Terms of Service

These terms apply when you subscribe to SazM ("SazM", "I", "we"), an independent software engineering practice operated by Saravana Bhava. By purchasing a subscription or commissioning a project milestone, you agree to these terms. If anything here is unclear, contact hello@sazm.in before subscribing.

1. The service

• Subscription Queue: You can add any number of development requests to your priority queue in the client portal.
• Work-In-Progress (WIP) Limit: I work on strictly one active task at a time per subscriber, in the order of priority you define.
• Delivery Targets: Once a task moves to In Progress, normal-priority tasks are targeted for delivery within 48 hours, and urgent bug fixes within 24 hours. These are engineering service-level targets, not liquidated damages; tasks too large to deliver safely within that timeframe are decomposed into clear, sequential sub-tasks.
• SLA Clock: Delivery windows count active calendar hours. Delays resulting from missing credentials, incomplete specifications, third-party outages, or pending client review pause the SLA countdown.
• Asynchronous Communication: Communication is conducted asynchronously through the client portal (sazm.in/app), GitHub pull requests, and email to maximize focused engineering hours and ensure comprehensive written documentation with zero meeting overhead.
• Fixed-Scope Projects: For one-off scoped deliverables, work is performed in defined milestones against a written technical scope and fixed quote agreed upon prior to kickoff.

2. Scope of work

Included: Full-stack web and application development, edge computing, API integrations, database indexing, performance optimization, automated CI/CD pipelines, bug fixes, and revisions to delivered tasks.

Excluded: Direct third-party licensing fees (hosting providers, domain registrars, paid external APIs), content copywriting, and requests that are unlawful, infringe third-party rights, or compromise security. If a task falls outside my core technical competencies, I will decline it upfront.

3. Engineering methodology & AI disclosure

I utilize modern AI-assisted engineering tools and autonomous implementation copilots as accelerators within my development workflow. Every line of generated code, architecture pattern, and pull request is personally reviewed, refactored, tested, and verified by Saravana Bhava prior to delivery. Your code is processed strictly in accordance with our Privacy Policy. No junior developers, subcontractors, or third-party agencies are given access to your codebase.

4. Client responsibilities

• Provide the necessary repository and environment access (such as GitHub collaborator access with write permissions) required to execute requests.
• Maintain credentials securely: do not paste production secrets into public task fields. Share environment variables only through secure channels.
• Review pull requests, verify staging deliverables, and merge or deploy to your infrastructure. You remain responsible for your production servers, backups, and operational infrastructure.
• Ensure you own or hold appropriate licenses for all intellectual property, data, and third-party code you provide.

5. Fees, billing & statutory tax compliance

• The subscription fee is US$1,000 per month, billed in USD through PayPal Subscriptions. If an active promotional code (such as SAZM50) or referral discount is applied, the discounted fee applies for the eligible billing period. No sales tax or VAT is collected by SazM.
• Subscription fees are billed in advance at the start of each monthly billing cycle and automatically renew until paused or cancelled. Any pricing changes for future billing periods require at least 30 days' advance notice by email.

6. Pausing, cancellation & refunds

You may pause your subscription at any time from the Billing tab of your client portal; unused days in your current billing cycle are banked to your account and automatically credited when you resume. You can cancel at any time through your portal, your payment provider, or by emailing billing@sazm.in. For complete refund terms, see our Cancellation & Refund Policy.

7. Intellectual property & ownership

Upon receipt of payment for the billing period or milestone in which deliverables were completed, you own 100% of the bespoke source code, database schemas, scripts, configuration files, and documentation created specifically for your product. Open-source libraries and third-party components remain subject to their respective open-source licenses. SazM retains the right to reuse general architectural knowledge and non-confidential technical methods.

8. Confidentiality

I maintain strict confidentiality regarding your proprietary code, customer data, trade secrets, and business operations. Confidential materials will never be disclosed to third parties or used for any purpose other than fulfilling your development requests, except where required by law.

9. Limitation of liability

Services are delivered with professional care and skill. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, SazM is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages (including lost profits, business interruption, or data corruption). Total liability arising out of or related to this agreement is strictly limited to the aggregate fees paid by you to SazM in the three (3) months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

10. Termination

Either party may terminate the agreement immediately if the other party materially breaches these terms. SazM may terminate the subscription for any reason with 30 days' written notice, in which case any prepaid, unused portion of the current billing cycle will be refunded pro-rata.

11. Governing law & dispute resolution

These terms are governed by the laws of India, and disputes are subject to the jurisdiction of the competent courts.

12. Modifications

If these terms are updated, the revision date above will be modified, and active subscribers will be notified of material changes via email at least 14 days before changes take effect.