Payment Policy

1. What this policy covers

This explains what you pay for on Alwass, what we pay out to you, how refunds work, and what to do when something goes wrong with money. It applies to everyone who uses the platform: job seekers, employers, HR agencies, freelancers and clients. It sits alongside our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Where this policy and the Terms disagree about money, this policy wins.

2. Who you are paying

Payments on Alwass are collected by [Add your registered company name], registered in Nepal. PAN/VAT number: [Add your PAN/VAT number]. Registered address: [Add your registered address]. If you need a formal invoice or a receipt for your accounts, email [Add your billing contact email] and we will send one.

3. Applying for a job is free, and always will be

Job seekers do not pay Alwass anything. Searching, applying, messaging an employer and building your profile cost nothing. There is no premium tier that puts your application ahead of somebody else's. If anyone asks you to pay Alwass to apply for a job, to be shortlisted, or to release an offer letter, it is not us. Report it using the report button on the listing, or email [Add your support email].

4. What employers and agencies pay for

Employers and HR agencies pay for the tools they use: subscription plans, job-post credits, featured placement, and service packages such as CV screening. Prices are shown in Nepali Rupees before you confirm, and you are charged when you confirm — never before. Subscriptions renew automatically for the same period until you cancel, and you can cancel at any time from Settings. Cancelling stops the next renewal; it does not shorten the period you have already paid for, and there is no partial refund for the days left in it — you keep the access you bought until it runs out. See Section 8.

5. What freelancers and clients pay

On project work, a client funds a milestone before the work starts. We hold that money and release it to the freelancer when the milestone is approved, or automatically after the review period in the Terms if nobody acts. Alwass takes a service commission from the amount released; the exact percentage is shown to both sides before either agrees to the project. We do not take a commission from a milestone that is refunded.

6. How you pay

We accept payment through Khalti and eSewa, both licensed by Nepal Rastra Bank. Your full card or wallet credentials are handled by them, not by us — Alwass never sees or stores your full card number, wallet PIN or password. If a payment provider is down, the safest thing to do is wait and try again rather than paying anyone directly.

7. Tax

Where Nepali law requires VAT on what you buy, VAT is charged at the rate then in force — 13% at the time of writing — and shown separately on your invoice. Where the law requires us to deduct tax at source before paying you, we deduct it at the rate then in force and give you the deduction details for your own filing. You remain responsible for your own income tax. If you earn on Alwass as a freelancer, that income is yours to declare, and once your annual turnover passes the threshold set by the Inland Revenue Department, registering for VAT is your obligation, not ours. We are not your tax adviser; if the amounts matter to you, speak to an accountant.

8. Refunds

Alwass sells a service, not a product. There is nothing to post back to us, so a subscription or a credit pack you have had access to is not returnable because you changed your mind or did not get round to using it. Once a billing period has started, that period is not refunded. You can cancel any time and you will not be charged again.

We do refund when we took your money and did not give you what you paid for. That means: you were charged twice for the same thing; you were charged after you cancelled; you paid and the access never appeared; or a paid feature did not work and we could not fix it. Tell us within 7 days of the charge, at [Add your billing contact email] or from the billing page in your account. We will not put conditions in the way of a refund you are entitled to — Nepal's Electronic Commerce Act 2081 forbids that, and we would not want to anyway. Approved refunds go back to the same wallet or card you paid from, normally within [Add your refund processing window, e.g. 7 working days].

Two specific things are worth saying plainly rather than burying. A job post that has already been live and received applications has done the job you paid for. And a milestone you have already approved and released to a freelancer is gone — that is somebody's completed work and their income, not our subscription revenue. If either went wrong for a reason that is our fault, tell us anyway and we will look at it.

9. Getting paid

Freelancers, agencies and affiliates are paid to the payout method saved in your account. Check it is correct — money sent to a wrong account number that you entered is very difficult to recover. Payouts run [Add your payout schedule, e.g. weekly on Sundays], with a minimum payout of [Add your minimum payout amount]. We may hold a payout while we investigate a report of fraud, and if we do, we will tell you why and how long we expect it to take.

10. The fees nobody is allowed to charge you

If you are going abroad for work, the law limits what you can be charged, and those limits are not negotiable. A recruitment agency in Nepal may charge you a service fee of no more than NPR 10,000. For Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Malaysia, your visa and your plane ticket are the employer's cost under the free-visa, free-ticket rule, not yours. Never pay before you have a signed contract and a labour permit, and never hand your passport to anyone to hold your place in a queue. If an agency on Alwass asks you for more, report it from the job listing — there is a button for exactly this — and we will investigate. Charging illegal fees is grounds for removing an agency from the platform.

11. When a payment fails or you think it is wrong

If money left your account but your purchase did not appear, do not pay again. Send us the transaction reference from Khalti or eSewa and we will trace it. If you believe you were charged wrongly, tell us before raising a dispute with your bank or wallet — we can usually fix it faster than a chargeback, and a chargeback can freeze your account while it is investigated.

12. Complaints

Email [Add your grievance contact email] with your account email and what happened. We will acknowledge you quickly and give you an answer within 15 days, as the Electronic Commerce Act 2081 requires. If you are not satisfied with our answer, you can take the matter to the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection, or to a court in Nepal. Nothing in this policy takes away a right you have under Nepali consumer law.

13. Changes to this policy

We will update this policy from time to time. If a change affects what you pay, what you are owed, or how refunds work, we will tell you by email or a notice on the platform before it takes effect. The date at the top always tells you which version you are reading.

14. Contact

Billing and refunds: [Add your billing contact email]. Complaints: [Add your grievance contact email]. Reporting an illegal fee or a suspected scam: use the report button on the listing, or [Add your support email].