We are delighted to have you at Bridge Cultures and sincerely hope you have the best time in India. Whether you are an intern, volunteer or studying a course, we wish to provide you with the best offers. Kindly read through the terms and conditions outlined thoroughly. They are applicable to all the offers / provisions / assistance we provide and will ensure that we are on the same page on legal terms as well.
In case of doubts or clarifications regarding any of the clauses in the terms and conditions, feel free to get in touch directly with the team or write to us at
sanam@bridgecultures.in. We will be happy to assist you.
Note: Henceforth in the document, the terms ‘we’, ‘us’, ‘our’ refers to Bridge Cultures or members of the Bridge Cultures team (Address) (contact). The terms ‘you’ or ‘your’ refers to the person /persons/candidate travelling to India through Bridge Cultures.
Eligibility:
- You must be 18 years of age or above, of sound mind and body health. A valid passport is a must-have for both internships as well as volunteering opportunities. While we promise you a comfortable and safe trip, there may be risks, dangers, that is outside of our control. By agreeing to the terms and conditions, you are liable to undertake full responsibility for any unforeseen circumstances that may arise.
- You agree and assure that all the details you have provided–such as your personal information, passport and visa information are accurate and 100% true. In case of false information, Bridge Cultures will not be held responsible and no assistance will be provided in any legal issues you face due to this.
Services:
What you are paying for:
- A connect to the wide variety of internships, volunteering and learning opportunities in India
- A clean, comfortable, affordable accommodation and daily meals
- An introduction and orientation session with all the necessary know-how of the city
- Pre-departure, Internship/volunteering period, and post-internship assistance
- Airport pick-up and drop off
- Emergency contact assistance
Payments:
Service / placement fees:
To be paid after the first interview. A payment link will be sent to you through email after acceptance of your candidature.
Advance payment:
50% advance payment is to be made on receiving an offer letter from us and the host organization.
Full payment:
Remaining 50% payment is to be made at least 2 weeks before arrival.
Changes and Cancellations
- In case you wish to change plans, a written intimation must be sent via email, or through post prior to departure from your home country. The confirmation for changing dates of arrival, or changes in interning/volunteering organisation will be subject to availability and additional charges will apply.
- In case you wish to cancel your internship/volunteering, prior or post a confirmed internship/volunteering, your cancellation must be provided in writing via email or post to our address. Please check refund policy for refunds.
- We reserve the right to reject an application at our own discretion. Your application in itself does not guarantee an internship/volunteering opportunity. We do not guarantee an internship in your desired organisation/sector as it depends on requirements, rules and regulations of the organisation/sector.
- In the case of an unforeseen, exceptional situation where we might have to cancel your internship/volunteering and notify you as early as possible. Refund will be processed based on the refund policy. Any other expenses incurred by you will not be refunded.
Refund Policy:
- In case you wish to cancel your internship/volunteering/course, prior to a confirmed position, your cancellation must be provided in writing via email or post to our address. Refund will be processed after deducting 25% of the service fees.
- In case you wish to cancel after a confirmation of a position at the host organization, the service fee will be non-refundable.
- In case you wish to cancel after advance payment is made, refund will be made after deducting 25% of the paid amount because we will have coordinated with the host organization, host family and other stakeholders and a spot will have been reserved for you.
- In case you wish to cancel after full payment is made i.e 2 weeks before arrival, refund will be made after deducting 75% of the total paid amount.
Unavoidable incidents: Force majeure
- In case of unavoidable accidents related to security threats, terrorist attacks, war, natural calamities, political turmoil, fires, spread of disease and such, the deposit and any amount paid further will not be refunded. We may, at our sole discretion decide to offer an internship at any other city, based on availability.
Visa and air travel:
- We provide basic assistance on Visa but kindly note that the decision to issue a visa or not lies with the concerned authorities and we cannot be held responsible in case of a visa rejection.
- If your visa is rejected due to some reasons (which is a rare, exceptional occurrence), the deposit amount will be refunded along with the service fee. Air fare and any other cost incurred by you cannot be compensated by us and will have to be borne by you.
- Kindly ensure the timely submission of all your documents required for visa processing so we may review and do the needful. We will not be responsible for any delays, or rejections due to your delay in providing documents and no refund will be made in that scenario.
- We urge you to ensure that your passport and visa are valid for the duration of your internship/volunteer period, and through any further travels in India. In case any renewals have to be made, ensure that it is made on time. Note that there cannot be any changes in your dates after your arrival in India.
- Airfare bookings are not included in any of our programme costs. You will be solely responsible for the bookings, and any costs that may be incurred due to delays, or cancellations of flights.
- We will receive you at the airport on arrival and ensure your transportation to the accommodation. We do follow up on your schedules and arrivals but kindly keep us informed with your flight information so we can provide timely service.
Insurance:
- Ensure complete protection of yourself with travel insurance. You must make sure that you are covered with relevant travel, personal and medical insurance for the duration of stay in India. There are many airlines that provide travel insurance along with your tickets, for an extra fee.
- Duly send all your insurance related documents to us so we may be able to assist you better during your stay here.
(Refer the travel essentials section on the website)
Confidentiality:
- We understand that you need to provide some private and confidential information such as your passport, insurance and some personal information such as date of birth, address etc. with us, in order to avail our services. We assure you that your documents will be treated as confidential and will not be shared with any party other than your organisation of internship or visa processing authorities.
- In the same way, we request you to keep confidential, sensitive information that you may have access to through your internship/volunteering. Some organisations may require you to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement, which you will be required to sign as part of this contract.
- If the host organisation requires some of your academic records, kindly share it with us on time. This will enable us to help connect you to the right organisation and role that fits your credentials.
- We will be immensely happy to partake in your journey. Any photographs, blogs or feedback regarding your trip that you can share, will be helpful to us and will be used solely for our marketing purposes.
- We do reserve the right to use aggregate information such as - ‘These many volunteers from UK participated in this organisation/project in the year 2017’.
- In situations where your information requires to be disclosed by law, or by our discretion on the directions of any law enforcement, to protect our rights and property, or if there is a threat to your health and safety due to some harm or violence, you agree to allow your information to be disclosed by us to relevant authorities.
Responsibility:
While we want you to have a purposeful and enjoyable experience in India and help you take a step up professionally, we require your cooperation and expect responsible behaviour during your stay with us.
Responsible behaviour may be interpreted as given below:
- Ensuring that you do not indulge in any illegal activity and abide by the local laws. You will have to familiarise yourself with certain laws that may be different from you home country.
- To maintain professionalism, kindly stick to schedule that has been agreed upon, ensure punctuality, appropriate dress codes and behavioural codes at all times during the internship/volunteering. We only offer you the most credible and professional organisations that will not make any unreasonable demands of you or create any unresolvable problems.
- In case there is any unreasonable, illegal request made of you, or you are faced with a major problem, inform us immediately, so we may provide some timely assistance. Please be prompt in informing us before the situation escalates, in which case we cannot guarantee our assistance.
- Ensure that the place of accommodation and any other property within, is maintained well without causing any damages. In case of a damage by you or any visiting members, kindly report it to us immediately so that the cost incurred by you is minimal.
- Bridge cultures encourages socialising with the locals and other interns/volunteers from abroad, but your personal safety is your responsibility. Kindly follow the instructions given at the time of orientation and avoid bringing strangers to the accommodation. Ensure that your private information and documents are kept in a secure place. Avoid travelling alone post 11pm.
- We reserve the right to cancel, terminate or remove you from the accommodation without any refund in case of mistreatment of staff or other guests, indulging in any criminal activity, failure in following rules and regulations of the accommodation or any such misbehaviour by our discretion.
Other Terms and Conditions:
- This agreement is the final agreement between any parties involved and overrides any document, agreement, proceedings and understandings between these parties whether in oral or written.
- Bridge cultures reserves the right to amend these Terms and Conditions which we will notify you of, in case any change is made.
- This agreement of terms and conditions does not imply in any way an agreement of partnership, agency, joint venture or any form of employment between the parties.
- If any clause of these terms and conditions is found to be illegal, invalid or not enforceable, by a court of law or any competent authority, that clause or part of that clause shall be declared as null and void and will in no way affect the other terms and conditions.
We are thankful to you for having taken time to go through the terms and conditions. Bridge Cultures and team are looking forward to making your stay in India a memorable one. We expect that you have read and understood every clause thoroughly and indicate your agreement to follow and abide by these terms and conditions by signing below. Bridge Cultures