Terms of service.
The terms on which we provide the Shikara platform, and what each of us is responsible for.
1. These terms
These terms govern your use of the Shikara website and platform (the “Service”), provided by Avanor Consulting Services, a consultancy based in Ajman, United Arab Emirates (“Avanor”, “we”, “us”). Shikara is a product of Avanor Consulting Services. By creating an account or using the Service you agree to them. If you are agreeing on behalf of a company, you confirm you are authorised to bind it, and “you” means that company.
Where you have signed a separate written agreement or order form with us, that agreement prevails over these terms to the extent they conflict.
2. The Service
Shikara lets you create, import, validate, issue and exchange billing documents — tax invoices, simplified and export invoices, credit notes and payment records — against the PINT AE specification, and transmit them over the Peppol network. We provide the platform, the validation rules and the network connection; we are not your tax adviser and nothing in the Service is tax or legal advice.
We keep the validation rules current with published specifications, and may add, change or remove features as the standards and the product evolve. We will not materially reduce core functionality you are paying for without telling you first.
3. Your account
You must give accurate organisation details, including tax registration and trade licence information, and keep them up to date — validation depends on them. You are responsible for your users’ actions, for the roles you grant them, and for keeping credentials confidential. Tell us promptly at info@avanorconsulting.com if you suspect unauthorised access.
4. What you remain responsible for
This is the important part. The Service checks your documents against the specification; it does not make you compliant on its own. You remain responsible for the accuracy and completeness of what you enter, for the tax treatment you apply, for issuing documents within the deadlines that apply to you, and for meeting your obligations to the Federal Tax Authority and any other authority.
You agree not to use the Service to issue documents you know to be false or fraudulent, to upload malicious code or unlawful content, to attempt to access another organisation’s data, to probe or overload our systems other than under an agreed security test, to resell or white-label the Service without our written agreement, or to reverse engineer it.
5. Fees
Fees, the billing period and any usage limits are set out in your order form or plan. Fees are payable in advance, are stated exclusive of VAT and other taxes unless said otherwise, and are non-refundable except where these terms or the law require otherwise. Late payment may lead to suspension after written notice. We may change prices on renewal with at least 30 days’ notice.
6. Your data
Your organisation, document and customer data remains yours. You grant us only the licence needed to host, process, transmit, back up and display it in order to run the Service for you, and to comply with our legal obligations. We do not use it for any other purpose, do not sell it, and do not train machine-learning models on it.
Personal data is handled as described in our privacy notice, which forms part of these terms. Where we process personal data on your instructions, you are the controller and we are the processor.
You can export your data at any time while your account is active, in spreadsheet form and as the underlying PINT AE XML.
7. Availability and support
We aim to keep the Service available at all times, but we do not promise it will be uninterrupted or error-free unless an availability commitment is stated in your order form. Planned maintenance is announced in advance and scheduled outside Gulf business hours where we can. Support is provided as described on our support page.
Parts of the Service depend on third parties — the Peppol network, receiving access points and authority systems. We are not responsible for their failures or for a recipient’s refusal of a document, though we will help you diagnose one.
8. Intellectual property
We own the Service, including its software, design, documentation and trade marks. These terms grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use it during your subscription, and nothing more. Feedback you send us may be used freely to improve the product, without obligation to you and without giving us any right to your data.
9. Confidentiality
Each of us will keep the other’s non-public information confidential, use it only for the purposes of these terms, and protect it with at least reasonable care. This does not apply to information that is public through no breach, was already known, is independently developed, or must be disclosed by law — in which case, where permitted, we will tell you first.
10. Warranties and disclaimer
We warrant that we will provide the Service with reasonable skill and care, and in accordance with its documentation. Beyond that and to the extent the law permits, the Service is provided “as is” and we disclaim all other warranties, including any warranty that validation will prevent every possible rejection by a recipient or an authority.
11. Limitation of liability
Neither of us is liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of profit, revenue, goodwill or anticipated savings. Our total liability arising out of or in connection with these terms is limited to the fees you paid us in the twelve months before the event giving rise to the claim.
We are not liable for tax penalties, fines or interest imposed on you, except to the extent they result directly from our breach of these terms. Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including for fraud or wilful misconduct.
12. Term, suspension and termination
These terms run while you have an account. Either of us may terminate a subscription at the end of its current period with 30 days’ written notice, or immediately for a material breach the other has not cured within 30 days of notice. We may suspend access without notice where there is a serious security risk, unlawful use, or a legal requirement to do so — and will tell you why as soon as we can.
On termination you may export your data for 30 days. After that we delete or anonymise it, except where tax law requires us to retain issued documents and audit trails for longer, or where we must keep it to meet another legal obligation.
13. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms as the Service and the law change. Material changes take effect 30 days after we notify you in the application or by email; continuing to use the Service after that date means you accept them. If you do not, you may terminate before the change takes effect and we will refund any prepaid fees for the unused remainder of your period.
14. General
These terms are governed by the laws of the United Arab Emirates as applied in the Emirate of Dubai, and the courts of Dubai have exclusive jurisdiction. Before starting proceedings, each of us will try in good faith to resolve the dispute by discussion for 30 days.
You may not assign these terms without our consent; we may assign them to an affiliate or an acquirer of our business. If a provision is unenforceable, the rest stands. A failure to enforce a right is not a waiver of it. There are no third-party beneficiaries. Together with your order form and our privacy notice, these terms are the entire agreement between us.
15. Contact
Questions about these terms: info@avanorconsulting.com.