Table of Contents
- Purpose & Legal Mandate
- Age Standard — Platform Minimum
- Age Declaration at Registration
- Age Verification Methods
- Parental Consent Framework (DPDP Act 2023 S.9)
- Minor Account Detection & Response
- Age-Restricted Content Controls
- Gaming Segment Age Controls
- Prize & Payout Age Verification
- EdTech Age Controls
- Minor Data Processing Restrictions
- Parental Right to Data Access & Deletion
- False Age Declaration — Liability
- Age Verification Records
- Vendor & Creator Age Compliance
- Accessibility — Age Controls & User Rights
- Age Verification Failure — Remedies
- Law Enforcement & Regulatory Compliance
- Policy Review
- Contact & Support
1. Purpose & Legal Mandate
This Age Gating & Verification Policy ("AGV Policy") establishes the framework governing SeekhoBecho.com's obligations with respect to the minimum age requirements for Platform access and the special protections required for users identified as children (under 18 years). This Policy is primarily mandated by DPDP Act 2023, Section 9, which requires verifiable parental consent before processing the personal data of a child, and prohibits tracking, monitoring, and targeted advertising directed at children.
DPDP Act 2023, Section 9(3): A Data Fiduciary shall not undertake processing of personal data of a child that is likely to cause any detrimental effect on the well-being of the child; and shall not undertake tracking or behavioral monitoring of or targeted advertising directed at, children.
2. Age Standard — Platform Minimum
2.1 SeekhoBecho.com is designed for and restricted to users who are 18 years of age or older as of the date of registration. This minimum age applies to: all subscription plans, all gaming features, all paid features, all community features, and all monetisation features.
2.2 For certain EdTech courses that are made accessible to younger learners with parental consent, specific content age-ratings may apply. Where a creator designs a course for younger audiences with proper parental consent mechanisms, specific age gates apply to that course.
2.3 Definitional standard: A "child" or "minor" for all purposes of this Policy is any person below 18 years of age, consistent with POCSO Act 2012, S.2(d) and DPDP Act 2023, S.9.
3. Age Declaration at Registration
3.1 At registration, all users must: (a) Provide their date of birth; (b) Confirm they are 18 years or older; (c) Accept the Platform's Terms of Use which include age eligibility as a condition.
3.2 The registration system automatically checks the declared date of birth: if the declared age is below 18, registration is declined with a message explaining the minimum age requirement. If the declared age is 18 or above, registration proceeds subject to other eligibility criteria.
3.3 Date of birth is collected as part of account creation and stored as personal data per DPDP Act 2023 with standard privacy protections under PP-168.0 (Master Privacy Policy).
4. Age Verification Methods
| Verification Tier | Method | Applies To | Data Retained |
|---|
| L1 — Self-Declaration | Date of birth entered at registration + checkbox confirmation | All new registrations | Date of birth |
| L2 — Payment Instrument | Payment through UPI, debit card, credit card (most require account holder to be 18+) | All paid features — Pearl Recharge, subscriptions | Payment method type only |
| L3 — KYC Verification | PAN card or Aadhaar-linked verification confirming age and identity | Cash prize winners (all prizes above ₹10,000), Creator payouts, Seller payouts | PAN/Aadhaar last 4 digits — full data encrypted per DPDP Act |
| L4 — Parental Consent | Verifiable consent from parent/guardian with their own identity verification | Any minor account identified on Platform; EdTech child-friendly courses | Guardian identity per KYC standards |
5. Parental Consent Framework (DPDP Act 2023 Section 9)
5.1 If a minor's account is detected or a minor wishes to access age-appropriate EdTech content with parental consent, the following parental consent process applies: (a) Parent/Guardian registers their own account; (b) Parent/Guardian completes identity verification (KYC); (c) Parent/Guardian provides explicit consent for the child's account and specific features; (d) Consent is recorded with timestamp and stored per DPDP Act 2023 standards; (e) Parent/Guardian receives dashboard access to monitor the child's platform activity.
5.2 Parental consent is specific — consent for one feature does not extend to all Platform features. Parents/guardians must separately consent to: course access; community features; any personalisation features.
5.3 Per DPDP Act 2023, S.9: even with parental consent, the Company does NOT engage in: behavioural tracking of the minor, targeted advertising directed at the minor, or any processing likely to cause detrimental effect on the child's well-being.
5.4 Verifiability of parental consent: "Verifiable" under DPDP Act 2023 means the consent is not merely self-declared. The Company uses identity verification of the parent/guardian to establish verifiability.
6. Minor Account Detection & Response
6.1 The Platform uses the following signals to identify potential minor accounts: (a) Date of birth that makes the user under 18; (b) User's own disclosure of minor status in profile/bio; (c) Third-party report of a minor on the Platform; (d) KYC documents revealing minor status during prize/payout verification.
6.2 Upon detection, the following response protocol applies: (1) Account immediately suspended from paid and age-restricted features; (2) Privacy team (privacy@seekhobecho.com) notified within 24 hours; (3) User/parent notified with explanation and options: (a) Submit parental consent for limited age-appropriate access, or (b) Account terminated; (4) All personal data processing paused pending resolution; (5) If no parental consent received within 14 days: account permanently deactivated, data deleted per DPDP Act 2023 S.12.
7. Age-Restricted Content Controls
7.1 Content creators who produce any of the following must mark their content 18+ and the Platform enforces age-gate access: adult skill certifications; courses with mature business content; any content with violence, strong language, or adult themes; health/wellness content involving adult topics.
7.2 Age-restricted content is accessible only to: users with verified 18+ status; users who have acknowledged the content rating at the content level. A Platform-wide 18+ verification does not automatically bypass content-level age gates.
8. Gaming Segment Age Controls
8.1 All gaming features — 1v1 Skill Challenges, Selling League, Vyapar Championship, MahaJackpot, Knowledge Quiz League — are restricted to users 18 and above. No exceptions.
8.2 Pearl Recharge (the primary paid gaming feature) requires payment processing. Most Indian payment instruments require account holders to be 18+, providing a practical age barrier.
8.3 Tournament prize winners must pass KYC verification which confirms age as part of the identity verification process. Prizes are withheld if KYC reveals a minor. The minor's account is referred to the Minor Account Detection protocol (Section 6).
9. Prize & Payout Age Verification
9.1 All cash prizes, physical prizes, and payouts require KYC verification. KYC includes age verification. Winners who are identified as minors during KYC will not receive prizes until: (a) Their account is rectified through the parental consent process, AND (b) A parent/guardian is identified as the beneficiary for prize receipt, AND (c) Legal authority to receive the prize on behalf of the minor is confirmed.
9.2 For minor prize winners (in the unlikely scenario where a minor bypassed age gates), TDS obligations under Income Tax Act 1961 apply to the guardian receiving the prize.
10. EdTech Age Controls
10.1 EdTech courses are categorised: General (18+), Family-Friendly (with parental consent), and Child-Specific (expressly designed for children, requires parental consent and DPDP Act S.9 compliance for all data processing).
10.2 Course Creators designing content for children must: comply with POCSO content standards; avoid any adult content; not include in-course monetisation that directly targets child learners; obtain Platform approval before publishing child-specific courses.
11. Minor Data Processing Restrictions
11.1 For any minor account (with or without parental consent), the following data processing restrictions apply mandatorily under DPDP Act 2023, S.9: (a) No behavioural tracking or profiling; (b) No targeted advertising; (c) No data sharing with third-party advertisers; (d) No personalisation based on behavioural inference; (e) Only data strictly necessary for the consented features is collected (strict data minimisation); (f) No cross-Platform tracking.
12. Parental Right to Data Access & Deletion
12.1 Parents/guardians of minor Platform users have the following rights per DPDP Act 2023: (a) Access to all personal data collected about their child; (b) Correction of inaccurate personal data; (c) Erasure of all personal data (right to be forgotten); (d) Withdrawal of consent for any or all data processing features; (e) Objection to any specific data processing activity.
12.2 Parental rights requests submitted to privacy@seekhobecho.com. Response within 72 hours; action within 30 days. Erasure requests processed within 15 days.
13. False Age Declaration — Liability
13.1 A user who falsely declares their age to access the Platform: (a) Is in breach of the Platform User Agreement (AGR-01) and the applicable Terms and Conditions; (b) Bears full liability for any harm resulting from their access as a minor to age-restricted content; (c) Forfeits all Pearls, prizes, and subscription value earned through fraudulently obtained access; (d) May face legal action for fraud/misrepresentation under BNS 2023.
13.2 A parent/guardian who enables or facilitates a minor's false age declaration bears shared liability for the consequences.
14. Age Verification Records
14.1 Age verification records (declarations, KYC documents, parental consent records) are maintained per the following retention schedule: KYC records: 8 years (Income Tax Act, PMLA); Age declaration (self): Account lifetime + 2 years; Parental consent: Duration of minor's account + 2 years.
14.2 Age verification records are stored with highest data protection standards — encrypted, access-controlled, and auditable. Access restricted to Compliance, Legal, and Privacy team personnel on need-to-know basis.
15. Vendor & Creator Age Compliance
15.1 Vendors accessing Platform APIs and Course Creators using Platform infrastructure must comply with this Age Gating Policy for their end users. Vendors who deploy Platform features to end users bear responsibility for implementing appropriate age gates consistent with this Policy.
16. Accessibility — Age Controls & User Rights
16.1 Age control mechanisms are designed to be accessible to users with disabilities. Where standard verification methods create accessibility barriers, alternative verification methods are available by contacting support@seekhobecho.com.
17. Age Verification Failure — Remedies
17.1 Where age verification fails due to technical issues (system error, KYC service outage): (a) User is notified of the delay; (b) Access to age-restricted features is temporarily suspended; (c) Issue resolved within 48 hours; (d) Users are not penalised for verification failures caused by technical issues on the Platform's side.
18. Law Enforcement & Regulatory Compliance
18.1 This Policy is consistent with India's DPDP Act 2023 rules for child protection. As DPDP Act Rules are progressively notified by the Central Government, this Policy is updated accordingly. Future regulatory requirements for age verification (including possible DPDP Act-mandated specific age verification methods) are implemented from their effective date.
19. Policy Review
This AGV Policy is reviewed: annually for standard review; within 30 days of any DPDP Act 2023 Rules notification affecting child data protection; after any significant minor-related incident on the Platform. Updated versions communicated to all users with 7 days' notice.
20. Contact & Support
Privacy & Parental Consent
privacy@seekhobecho.com
DPDP Act S.9 queries, parental consent, minor data rights
Grievance Officer
grievance@seekhobecho.com
Age verification complaints, appeals
Support (Verification Help)
support@seekhobecho.com
Technical age verification issues, accessibility
Child Safety (Urgent)
compliance@seekhobecho.com
Minor detected on platform — urgent action