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Last updated on June 9, 2026
These Recruit Product Terms govern your use of Recruit, Poocho's participant recruitment and research session product. They apply in addition to our Platform Terms and form part of the agreement between you and Poocho Research Technologies Private Limited.
If you have signed a scope of work, master services agreement, or order form with us, that agreement also applies and prevails over these Recruit Product Terms where there is a conflict. Where a term is defined in the Platform Terms and used here, it has the same meaning.
By accessing or using Recruit, you agree to these Recruit Product Terms.
Recruit lets Researchers create studies — including interviews, group discussions, usability tests, surveys, and other primary research formats — and find Participants to take part in those activities. Recruit also supports scheduling, payment of Participant incentives, and the running of sessions on the Platform.
These Recruit Product Terms cover three things: the marketplace dynamic between Researchers and Participants, the Poocho Points and Poocho Pay payment system, and the rules around study data on Recruit.
In these Recruit Product Terms:
Recruit is a marketplace. We connect Researchers with Participants and provide the infrastructure for studies to run, but we are not a party to the research relationship between you and any Participant.
You and Participants deal directly with each other on the substance of any study. We do not verify the information you provide about your study, and we do not perform background checks on Researchers. We may show Participants information such as a risk score, geographical location, or third-party evaluation of a Researcher, but anything we display is for convenience only and is not an endorsement.
You and Participants are responsible to each other for the enforcement and performance of any rights and obligations that arise from your dealings. We are not responsible for the quality, safety, legality, or accuracy of your studies, and we do not guarantee that any Participant will qualify for, complete, or perform satisfactorily in any session.
You may not, directly or indirectly:
This rule protects Participants and the integrity of the Platform. A breach can cause us real harm that is hard to quantify, so we are entitled to recover damages from you for any breach, whether actual or threatened, in addition to any other remedies available to us.
Poocho is the data fiduciary (controller) for Participant Profile data — the personal data of Participants we collect when they register with the Platform and join our panel (such as contact details, demographics, and general profile information). We decide how that data is collected, used, and retained, in line with the Participant Privacy Policy.
When you conduct a Study on Recruit, you are the data fiduciary (controller) for the personal data you collect from Participants during that Study — including screener responses you design, session recordings, transcripts, survey responses, and any other materials you gather from Participants in the course of your Study. Poocho processes that Study data on your behalf as a data processor, to the extent set out in the Recruit Researcher Privacy Policy and any applicable Data Processing Addendum.
You are responsible for the lawfulness of the data collection you carry out as a controller, including obtaining any consents required from Participants for the use you make of their Study data and complying with the DPDPA and other applicable data protection laws.
Your status as controller for Study data does not give you any right to use Participant Profile data outside the Platform, or to contact Participants outside the Platform. Your access to Participants is governed by clause 4.1.
When a Participant deletes their account on the Platform, we will notify you. On receiving that notification, you must promptly delete or anonymise any personal data you have collected from that Participant — including data in notes, recordings, transcripts, files, or any other material you have downloaded from the Platform. You may keep fully anonymised insights that cannot be traced back to the Participant.
Participant deletion requests are privacy-sensitive. Act on them without undue delay.
Your Recruit subscription is sized in Research Capacity, measured in Poocho Points. Your Research Capacity, validity period, and any other commercial parameters are set out in your SOW or Capacity Estimate.
Research Capacity is fungible — you can use it across sessions, surveys, moderation, Participant incentives, and any other Recruit activities the Platform supports. The rate at which each activity consumes Poocho Points is published on the Platform and may be updated from time to time.
Participant incentives are passed through at cost. One Poocho Point equals one Indian Rupee for the purpose of Participant incentive payments. We do not mark up incentives.
All payments are processed in Indian Rupees and are subject to applicable taxes, including GST at the rate prevailing at the time of the transaction.
We do not offer refunds on Poocho Points. Once Points have been consumed, they are not refundable. This clause does not affect any refund rights you may have under applicable law where we are at fault, or any specific refund commitments we have made to you in writing.
Unused Poocho Points carry forward at renewal, provided that you renew at the same plan level or higher. Points do not expire within the validity period set out in your SOW or Capacity Estimate.
If you renew at a lower plan level, or you do not renew, unused Poocho Points are forfeited at the end of the validity period. We will give you reasonable notice before the validity period ends.
You can top up Poocho Points within an active SOW at the same Point Price as your active SOW. A top-up is recorded as an addendum to your SOW and does not change your plan level or validity period.
To change plan level, a new SOW is required. Your current SOW closes out, with carry-forward treated as set out in clause 5.4, and a new SOW takes effect with new commercial parameters and a fresh validity period.
Poocho Points credited to your account are usable only for services on the Platform. They cannot be withdrawn to a bank account or any other external account, transferred, exchanged for cash or any other form of currency, or used for any payment outside the Platform — whether or not you continue to use the Platform.
We may modify, replace, or discontinue Poocho Points at any time, including changing how points are earned, consumed, or accounted for. We will give you reasonable notice of any material change.
Poocho Pay is the closed-loop wallet on the Platform where you can load funds for payment of services on Recruit. You can load funds into Poocho Pay using the payment methods we make available, including debit cards, credit cards, and net banking. We may add or remove payment methods at any time.
When you initiate a paid activity on the Platform, the cost is deducted first from any complimentary Poocho Points credited to your account, and then from the funds in your Poocho Pay wallet. You cannot start a new paid activity if you do not have enough Poocho Points or Poocho Pay balance to cover it.
Funds loaded into Poocho Pay are usable only for services on the Platform. They cannot be withdrawn to a bank account or any other external account, transferred, exchanged for cash or any other form of currency, or used for any payment outside the Platform — whether or not you continue to use the Platform.
We do not offer refunds on Poocho Pay. Once funds loaded into Poocho Pay are consumed, they are not refundable.
Poocho Pay balances expire at the end of your validity period. Carry-forward on renewal follows the same rules as Poocho Points under clause 5.4.
We may modify, replace, or discontinue Poocho Pay at any time. We will give you reasonable notice of any material change.
We retain study data on the Platform for up to one year after a study is closed, in line with the Recruit Researcher Privacy Policy and any applicable SOW. You can ask us to delete a study at any time after it closes by writing to the contact set out in clause 9. We will action deletion requests for closed studies within 30 days of receiving your written request. Draft studies can be deleted by you directly from within the Platform at any time.
When a study is deleted — whether at the end of the retention period or on your request — we delete all Participant-related data we hold in connection with that study on the Platform, including screener responses, uploaded files, and session recordings. We may retain certain system and financial records only as necessary to maintain referential integrity, comply with legal obligations, or for other legitimate business purposes, as described in the Recruit Researcher Privacy Policy.
Before we begin deletion, we will notify you in advance so you have time to take any action you need. Once a study is deleted, you will no longer receive Participant deletion notifications for that study.
When a study is deleted from the Platform, you must delete or anonymise all personally identifiable information from any data you have downloaded in connection with that study. You may keep fully anonymised research outputs.
Once a study is deleted, you assume full data fiduciary (controller) responsibility for any data you have previously downloaded from that study. That data is subject to your own privacy policies and data protection obligations under applicable law.
We use third-party service providers to help us run Recruit — including hosting providers, communications providers (for session conduct, scheduling notifications, and Participant outreach), payment processors, and, where applicable, research partners providing moderation or research manager services. We list these providers on the Sub-processor List and keep that list current.
Research manager services are always delivered in-house by Poocho employees. Moderation services may be delivered in-house by Poocho employees or by a vetted external moderation partner engaged by Poocho under a written agreement. Where moderation is delivered by an external partner, the specific partner assigned to your engagement is identified in your SOW or in a separate notice before the engagement begins.
We remain responsible to you for the acts and omissions of our sub-processors in respect of Study data, subject to the limitations set out in the Platform Terms and any applicable Data Processing Addendum.
We may suspend or terminate your access to Recruit at any time in line with clause 11 of the Platform Terms. The general rules on suspension and termination are set out there.
In addition, on termination of your Recruit subscription:
To deactivate or delete your Recruit account, write to researcherdesk@poocho.co. We will action your request within 30 days of receiving it, in line with clause 12 of the Platform Terms.
The remaining terms of the Platform Terms — including governing law, jurisdiction, class action waiver, liability, indemnity, communications, and changes — apply to your use of Recruit.
For questions about Recruit, write to researcherdesk@poocho.co.
For DPDPA grievances, contact our grievance officer as set out in clause 22 of the Platform Terms.
