Net-metering partner terms

These terms apply when you work with Vortex Solar as an independent net-metering partner, handling customers' net-metering applications with Uttar Pradesh DISCOMs (the electricity distribution companies). They cover how cases reach you, what you earn, who pays you, when and how, and what you and Vortex each promise. The short summary below is there to help you read them. If it ever differs from the full clauses, the full clauses apply.

1. 1. Who these terms are for

   1. 1.1These terms are an agreement between Vortex Solar, head office Lucknow (“Vortex”), and you (“you”). You are a person or business who handles customers' net-metering cases as an independent net-metering partner.
   2. 1.2They also cover the net-metering work of a Vortex solar expert who holds a current Vortex net-metering certificate (NM-1). The solar expert terms still cover that expert's other work.
   3. 1.3Your work is the customer's net-metering application with the DISCOM. That means filing it, following it up until the DISCOM approves it, paying the DISCOM's charges for the customer, getting the net meter installed, getting the joint commissioning report (JCR), and uploading proof of each step to the case.
   4. 1.4You do this work for the customer who chose you, through Vortex's platform and under these terms. Vortex stays the registered vendor of the solar plant.
   5. 1.5Vortex's own team does the PM Surya Ghar portal work: registration, the feasibility request, choosing Vortex as the vendor, uploading the agreement, and the subsidy claim. Do not do this work unless Vortex asks you to in the case.
   6. 1.6Today you can take cases only for these Uttar Pradesh DISCOMs: LESA, MVVNL, PVVNL, DVVNL, PuVVNL, KESCO and NPCL.
   7. 1.7Vortex's other areas (Uttarakhand, Patna, Chandigarh, the rest of Haryana, Bhopal, Jabalpur and Gwalior) are still being built. No net-metering work is promised there until Vortex adds that DISCOM in writing.
   8. 1.8Your agreement with Vortex is made up of these terms, the rate card shown in the partner app, and the instructions in each case. If they conflict, these terms win. A promise by a Vortex staff member changes them only if Vortex's head office confirms it in writing or in the app.

2. 2. Joining and verification

   1. 2.1You apply with a one-time code sent to your mobile. The steps after that are an eligibility check, a screening call, KYC, a background check, accepting these terms, training, and a practical of three filings that Vortex audits. You must pass each step, and Vortex does not skip any.
   2. 2.2For KYC you give your Aadhaar, PAN, bank account details and a selfie, and Vortex's area manager checks them by hand. The name on the bank account must match your KYC name or your firm's registered name.
   3. 2.3The background check covers your references and whether you have been removed from similar work before. If you give false information, Vortex may refuse your application or end the partnership.
   4. 2.4You must be at least 18 and able to make a contract under Indian law.
   5. 2.5If Vortex refuses your application, it tells you the main reason.
   6. 2.6Once you pass, Vortex activates you on probation and gives you a login to the partner app. The login is personal, so do not share it.
   7. 2.7Vortex uses your own KYC details, bank details and selfie only to check who you are, to pay you, to prevent fraud, and to keep the records the law requires. Only the staff who need them can see them, and Vortex does not sell them. If you ask, Vortex corrects them. This follows the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
   8. 2.8Vortex charges no fee to join, to be trained, to be listed or to get cases. If anyone asks you for money for any of these, refuse and tell Vortex.

3. 3. How cases reach you

   1. 3.1On their agreement link, the customer chooses either to do net metering themselves (“Self”) or to use a listed net-metering partner. The list shows each partner's rating and fee. Vortex staff may record the choice for the customer, but only after the customer has agreed with a one-time code (OTP).
   2. 3.2You are listed only for the PIN codes and DISCOMs on your profile, and only while your standing is probation, active, silver or gold. Tell Vortex before you change your PIN codes or DISCOMs.
   3. 3.3A case opens in your app when the customer's agreement is signed, or when the customer chooses you later. It contains the customer's details, the DISCOM's charges and the papers.
   4. 3.4If you cannot take a case, tell Vortex in writing within 24 hours of it opening, so the customer can choose someone else. A message to your area manager is enough. Saying no promptly carries no penalty.
   5. 3.5Vortex does not promise you any number of cases. Customers choose freely.
   6. 3.6If a customer chose Self, you may not charge them. If they later want your help, the choice must first be changed through Vortex, so that your fee is shown to them and recorded.
   7. 3.7Once the application is with the DISCOM, only Vortex can change who handles the case.

4. 4. Your fee and when the customer pays

   1. 4.1Your fee is the plant size in kW, as written in the signed agreement, multiplied by the per-kW rate on Vortex's rate card. Today's rate is ₹1,000 per kW.
   2. 4.2The customer sees your fee on the agreement before choosing you. The fee is fixed once they choose you. A later rate change applies only to customers who choose you after the change starts.
   3. 4.3The customer pays you directly, in two halves rounded to the nearest rupee. The first half is due when you have filed the net-metering application with the DISCOM and its application number is in the case. The second half is due when the net meter is installed and a photo of it, showing its number, is in the case. Tell the customer when each half falls due.
   4. 4.4For example, a 4 kW plant at today's rate has a fee of ₹4,000. The customer pays ₹2,000 at filing and ₹2,000 when the meter is installed.
   5. 4.5Ask the customer to pay by UPI or bank transfer to your own verified account. If they pay in cash, give a signed receipt. Give a receipt for every payment and keep a copy. Never ask for payment into anyone else's account.
   6. 4.6The fee covers all your work on the case: papers, visits to the DISCOM office, travel, printing, follow-ups and refiling after a rejection. You may not ask the customer for anything more.
   7. 4.7Vortex takes no commission from your fee. Vortex does not collect or hold your fee, and deducts nothing from what the customer pays you directly.
   8. 4.8If the plant size changes before the second half is due, the fee is worked out again at the same per-kW rate and shown to the customer. The first half already paid is not reduced. Any difference is settled in the second half.
   9. 4.9If the customer cancels before you file, no fee is due. If they cancel after you file, you keep the first half and the second half is not due.
   10. 4.10If a customer does not pay a half when it is due, tell Vortex. Vortex will remind the customer and handle it as a money dispute. Vortex does not guarantee payments that do not pass through it.
   11. 4.11While a payment is overdue, you may pause further work on that case after telling the customer and Vortex. You must never hold back the customer's papers or receipts.

5. 5. DISCOM charges are the customer's money

   1. 5.1DISCOM charges are only what the DISCOM itself bills, such as the application fee, the registration fee, and the net meter at the DISCOM's rate.
   2. 5.2Today's UP figures set in the app are ₹250 for the application and ₹1,000 for registration. The meter's price is shown once the DISCOM states it. If the DISCOM's bill differs from the app, the DISCOM's bill is what counts.
   3. 5.3Collect each charge from the customer only when it falls due, and only the exact amount the DISCOM asks for. Do not add a mark-up, round up, or add a “file charge”.
   4. 5.4You pay each charge to the DISCOM yourself, through the DISCOM's official portal or counter, and the receipt must be in the customer's name. Upload the receipt to the case within 2 days of paying.
   5. 5.5You never have to pay DISCOM charges out of your own money. If the customer has not paid a charge that is due, wait, record it in the case and tell Vortex. The delay is not counted against you.
   6. 5.6Use DISCOM money only for the DISCOM charge it was given for.
   7. 5.7Any DISCOM money you hold that is not spent goes back the way it came within 7 days, with a note in the case. That means it goes to the customer if the customer paid you, or to Vortex, for the customer's account, if Vortex paid you from a loan. This covers money left over from a cancelled case, a lower bill or a DISCOM refund.
   8. 5.8You pay any extra DISCOM charges caused by your own mistake, such as a late fee or a wrong category. The customer pays, at actuals, any extra charges caused by their own situation.

6. 6. Loan customers: Vortex pays you

   1. 6.1When the customer's plant is paid for with a loan arranged through Vortex, the customer does not pay you. Vortex pays your fee and the DISCOM charges out of the loan instead.
   2. 6.2Vortex pays in one bank transfer to your verified account, once enough of the customer's loan has reached Vortex. Vortex tells you the amount and the bank reference (UTR). If you ask, Vortex tells you whether it is still waiting for the bank.
   3. 6.3The transfer may reach you before you finish your steps. If the case is then cancelled or moved, refund the unearned half and any DISCOM money not spent to Vortex by bank transfer within 7 days. Vortex credits that money to the customer.
   4. 6.4If the DISCOM bills a charge that was not in the transfer (the meter's price, for example), put the DISCOM's bill in the case. Vortex then pays it to you from the loan in the same way, before you have to pay the DISCOM.
   5. 6.5If a transfer fails or comes back, Vortex tells you. Once your bank details are confirmed, Vortex sends it again in the next Wednesday settlement.
   6. 6.6Vortex deducts only tax deducted at source (TDS), only where income-tax law requires it, and gives you the TDS certificate. Vortex takes no commission and does not charge you for the transfer.
   7. 6.7If the loan is cancelled before Vortex has paid you, the customer pays you directly in the normal two halves.
   8. 6.8Never ask a loan customer to pay you for anything that Vortex pays from the loan.

7. 7. Taxes, invoices and receipts

   1. 7.1You are responsible for your own income tax. You are also responsible for GST if you are registered, or if the law requires you to register.
   2. 7.2If you are registered for GST, give the customer a GST tax invoice for your fee. The fee shown to the customer is the full price, including any GST.
   3. 7.3DISCOM charges are the customer's own payment, which you pass on to the DISCOM. They are not your income, and the DISCOM's receipt belongs to the customer.
   4. 7.4Keep your PAN, GSTIN (if you have one) and bank details up to date in the app. If you change your bank account, Vortex pays into the new account only after the area manager has checked it again.
   5. 7.5Keep copies of your receipts and invoices for as long as tax law requires. Vortex may ask to see them in a dispute.

8. 8. Doing the work

   1. 8.1Vortex fills in the papers for each case from its own records, in English or Hindi. These are Vortex's standard formats, not each DISCOM's official form. Before filing, check them against what your DISCOM office asks for today. If the DISCOM wants a different form, tell Vortex in the case.
   2. 8.2Vortex is responsible for mistakes in the papers it fills in. If the DISCOM rejects a filing because of such a mistake, Vortex corrects the paper, and the rejection is not counted against you.
   3. 8.3Each step needs its proof in the case: the application number, the feasibility approval, the DISCOM's receipt, the meter date, a photo of the new net meter showing its number, and the commissioning report (JCR).
   4. 8.4Ask the DISCOM for the net meter only after Vortex's Installation Certificate is in the case.
   5. 8.5Vortex sets a target time for each step. If a case makes no progress for 14 days, it is flagged to the area manager. So record each delay, and its reason, in the case when it happens.
   6. 8.6If the DISCOM rejects or returns an application, correct it and file it again at no extra fee.
   7. 8.7Keep the customer informed at each step, in plain words.
   8. 8.8Your work on a case ends when the commissioning report (JCR) is in the case.
   9. 8.9Never keep a customer's original documents. Take copies only, and return anything lent to you the same day.
   10. 8.10If the DISCOM causes a delay you cannot control, record it in the case. You will not be penalised for it, but the second half of your fee is still due only once the meter is installed.
   11. 8.11Safety: you do not do electrical work. Never open, connect or touch the meter, the inverter, the wiring or the DISCOM's equipment. The DISCOM fits the meter, and Vortex's installation team does the wiring. At a site, follow the customer's and the installation team's safety instructions. Go onto a roof only if there is a safe, fixed way up. If you see something unsafe, such as exposed wires, a damaged meter or smoke, keep people away and tell Vortex at once.

9. 9. Customers, data and confidentiality

   1. 9.1Act on a customer's project only after the customer has agreed in the app with a one-time code (OTP).
   2. 9.2Ask for a DISCOM or portal OTP only for the step you are doing, and tell the customer what it is for. Never use it for anything else, and never keep a customer's portal password.
   3. 9.3Never change a customer's mobile number, email or bank details on DISCOM, PM Surya Ghar or any other records, and never put your own details there.
   4. 9.4Customers' personal data includes names, numbers, addresses, bills, Aadhaar and photos, and it is protected by the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. Vortex is responsible for this data under the Act, and you handle it for Vortex. Use it only for that customer's case and only as these terms and the case instructions say.
   5. 9.5Keep customer data in the Vortex app, and keep your phone locked with a screen lock. Do not keep copies on your phone, WhatsApp or computer for longer than you need them to file. Never share, sell or reuse the data.
   6. 9.6Where the DISCOM accepts it, use a masked Aadhaar, with only the last 4 digits showing. Never keep or use a customer's Aadhaar number for anything else.
   7. 9.7If any customer data is lost, leaked or misused, tell Vortex as soon as you know, and within 24 hours at most. Help Vortex inform the customer and the authorities.
   8. 9.8If a customer asks you to show, correct or delete their data, or withdraws their consent, tell Vortex within 2 days and follow its instructions.
   9. 9.9When a case closes, or when you leave, delete any copies you hold, except what the law requires you to keep.
   10. 9.10Take photos at a customer's home only with the customer's permission, and only the photos the case needs.
   11. 9.11Keep Vortex's rate card, papers, customer lists and app contents confidential while you are a partner and for 2 years after you leave.
   12. 9.12While you are a partner and for 12 months after you leave, do not use customer details you got through Vortex to sell solar to those customers for anyone else.

10. 10. Conduct and Vortex's name

    1. 10.1Never change Vortex's price. Never take money for materials or for Vortex's price. Never ask for anything beyond your fee and the DISCOM's actual charges.
    2. 10.2Never accept money, gifts or commission for any Vortex customer from another partner (an installer, for example) or from a supplier.
    3. 10.3Never misrepresent the PM Surya Ghar subsidy. Do not promise an amount or a date, because the government pays the subsidy under the scheme's own rules.
    4. 10.4Never pay or offer a bribe or “speed money” to anyone at a DISCOM or government office. Never give money or gifts to Vortex staff to get cases. Bribery is a crime under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Report any demand for a bribe to Vortex. A delay caused by refusing a bribe is not held against you.
    5. 10.5Never forge a signature or fake or alter a receipt, photo, meter reading or document, and never file in a customer's name without their consent. Vortex may report fraud to the police.
    6. 10.6Tell Vortex about any link you or your close family have with an installer, a solar company, a supplier or a DISCOM. Update it if it changes.
    7. 10.7Never present yourself as a Vortex employee or as a DISCOM official.
    8. 10.8Call yourself a “Vortex Solar net-metering partner” only while you are active. Use Vortex's name or logo on signboards or adverts only with Vortex's written permission.
    9. 10.9Be polite. Do not abuse, threaten or pressure customers, DISCOM staff or Vortex staff.
    10. 10.10If you use helpers, you are responsible for them, and they must follow these terms too.

11. 11. Standing, ratings and penalties

    1. 11.1You start on probation. Once you have 5 or more customer ratings in the last 12 months, your average rating sets your standing: below 3.5 is warned, 3.5 or more is active, 4.3 or more is silver, and 4.7 or more with at least 20 ratings is gold.
    2. 11.2A rating below 2.5 stars needs a comment from the customer. A supervisor checks it before it counts.
    3. 11.3Only partners on probation, active, silver or gold are shown to new customers.
    4. 11.4A dispute decided against you costs 3 penalty points. For a serious breach, it can instead lead to removal. Any penalty point moves you to warned, and you are not shown to new customers. 10 points in total means you are suspended.
    5. 11.5If you are warned or suspended, you still finish your open cases, unless Vortex moves a case to protect the customer.
    6. 11.6Vortex tells you the reason for any penalty, and you can reply in writing within 7 days. You can also ask your area manager to review your standing.
    7. 11.7Serious breaches include taking extra money, paying or offering a bribe, misusing customer data, using false documents, and hiding a link you must disclose. For a serious breach, Vortex may stop new cases to you at once while it follows the steps under “Ending the partnership”.

12. 12. Ending the partnership

    1. 12.1You may end the partnership at any time by giving 15 days' notice in writing.
    2. 12.2Vortex may end it by giving 15 days' notice with a reason. For a serious breach, fraud, or if you no longer pass KYC or eligibility, Vortex may end it without the 15 days' notice, after following the next clause.
    3. 12.3Before suspending or ending the partnership for a breach, Vortex tells you in writing what is alleged and gives you 7 days to reply, then decides and tells you the reason. During those 7 days, Vortex may stop new cases to you. Where a customer needs protecting, it may also move an open case.
    4. 12.4When the partnership ends, finish your open cases unless Vortex or the customer moves them. If a case is moved, you keep the halves you earned for the steps you completed. The rest goes to whoever finishes the work.
    5. 12.5If a filing is rejected because of your own error and you do not correct it within 7 days of being asked, Vortex may move the case. You must then refund the first half to the customer within 7 days, or to Vortex if Vortex paid you from a loan.
    6. 12.6Within 3 days of the partnership ending, or of a case being moved, hand over all papers, receipts and references through the case. Return any unspent DISCOM money within 7 days, as set out above.
    7. 12.7Vortex still pays any money it owes you on loan cases. The clauses on confidentiality, data, money, responsibility for losses and disputes continue after the partnership ends.

13. 13. Disputes, including money disputes

    1. 13.1Raise any problem, including a money problem, in writing with your proof: in the app where it allows, or to your area manager or Vortex's head office. Please raise it within 30 days, while the records are fresh. Raising it later does not take away your legal rights, but it may be harder to check.
    2. 13.2You and the other side, whether a customer or a partner, have 72 hours to settle it between you. After that, Vortex mediates using the case record: receipts, UTRs, photos, OTP consents and messages.
    3. 13.3Vortex gives its view in writing within 15 days of starting to mediate. Vortex's view does not bind a customer, and it does not stop you or Vortex from going to arbitration.
    4. 13.4While a money dispute is open, nobody may hold back a customer's papers or receipts, or DISCOM work that has already been paid for.
    5. 13.5A dispute between you and Vortex that is not settled may be referred by either side to arbitration under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. Arbitration is decided by a private judge (an arbitrator). The two sides agree on one arbitrator. If they cannot agree within 30 days, the arbitrator is appointed under that Act. The arbitration is held in Lucknow, which is its seat and venue. It is conducted in English, and papers in Hindi may be used. Each side pays its own costs unless the arbitrator decides otherwise.
    6. 13.6Only the courts at Lucknow deal with any court matter under these terms, including urgent interim orders.
    7. 13.7Nothing in these terms takes away your rights under the MSMED Act, 2006 if you are a registered micro or small enterprise. Nothing takes away any customer's rights under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

14. 14. Changes and general

    1. 14.1Vortex may change these terms by giving at least 15 days' notice in the app and by SMS or WhatsApp to your registered mobile. No change reduces money you have already earned.
    2. 14.2Vortex tells you of a rate card change in the app before it applies. The change applies only to customers who choose you after it starts.
    3. 14.3If you do not agree with a change, you may end the partnership before the change starts, without waiting out the 15 days' notice. If you take new cases after the change starts, you accept it.
    4. 14.4You are an independent partner, not Vortex's employee, agent or joint-venture partner. You get no salary, PF or ESI from Vortex, and you pay your own costs. You cannot sign or promise anything on Vortex's behalf. You may also work for others, including other solar companies, as long as you keep to the confidentiality and customer-data clauses.
    5. 14.5You accept these terms, and any new version, electronically, with a one-time code sent to your registered mobile. This is a valid electronic contract under the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the app's records are evidence of what happened.
    6. 14.6You make good any loss, fine or claim that Vortex or a customer suffers because of your own acts or failures, or those of your helpers. Examples are a DISCOM late fee caused by your mistake, money taken wrongly, a false document, or misuse of customer data. You are not responsible for Vortex's acts, for mistakes in papers Vortex filled in, for other partners, or for the DISCOM's own decisions. Vortex tells you promptly of any such claim and lets you respond before it settles the claim.
    7. 14.7Vortex likewise makes good any loss you suffer because of its own acts or failures, such as a mistake in its papers or a payment it sends wrongly.
    8. 14.8Neither side is responsible for indirect losses, such as lost profit or lost business. In any one case, each side's liability to the other is limited to the fee for that case. This limit does not cover money either side holds or owes for the other side or for a customer. It also does not cover fraud, bribery, deliberate wrongdoing, deliberate or grossly careless misuse of personal data, or injury to a person.
    9. 14.9Neither side is at fault for delays caused by events it cannot control, as long as it tells the other side promptly. Examples are DISCOM or portal outages, strikes, floods and government orders.
    10. 14.10You may not transfer this partnership to anyone else. Vortex may transfer it to a business that takes over its work, and must tell you when it does.
    11. 14.11Vortex sends notices to you through the app and to your registered mobile or email. You send notices to Vortex through the app, or in writing to its head office in Lucknow.
    12. 14.12If any clause turns out to be invalid, the rest still apply. If Vortex does not enforce a clause once, it can still enforce it later. These terms are governed by Indian law, including the Indian Contract Act, 1872.

Version 2026-10-11. You accept these terms when you apply, by typing the code sent to your mobile. Any change is a new version, told to you at least 15 days before it applies; rates change for new work only. Fingerprint 20e13652b7a4e6eb.