Grievance Redressal
Where to send a complaint, who receives it, how long we have to answer, and where to go if our answer is not good enough. Publishing this is a statutory obligation in India, not a courtesy.
1. Statutory basis
- Section 13, Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 — a Data Principal has the right to a readily available means of grievance redressal, and a Data Fiduciary must respond within the prescribed period. The Data Principal must exhaust this before approaching the Data Protection Board.
- Rule 3(2), Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 — publication of the name and contact details of a Grievance Officer, acknowledgement within twenty-four (24) hours, and disposal within fifteen (15) days.
- Section 8(9), DPDP Act — publication of the business contact information of a Data Protection Officer or other person able to answer questions about processing.
2. Officers
| Role | Name | Contact | Handles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grievance Officer IT Rules 2021, r.3(2) |
[name and designation] | grievance@dectify.in | Any complaint about our website, services or content; takedown requests; breaches of these policies |
| Data Protection Officer contact DPDP Act, s.8(9) |
[name and designation] | privacy@dectify.in | Questions about personal data processing; Data Principal rights requests |
| CERT-In Point of Contact | [name and designation] | security@dectify.in | Cyber incidents and coordination with CERT-In |
| Accessibility contact | [name and designation] | accessibility@dectify.in | Barriers on our website, HUB or documentation |
Postal address for all of the above: DECTIFY Technologies Private Limited, New Delhi, India — marked for the attention of the relevant officer.
All officers are based in India, as the Rules require.
3. Timelines
| Stage | Deadline | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Acknowledgement of a grievance | 24 hours | IT Rules 2021, r.3(2)(a) |
| Disposal of a grievance | 15 days from receipt | IT Rules 2021, r.3(2)(a) |
| Removal of content in the categories at r.3(2)(b) — including material exposing a private area, or impersonating another person | 24 hours from a valid complaint | IT Rules 2021, r.3(2)(b) |
| Response to a Data Principal rights request | As prescribed under the DPDP Rules | DPDP Act, ss.11–14 |
| Accessibility complaint — substantive response | 10 business days | Our own commitment |
4. How to raise a grievance
Send an email to the relevant address in section 2, or write to the postal address. Include:
- Your name and a contact address or email we can reply to.
- What happened, and when — with a date and, if relevant, a location.
- What you want us to do about it.
- Anything that helps us find the record: a page URL, a screenshot, a ticket number, a site address, a camera location.
There is no fee. There is no form you must use. We will not treat you less favourably for complaining.
5. What we do with it
- Acknowledge within 24 hours, with a reference number.
- Assess whether the matter concerns data we control or a customer's Customer Data. If it is a customer's, we tell you within three (3) business days who the responsible organisation is and route your request to them, and we assist them in answering it.
- Investigate, drawing on audit logs, correspondence and system records.
- Decide and explain within 15 days: what we found, what we did or will do, and if we are declining, the reason and the provision we rely on.
- Record the grievance and its outcome. Counts are published in the report at Compliance and Security Updates.
If we cannot finish in 15 days we will tell you before the deadline, explain why, and give a date.
6. Escalation
| If your complaint is about | Escalate to |
|---|---|
| Personal data, in India | Data Protection Board of India, after exhausting this process. Appeals from the Board lie to the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal. |
| Personal information, in Australia | Office of the Australian Information Commissioner — oaic.gov.au. See Australia Privacy and Data Protection. |
| Accessibility, in India | Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (RPwD Act s.75) or the State Commissioner (s.80) |
| Accessibility or discrimination, in Australia | Australian Human Rights Commission — humanrights.gov.au |
| A cyber incident | CERT-In — cert-in.org.in |
| Consumer matters, in India | The relevant Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 |
| Consumer matters, in Australia | Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, or the State or Territory fair trading office |
7. Complaints about a customer's use of our systems
If your complaint is that an organisation is misusing DECTIFY technology — pointing it somewhere it should not be, searching without a basis, acting on a match without checking it — report it to abuse@dectify.in. Reports may be anonymous.
We acknowledge within three (3) business days, we will require the customer to produce its audit records, and we may suspend the capability or terminate the contract. We do not disclose a reporter's identity to the customer concerned without consent, except where compelled by law, and we do not permit a customer to require it.
You are not required to come to us first in order to approach the Australian Information Commissioner, the Human Rights Commission, or a court. In India, section 13 of the DPDP Act does require you to exhaust this process before approaching the Data Protection Board. Either way, this is usually the fastest route to an actual fix.
Contact
Questions about this document: legal@dectify.in
DECTIFY Technologies Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India