Grievance redressal

If we do not resolve it

These routes exist whatever we say, and we would rather you knew about them than discovered them late. Nothing in our terms of use takes any of them away, and nothing in them requires you to come to us first — although for a data complaint, s. 13(3) of the DPDP Act, 2023 does.

If you are a consumer

Complain to a Consumer Commission under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. The District Commission hears complaints where the consideration paid does not exceed fifty lakh rupees, the State Commission up to two crore, and the National Commission above that. You may file where you live or work, not only where we are, and you may file online through the Government’s e-Daakhil portal without a lawyer.

The National Consumer Helpline is 1915, and the Department of Consumer Affairs runs the INGRAM portal for a complaint you would rather register centrally first.

If it is about your personal data

Complain to the Data Protection Board of India under s. 13 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. Section 13(3) requires you to have exhausted our grievance route first, which is why the address above matters and why we date every acknowledgement. Until the DPDP obligations commence on 13 May 2027, a complaint under s. 43A or s. 72A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 goes to the Adjudicating Officer appointed under s. 46 of that Act for the State.

If it is a cyber security incident

Report it to CERT-In, which the Directions of 28 April 2022 require to be told within six hours of an incident being noticed. We will report it ourselves as well. For online fraud or a financial crime, the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and the helpline 1930 are the routes, and reporting quickly is what makes a transaction recoverable.

If it is a dispute about a contract

The courts at Ernakulam, Kerala have jurisdiction under the laws of India. A commercial dispute above the specified value goes to the Commercial Court under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, and s. 12A of that Act requires pre-institution mediation unless urgent interim relief is sought. Clause 15 of the terms of use sets out the arbitration option, which applies to commercial disputes only and never to a consumer.

If you bought the book from a marketplace

A copy bought on Amazon, Flipkart or JioMart is sold by that platform or by a seller on it, and the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 require each of them to publish its own grievance officer and to answer within stated times. Their returns policy is usually more generous than ours, so start there — and if the copy turns out to be counterfeit, tell us as well, because that is ours to stop.

Things this address is not for

Not to turn you away, but so that the right thing happens quickly. All of these still reach a person; they just reach a different one.

• · Ordering a book, or asking for a sample copy. Use For Schools or ring the office — it is faster.
• · A question about a chemistry exercise. Write to learn@playwaybooks.com; someone who knows the book will answer.
• · A job application. Careers says where to send it.
• · A security weakness in this website. Same address, but say so in the subject line and read clause 6 of the terms first — responsible disclosure is welcome and will never be met with a legal threat.

Records of complaints

We keep a record of every complaint and what was done about it, for as long as the underlying record is kept under the retention schedule in the privacy policy. You may ask for a copy of your own at any time.