Pacten Terms of Service and User Agreement

Account eligibility and mandatory personal identity binding

Legal capacity and age requirement. To register an account or execute agreements on Pacten, you must be at least 18 years old and have full legal capacity to enter into binding contracts under Sri Lankan law, including the Law of Contract and Electronic Transactions Act No. 19 of 2006. Registration by minors under 18 is prohibited.

Real-name binding and Verified badges. Pacten operates a verified identity framework to foster peer-to-peer accountability. You may voluntarily submit your National Identity Card (NIC) for manual review. After verification, your account receives a public Verified badge and displays your real full name. Pacten does not publicly expose your identity-card number or uploaded document images.

Peer-to-peer verification disclaimer. While Pacten confirms that an account name matches the identity document presented, Pacten does not conduct physical, in-person background checks. Under Section 2(3)(a) of the PDPA, direct personal verification between counterparties before executing an agreement is a personal or domestic activity. You remain solely responsible for your own due diligence.

Mandatory personal NIC ownership. When submitting an identity card for verification, you must upload only your own authentic, government-issued NIC. Uploading or attempting to verify an account using another person's NIC, including that of a spouse, family member, or associate, a fabricated or modified document, or stolen credentials is prohibited and constitutes criminal impersonation.

Impersonation penalties and identity recovery. Submitting third-party or fraudulent identity documents may result in immediate account termination without refund, permanent blacklisting of the associated cryptographic identity key hash and device, revocation of Verified status, voiding of pending agreement drafts, and referral with audit logs to the Sri Lanka Police and Department for Registration of Persons. A legitimate card owner whose identity was misused may appeal to privacy@pacten.com for step-up identity recovery.

Subscriptions, free trials, and credit purchases

Free trial allocation. New registered accounts receive a limited trial allocation of agreement-creation credits to explore platform features, draft agreement terms, and experience digital evidence logging.

Subscription plans and credit top-ups. Once trial credits are exhausted, initiating or publishing a new agreement requires a top-up credit package or an active paid plan. All fees, credit packages, and subscription rates are displayed before purchase.

Non-refundability and pricing adjustments. All credit top-up purchases and subscription payments processed through authorised gateways are final and non-refundable once activated. Purchased credits do not expire while the account remains in good standing. Pacten may modify pricing tiers after 14 days of public notice.

System-defined agreement templates and derived custom-template rules

System-defined base-template framework. To support structural integrity, standardised audit trails, and legal readability, all agreements created or executed on Pacten must use platform-defined base agreement structures.

Derived custom-template rule. You may create a custom agreement template only by deriving it from an official, system-defined platform base structure. Uploading, deploying, or injecting external raw scripts, unverified arbitrary code, or non-standard agreement architectures that bypass platform structural controls, security filters, or audit logging is prohibited.

Template invalidation and enforcement. Pacten may inspect reported templates, immediately invalidate non-compliant or illegal custom templates, restrict associated accounts, forfeit paid credits without refund, and report unlawful agreement activity to law-enforcement authorities.

Prohibition of unlawful agreements and illegal use

The platform must not be used for an illegal, fraudulent, or immoral purpose under Sri Lankan law or applicable international law. Prohibited categories include:

Illicit transactions, including agreements involving illegal goods, controlled substances, unlicensed weapons, or contraband; financial crimes, including money laundering, illegal financial schemes, unregulated Ponzi or pyramid arrangements, or unlicensed banking; fraud, extortion, bribery, tax evasion, or financial deception; exploitation and criminal violence, including illegal gambling, human trafficking, exploitation, Child Sexual Abuse Material, or criminal violence; and agreements that attempt to document, enforce, or conceal illegal acts or void promises contrary to public policy.

Platform trust profiling and your right to human appeal

Unopinionated software-ledger role. Pacten is an unopinionated software documentation platform. Pacten is not a court, arbitrator, or mediator, and does not judge disputes or assign legal fault.

Automated event-counting logic. Statshare standing tiers are calculated through automated counting of objective platform events, including completed deals, raw dispute counts, and account age, to protect platform integrity under Schedule I Item h(iii) of the PDPA.

Pre-agreement minimal standing display. When initiating or joining an agreement, a minimal Statshare standing tier is displayed to counterparties. You may voluntarily share detailed Statshare history, but are not required to do so.

Right to human appeal. If your agreement-creation privileges are automatically restricted because of standing-score calculations, you have a statutory right under Section 18 of the PDPA to request a human review by emailing privacy@pacten.com.

Disclaimer of legal entity role and platform liability

Neutral infrastructure provider. Pacten provides digital documentation tools, cryptographic audit trails, and platform-level anti-fraud tools. Pacten is not a law firm, notary public, financial institution, or legal party to an agreement.

No liability for user performance and default. Pacten assumes no responsibility or legal liability for non-performance or breach by a user, the truthfulness or legality of user terms, financial loss or property damage resulting from agreements, or dispute outcomes. Counterparties enter agreements at their own discretion.

Executed agreements, mutual consent, and account archival

Irrevocability of signed agreements. Once an agreement is digitally executed by participating counterparties, it becomes an immutable record stored in Pacten’s database and encrypted S3 archives. Neither party can unilaterally alter or erase an executed agreement text or audit log.

Account archival protocol. An account-deletion request from a user involved in active or completed agreements is placed in archived state, with login disabled and records preserved for the five-year statutory limitation period, to protect co-party contractual rights and legal-claim defences under Section 17(2)(e) of the PDPA. An unencumbered account with no ties is erased after a 30-day grace period.

Summary of user rules and platform terms

Governing law and exclusive jurisdiction

These Terms are governed exclusively by the laws of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, including the Personal Data Protection Act No. 9 of 2022, as amended by Act No. 22 of 2025, and Electronic Transactions Act No. 19 of 2006. Any dispute arising out of or in connection with platform use must be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts in Colombo, Sri Lanka.