Terms of use

1. About these terms

These terms are a legal agreement between you and Roshan Uchai, a sole trader trading as Chaana, of Sydney, New South Wales ("Chaana", "we", "us", "our"). They apply to the Chaana mobile app, the website at chaana.com.au and the member dashboard on that website (together, "Chaana").

By creating an account, ticking "I agree", or using Chaana, you agree to these terms and to our Privacy policy. If you list a business, turn on business tools or buy Featured placement, our Business terms also apply. If you do not agree, please do not use Chaana.

We have tried to write these terms in plain English. If anything is unclear, email us at [email protected].

2. Your rights under Australian law come first

Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or changes any right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)), or any other law, that cannot lawfully be excluded, restricted or changed. Every part of these terms should be read with that in mind. If a part of these terms would otherwise do that, it applies only as far as the law allows.

3. What Chaana is, and what it is not

Chaana is a community directory and noticeboard for the Nepali community in Australia. On Chaana you can:

• browse the public business directory on the website without an account;
• once signed in, find and post rooms, lease transfers and "looking for a room" posts, jobs and "looking for work" posts, and events;
• post, comment and react in Saath, the community feed;
• review, follow and save businesses, and use the Arrival Checklist and other guides.

Chaana is a noticeboard, not a party to your deals. We do not rent out rooms, act as a real estate agent, employ anyone, act as a recruitment agency, run events, or sell the goods and services that are listed. Any agreement you make with another member or a business (a tenancy, a job, a purchase, a booking) is between you and them.

There is no in-app chat. When you tap Call, Message or WhatsApp, Chaana opens your phone's own dialler, SMS app or WhatsApp with a message ready to send. We cannot see or control what you say there.

Guides are general information. The Arrival Checklist, the ABN and TFN explainer and similar guides are general information only. They are not legal, migration, tax, financial or tenancy advice. Always check the official source (for example the Department of Home Affairs, the ATO, Fair Work or your state's rental authority) or get professional advice.

4. Who can use Chaana

• You must be 18 or older to create an account, and by creating one you confirm that you are. We do not knowingly allow anyone under 18 to hold an account. If we reasonably believe an account belongs to someone under 18, we may close it; if you think we got this wrong, you can ask us to review it under section 10.
• You must give true, accurate details when you sign up, and keep them up to date.
• One person, one account. Your account is personal to you: do not share your password or let anyone else use your account.
• You may not create an account if we have blocked (banned) you before, or if the law does not allow you to use Chaana.

5. Your account and keeping it secure

• To sign up you need an email address and a password, and you must confirm your email before you can sign in.
• Choose a strong password that you do not use anywhere else, and keep it secret. You can also set an app PIN lock. Your PIN stays on your phone and is never sent to us.
• You are responsible for what happens on your account unless it happens because of something we did wrong. If you think someone else has used your account, change your password and tell us straight away at [email protected].
• Saath is not anonymous. Your name and suburb are shown with your listings, posts and comments.
• Your phone number is never printed on a listing, but it is used behind the Call, Message and WhatsApp buttons. Any signed-in member who taps those buttons can reach you, and when you contact someone, they will see your number.

6. Staying safe

• Contact businesses and posters directly and check them yourself before you rely on them.
• Never pay a bond, deposit, holding fee or rent before you have inspected a room in person and received a written agreement. In New South Wales, a bond for a lease must be lodged with NSW Fair Trading (Rental Bonds Online). Other states have their own bond authorities.
• Never pay to get a job. A real employer does not charge you for a job, training, uniforms, keys, insurance or visa sponsorship.
• Chaana will never ask for your password or a one-time code, and the only payment we ever take is for Featured, through the checkout in the app or on the website.
• Be careful of anyone who asks you to pay by gift cards, cryptocurrency or overseas money transfer, who pressures you to act fast, or who asks for your passport, visa details or bank login.
• Chaana may show a safety note before you contact a room or job poster. A safety note is a warning, not a guarantee. A listing without a warning has not been "checked" and is not "safe".
• Meet in a public place where you can, tell someone where you are going, and trust your instincts.
• If you have been scammed, contact your bank straight away and report it to Scamwatch and ReportCyber. If someone is in immediate danger, call 000.

We do not check every listing, person or business before it appears. Listings go live straight away.

7. Community rules

Each rule has a code. When we act on a report or an account, we will tell you which rule applies.

G1. No scams or upfront-payment requests

Do not ask for money, deposits, fees or bank details before a viewing, interview or delivery, and do not run, promote or take part in any scam.

G2. No fake identity

Do not pretend to be someone else, or to own or represent a business you do not. Do not create an account for someone else without their permission.

G3. No harassment or threats

Do not threaten, bully, intimidate, stalk, pressure or abuse anyone, on Chaana or after meeting through Chaana. No hate speech or discrimination based on race, ethnicity, caste, religion, sex, gender identity, sexuality, age, disability or visa status.

G4. No misleading listings

Your listing must be real, current and accurate, including the price, place, category and conditions. Mark a room as taken or a job as filled once it is.

G5. No spam or duplicates

Do not post the same thing again and again, post unrelated advertising, or get around posting limits. At the time of writing, the limits are 3 room posts, 3 job posts and 2 new businesses per person per day.

G6. No explicit content or content involving minors

No sexual, pornographic, nude or graphically violent content, in any photo, picture, video, text or link. Nothing that sexualises, exploits or endangers a child. This applies everywhere on Chaana, including profile photos, listing photos, Saath posts and comments.

Uploading pornographic, sexual or nude images gets your account blocked straight away and permanently, with no warning first. We remove the content, and we report child sexual abuse material to the police and to the eSafety Commissioner.

G7. No misuse of the Report button

Report honestly. Making false reports, or reporting in bulk to harass someone, is itself a breach.

P1. No photos or private details of other people

Do not post a photo or video of another person, or their phone number, address, documents or other personal information, without their permission. Publishing someone's personal details to menace or harass them ("doxxing") can be a criminal offence. Do not put your own phone number, home address or bank details in a Saath post.

This applies even if you believe the person scammed or wronged you. Do not post their photo, name them publicly or "warn" others about them with their picture. Instead, use the Report button so we can act, and report the matter to the police or Scamwatch. Posting a photo of another person without their permission can get your account blocked straight away.

You must also follow the law

You must obey all laws that apply to what you post and do, including consumer, employment, tenancy, anti-discrimination, privacy, copyright and defamation laws. In particular:

• Job ads must not offer pay below the minimum set by the Fair Work Act, a modern award or the National Minimum Wage, must not describe an employee as a contractor to avoid their entitlements (sham contracting), and must not ask for unpaid work beyond a genuinely short, supervised trial. It is against the law to coerce or exploit a worker because of their visa.
• Job ads must not discriminate. Do not ask for, or exclude, people because of their race, sex, age, religion, disability or similar attributes unless the law allows it. For example, you may ask for Nepali language skills where the job genuinely needs them.
• Room ads must follow your state's tenancy laws, including bond lodgement and the rules on rent bidding. You may state a gender preference for a room only where the law allows it, such as a room in a home you (or a close relative) also live in.
• Lease transfers and sublets need the landlord's or agent's consent where your lease or the law requires it.
• Regulated services (for example migration advice, tax agent services, real estate, legal services and education agents) may be offered only by people who hold the registration or licence the law requires.

8. Your content

"Your content" means anything you post on Chaana: listings, photos, descriptions, reviews, Saath posts, comments, reactions and event details.

• You keep ownership of your content.
• You give us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to host, store, copy, resize, display and share your content, only so we can run, show and promote Chaana (for example, showing a business listing on the public directory or in search results). The licence ends when your content is deleted, except for copies we must keep by law, backup copies until they are overwritten, and content that others have already shared.
• You promise that you own your content or have permission to post it (including from anyone who appears in your photos), and that it follows these terms and the law.
• Reviews must be honest and based on a real experience. You must not review your own business or a competitor's, and nobody may offer, pay or accept anything for a review.
• Some content expires on its own: at the time of writing, rooms after 7 to 30 days depending on their available-from date, and jobs and "looking for" posts after 30 days.
• Saath posts cannot be edited after posting, but you can delete them.

9. Reports, complaints and moderation

• Any signed-in member can report a listing, post, comment or review, choosing a reason from the list.
• Anyone can also complain to us by email at [email protected], with or without an account, including about content they believe is defamatory, infringes their copyright, or shares their personal information. Tell us what the content is, where it is, why you are complaining, and how to contact you.
• Defamation complaints: we will review the content and, where appropriate, remove it or restrict access to it within 7 days of receiving your written complaint.
• Copyright complaints: if you own the copyright in something posted on Chaana without your permission (for example your photos), tell us what the work is, where it appears, and confirm in good faith that you own it. We will remove or disable it promptly and let the poster respond. We close the accounts of people who repeatedly infringe copyright.
• We do not edit what members write to change its meaning.
• The Chaana team reviews reports. To keep people safe, some reports hide content automatically until a person has reviewed it (at the time of writing, 3 safety reports hide a listing, and 3 safety reports or 5 reports of any kind hide a Saath post or comment).
• After review, we either restore the content, or uphold the report and remove it.
• We may also remove content or act on an account without a report if we reasonably believe it breaks these terms or the law, or puts someone at risk, or where the law or a regulator (such as the eSafety Commissioner) requires it.
• We try to be fair and consistent, but we cannot find or remove every breach.
• If you see serious online abuse, image-based abuse or illegal content and are not happy with our response, you can report it to the eSafety Commissioner.

10. Warnings, pauses and blocks

• When a report about your content is upheld, you get a warning (a "strike").
• Several warnings in a short time (at the time of writing, 3 within 90 days) lead to a review of your account.
• Pause: a serious or repeated breach can pause (suspend) your account, usually for 30 days. While paused you cannot sign in or post, and your listings are hidden.
• Block: after an earlier pause, or for a very serious breach, we can block (ban) your account permanently. The email address and phone number of a blocked account cannot be used to sign up again.
• We may act straight away, without a warning first, for scams, threats of violence, content involving the abuse of children, or where the law requires it.
• Immediate block: uploading pornographic, sexual or nude images (rule G6), or posting photos of another person without their permission (rule P1), gets your account blocked straight away and permanently. We do not give a warning first.
• We will tell you which rule we think you broke. If you think we got it wrong, email us within 28 days and a person will review the decision again and tell you the outcome.
• A pause or block also ends any Featured placement on the account. See the Business terms for what happens to payments.

11. Paid features

Creating an account and posting on Chaana is free. The only paid option is Featured (also called Spotlight), a 7-day placement for a business listing or a job ad. Featured is covered by the Business terms. We will always show you the price before you pay.

12. Deleting your account

You can delete your account at any time, and we make it easy:

• In the app: Profile, then My Details, then Delete my account.
• On the website: sign in to your dashboard at chaana.com.au, open My Details, and choose Delete my account.
• Without the app, or if you cannot sign in: email [email protected] from the email address on your account and ask us to delete it. We will confirm it is your account and delete it within 30 days, usually much sooner.

When you delete your account in the app or on the website, you confirm with your password and the deletion happens straight away. It cannot be undone. It removes your account, profile, businesses, rooms, jobs, events, Saath posts, comments and reactions, reviews, favourites, follows, appointments, notifications and uploaded photos.

We keep a small amount of information after deletion only where the law requires it or we have a genuine need, as set out in section 9 of the Privacy policy: for example payment records for tax law, and the email and phone number of blocked accounts so they cannot sign up again.

Unused Featured time ends when you delete your account and is not refunded, unless the Australian Consumer Law gives you a right to a refund.

13. Other members, businesses and websites

• Businesses, rooms, jobs and events are listed by members, not by us. We do not check, endorse or guarantee them, or the people who post them.
• "Chaana Verified" on a business means only that a Chaana admin checked its ABN against the public ABN Lookup and found it active and matching. It is not a rating of quality, safety, licensing or honesty.
• Links to other websites (for example a business website or an event's booking page) are for your convenience. We are not responsible for those websites.

14. Using Chaana fairly

You must not:

• copy, scrape, harvest or resell Chaana's content or members' details, including by using bots or automated tools;
• use contact details from Chaana to send spam or unsolicited marketing;
• try to get around Chaana's limits, security or blocks, access another person's account, or interfere with or overload the service;
• upload viruses or other harmful code;
• use Chaana to build a competing directory or database.

The Chaana name, logo, design and software belong to us. You may not use them without our written permission, except to link to Chaana.

15. Our service

• We work hard to keep Chaana running, secure and accurate, and we provide it with due care and skill. Like any online service, it may sometimes be unavailable, slow or contain errors, for example during maintenance or outages outside our control.
• We may change, add or remove features to improve Chaana, keep it safe or comply with the law. If a change significantly reduces what you can do, we will give you reasonable notice where we can.
• We may stop running Chaana. If we do, we will give you at least 30 days' notice where we can, and a chance to save your content.

16. Liability

Subject to section 2 (your rights under Australian law):

• we are not responsible for what other members or businesses do, say or post, or for any deal, payment, tenancy, job, event or meeting between you and them, except to the extent our own negligence or breach of these terms caused the loss;
• we are not responsible for loss caused by events outside our reasonable control (for example an outage at one of our service providers), or for loss that was not reasonably foreseeable;
• where our liability for failing to meet a consumer guarantee can lawfully be limited (because the service is not of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use), it is limited to supplying the service again, or paying the cost of having it supplied again.

These limits do not apply to liability that cannot be limited by law, to death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or to loss caused by our fraud or wilful misconduct.

You are responsible for loss you cause to us or others by breaking these terms or the law, but not to the extent the loss was caused by us.

17. Changes to these terms

• We may update these terms, for example when we add features or the law changes. Each version has a version number and a date, and we keep a record of which version you accepted.
• For a change that could disadvantage you, we will tell you at least 30 days before it takes effect, in the app or by email, unless the change is needed sooner to comply with the law or keep people safe. We may ask you to accept the new version before you keep using Chaana.
• If you do not agree with a change, you can stop using Chaana and delete your account before it takes effect. If you have unused Featured time when a change that disadvantages you takes effect, you may ask for a pro-rata refund of that time.

18. Ending these terms

• You can end these terms at any time by deleting your account.
• We can pause or block your account under section 10, for a breach of these terms, where the law requires it, or to protect someone's safety. Where it is safe and lawful, we will tell you why and how to ask for a review.
• We may also close an account for another genuine reason (for example if we stop offering Chaana) with at least 30 days' notice. If we do, we will refund any unused Featured time on that account pro rata.
• Sections that by their nature should continue (for example sections 8, 16 and 19) continue after your account is closed.

19. General

• Governing law: these terms are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia. You and we submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts and tribunals of New South Wales (including the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal), which does not stop you using a court or consumer tribunal in your own state or territory.
• Disputes: if you have a problem with Chaana, please email us first so we can try to fix it. We will reply within 14 days. This does not stop you contacting NSW Fair Trading, your state's consumer protection agency or the ACCC, or using your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.
• If any part of these terms cannot be enforced, the rest still applies.
• If we do not enforce a term straight away, we can still enforce it later.
• You may not transfer your account or these terms. We may transfer them to someone who takes over Chaana, if they agree to be bound by these terms and our Privacy policy; we will tell you if this happens.
• These terms, the Privacy policy and (where they apply) the Business terms are the whole agreement between you and us about Chaana.

20. Contact us

Roshan Uchai, trading as Chaana, Sydney NSW Email: [email protected]

To report something unsafe, use the Report button on the listing, post or comment. If someone is in immediate danger, call 000.