

8. Cookies#

We use a log-in session cookie. This helps keep you signed in while you use Submerce.

You may control cookies through your browser settings. If you block the session cookie, you may not be able to log in or use the dashboard properly.

9. Sharing with service providers#

We may share data with service providers that help us run Submerce. These include:

• hosting providers;
• Razorpay for payment processing;
• email, SMS or WhatsApp messaging providers when enabled; and
• OpenAI when you use AI features.

These providers process data only for the relevant service purpose. For example, Razorpay handles subscription payments, and OpenAI is used only when you use AI features.

Some service providers, for example OpenAI when AI features are used, may process data outside India, as allowed by Indian law.

We do not treat service providers as buyers of your data.

10. Data storage and retention#

We store data using service providers that help us run the Submerce service.

We keep personal data for as long as it is needed to provide Submerce, manage your account, support billing and support requests, and meet applicable legal requirements.

After your account is closed, we may need to keep some data for a limited period where required for legal, billing, dispute or record purposes. We delete or anonymise your account and store data within 90 days after your account is closed, except records we must keep longer by law, such as billing and tax records.

If you ask us to erase data, we will review the request under applicable law and the role we have for that data. For merchant customer data, we may ask the merchant to handle or confirm the request, because we process that data on the merchant’s behalf.

11. Security#

We take security seriously, but no online service can be guaranteed to be fully secure.

Submerce stores account passwords in hashed form. Card and bank details are handled by payment partners and are not stored by Submerce.

You should keep your password safe and use your account responsibly. If you believe your account has been misused, contact us at hello@submerce.in.

12. Your rights#

Under applicable Indian law, including the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, you may have the right to:

• access information about your personal data;
• correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data;
• ask for erasure of personal data;
• withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
• raise a grievance; and
• nominate another person to exercise your rights in case of death or incapacity.

To exercise these rights, write to us at hello@submerce.in.

We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request. Some requests may be limited if the data is needed to provide the service, meet legal duties, resolve disputes, or where the data belongs to a merchant’s store and we process it on the merchant’s behalf.

13. Children#

Submerce is a SaaS service for Indian businesses. It is not meant for children.

If you believe a child has provided personal data to us, contact us at hello@submerce.in.

14. Grievance Officer#

For privacy questions, complaints or grievances, you can contact:

Grievance Officer: Grievance Officer, Submerce
Email: hello@submerce.in
Phone: +91 86378 15595
Support hours: Monday to Saturday, 10 am to 7 pm IST

We acknowledge a grievance within 48 hours and aim to resolve it within 30 days.

If your grievance is not resolved by us, you can complain to the Data Protection Board of India.

15. Changes to this policy#

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The updated version will be posted on https://submerce.in with the “Last updated” date.

If you continue using Submerce after the policy is updated, the updated policy will apply to your use.

16. Governing law and courts#

This policy is governed by the laws of India, including the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

Courts at Kolkata will have jurisdiction.

17. Contact us#

For privacy questions or requests, contact us at:

Submerce
Kolkata, West Bengal 700154, India
Email: hello@submerce.in
Phone: +91 86378 15595