Legal & Transparency

Community Guidelines

Pune Culture is built on the authentic voices of people who live, work, and explore in Pune. These Community Guidelines define the standards of conduct that protect the integrity, safety, and trust of our platform. These Guidelines are legally binding and must be followed by all users. Violations may result in account suspension or permanent termination.

Last updated: July 2025

Jurisdiction: Pune, Maharashtra, India

1. Our Community Mission

Pune Culture's community exists to celebrate the richness of Pune — its heritage, neighborhoods, food, nightlife, education, and people — through honest, authentic, and respectful sharing of experiences. Our community serves students, IT professionals, local residents, travelers, families, and business owners who all share a connection to this extraordinary city.

These Community Guidelines exist to ensure that every member of our platform — regardless of their background, community, gender, or profession — feels safe, respected, and heard. They are not suggestions; they are binding standards of participation. By using Pune Culture's community features, you agree to follow these Guidelines in their entirety.

The Pune Culture Standard

We hold our community to the same standard we would hold a public conversation in a Pune chai tapri — respectful, lively, honest, and welcoming to all who approach with good faith.

2. Core Community Values

Every interaction on Pune Culture should reflect these five core values:

✓

Authenticity

Share real experiences. Every review, post, and recommendation should reflect what you genuinely observed, experienced, or know. Do not fabricate, exaggerate, or misrepresent.

🙏

Respect

Treat every community member, business owner, and establishment with dignity. Disagree with ideas, not with people. Avoid language that demeans, belittles, or othered any individual or group.

⚖️

Accountability

Own your words and actions. Stand behind your reviews and posts. Do not hide behind anonymity to post content you would not be comfortable associating with your real name.

💡

Helpfulness

Contribute content that genuinely helps others make better decisions — about where to live, eat, explore, or spend their time in Pune. Add value, not noise.

🌐

Inclusivity

Pune is home to people of every background, faith, language, and community. Our platform is a space for all of them. Never make others feel unwelcome based on who they are.

3. Review Ethics & Integrity

Reviews are the most powerful tool on Pune Culture. A single honest review can help a student find a safe PG or help a professional discover their new favorite cafe. This power demands responsibility.

What Makes a Great Review

First-Hand Experience: Only review establishments you have personally visited or used. Reviews based on what someone else told you are not acceptable.
Specific & Constructive: Describe what made the experience good or bad. "The WiFi speed at this PG in Wakad was 50 Mbps — very reliable" is more useful than "WiFi was good."
Balanced: Even negative reviews should acknowledge any positive aspects. Even positive reviews can mention areas for improvement.
Recent: Reviews should be based on experiences within the last 12 months. If you had an experience more than a year ago, indicate the approximate date.
Conflict-Free: Disclose any relationship with the establishment you are reviewing (employee, owner's family member, competitor, etc.). Undisclosed conflicts invalidate a review.

Review Integrity Violations (Zero Tolerance)

Fake Positive Reviews: Submitting reviews for your own business, or arranging for friends, family, or employees to do so, constitutes fraud. Accounts engaged in this practice will be permanently terminated.
Competitor Attacks: Writing negative reviews for a competitor's listing constitutes an unfair trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and may lead to civil legal action.
Incentivized Reviews: Offering or accepting any form of compensation (free meal, discount, cash, gift) in exchange for posting a review is prohibited. Both parties may be penalized.
Review Bombing: Coordinating with others to post a flood of negative reviews about a business following a dispute or social media call-to-action is prohibited.

4. Discussion & Forum Standards

Community forums and discussion spaces thrive on quality, on-topic engagement. When participating in discussions:

Stay On-Topic

Post in relevant sections and communities. A question about Hinjewadi PG rents belongs in the housing community, not a restaurant thread.

Add Value

Before posting, ask: does this add something meaningful to the conversation? Avoid purely reactive comments ("+1", "this!", "LOL") that don't contribute substance.

Cite Sources

If you are sharing news, data, or information you did not personally verify, indicate the source. Presenting secondhand information as fact is misleading.

No Commercial Spam

Do not post unsolicited advertisements, job postings, or promotional content in community discussion threads. Businesses can promote their listings through our paid partner program.

No Crossposting

Do not post identical content across multiple communities simultaneously. Tailor your posts to the specific community you are addressing.

Respect Thread Moderators

Community moderators are volunteers helping to maintain quality. Follow their guidance without argument. Disputes with moderation decisions should be escalated via email to our team, not argued publicly in threads.

5. Anti-Harassment & Safety

Zero Tolerance Policy: Pune Culture has zero tolerance for harassment of any kind. Accounts engaged in harassment will be immediately suspended pending review.

Harassment includes, but is not limited to:

Direct Harassment: Sending unwanted, threatening, or abusive messages to other users through direct messaging or public posts.
Coordinated Harassment: Encouraging or organizing a group of users to target, attack, or pile onto a specific individual.
Sustained Unwanted Contact: Repeatedly contacting a user who has asked you not to or who has blocked you.
Sexual Harassment: Making unwanted sexual comments, solicitations, or advances toward other users. This is a violation of both our guidelines and Indian law.
Threats: Making any statement that threatens physical harm, property damage, legal action (without genuine basis), or any other form of harm to an individual.
Gender-Based Harassment: Targeting users with abuse, hostility, or sexist commentary based on their gender identity or expression.

Victims of harassment should use the in-platform "Report" button on any offending message or profile. For serious threats, we also encourage you to file a police complaint under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) or the IT Act, 2000. We will cooperate with law enforcement investigations involving harassment on our Platform.

6. Privacy & Personal Information

Respecting the privacy of others is a fundamental obligation of community membership:

No Doxxing: Never post another person's private information — including home address, phone number, workplace, financial information, government ID numbers, or family details — without their explicit and verifiable consent. Doxxing is a serious safety violation.
No Outing: Do not reveal personal information about anyone (sexual orientation, gender identity, health status, immigration status, etc.) that they have not publicly disclosed.
No Screen-Capturing Private Conversations: Do not screenshot and share private messages or conversations without the consent of all parties.
Photographs of Others: Do not post photographs of identifiable individuals without their reasonable implied or explicit consent. Obtaining and sharing intimate or private photographs of anyone without consent is illegal under Indian law and will result in immediate termination and law enforcement referral.

7. Guidelines for Business Owners & Partners

Business owners who list their establishments on Pune Culture are also community members subject to these guidelines. In addition to the general standards, business owners must:

Respond Professionally: When responding to reviews (positive or negative), maintain a professional, courteous tone. Do not insult, threaten, or publicly shame reviewers, even if you believe their review is unfair.
Do Not Retaliate: Threatening legal action against reviewers for posting honest negative experiences (without actual defamation) may itself constitute an unfair trade practice. Legal notices against reviewers must be sent through legitimate legal channels, not through social media or community posts.
Do Not Manipulate Reviews: Any attempt to add fake positive reviews, delete negative reviews through intimidation, or artificially inflate ratings is grounds for permanent listing removal.
Transparency About Changes: If your establishment has undergone significant changes (new management, renovations, price changes, policy changes) since negative reviews were posted, you may publicly note this in your response — this is a legitimate and accepted practice.

8. Prohibited Conduct — Full List

The following actions will result in immediate enforcement action:

✗Hate speech based on religion, caste, gender, race, nationality, sexual orientation, disability, or regional identity.

✗Any content promoting or glorifying violence, terrorism, or illegal activities.

✗Content illegal under Indian law, including POCSO violations, obscene material, or NDA violations.

✗Impersonating any person, government authority, business, or Pune Culture representative.

✗Creating multiple accounts to evade bans or inflate ratings.

✗Distributing spam, phishing links, or malicious content through any community feature.

✗Posting private or non-consensual intimate imagery of any individual.

✗Coordinating review manipulation campaigns (review bombing, fake reviews, incentivized reviews).

✗Using the Platform to recruit for illegal schemes, cults, extremist groups, or MLM networks.

✗Making unsubstantiated, false legal threats against other users or Pune Culture itself.

✗Attempting to access or extract other users' private data through any means.

✗Engaging in any activity that disrupts Platform functionality or the community experience of others.

9. Sensitive Topics & Local Issues

Pune is a diverse city with a rich history and a complex social fabric. When discussing sensitive topics:

Religion & Caste

Discussions about religious festivals, heritage sites, and cultural traditions are welcome. However, content that demeans any religion, promotes casteism, or incites communal tension is strictly prohibited. Apply the same standard to all communities without exception.

Political Content

Commentary on local civic issues (infrastructure, urban planning, public transport) is acceptable when it relates to Pune city life. Party-political campaigning, partisan propaganda, or election-related content is not permitted on the Platform.

Mental Health & Self-Harm

We take the mental well-being of our community seriously. Content that glorifies, promotes, or provides instructions for self-harm or suicide is prohibited and will be removed immediately. Community members who are struggling are encouraged to reach out to iCall (9152987821) or Vandrevala Foundation (1860-2662-345).

10. Enforcement Framework

We follow a graduated enforcement framework to ensure proportionality. Enforcement actions are documented and may be escalated based on severity:

Level 1 — Warning

Triggers: First-time minor violations (off-topic post, minor rudeness, missing attribution)

Action: Formal written warning via email. Content may be removed.

Level 2 — Post Restriction

Triggers: Repeated Level 1 violations, or first-time moderate violations (spam, mild harassment)

Action: Posting privileges suspended for 7–30 days. Existing content reviewed.

Level 3 — Account Suspension

Triggers: Serious policy violations, hate speech, significant harassment, or review manipulation

Action: Account suspended for 30–90 days. All content reviewed. Appeals available.

Level 4 — Permanent Ban

Triggers: Severe violations, third repeat offense, illegal content, or repeated circumvention of bans

Action: Permanent account termination. IP and device-level blocking. Law enforcement referral where applicable.

For severe violations (threats of violence, CSAM, coordinated harassment), we reserve the right to skip lower enforcement levels and proceed directly to permanent termination and law enforcement referral.

11. Reporting Violations

If you encounter a violation of these guidelines, please report it through:

In-Platform Reporting: Click the "Report" button or flag icon on any post, review, profile, or message. Select the most appropriate reason and add details.
Email Reporting: For complex cases or when reporting a pattern of behavior, email [email protected] with subject "Community Guideline Violation — [Brief Description]"
Emergency (Immediate Threats): If content constitutes an immediate threat to life or safety of a specific person, please also contact your local police. We will cooperate fully with law enforcement.

Reporting Timeline: We acknowledge reports within 48 hours and aim to resolve them within 7 business days. Complex cases may take longer. We will notify the reporter of the outcome where possible.

12. Appeals & Corrections

If you believe an enforcement action was applied in error or disproportionately:

Email [email protected] within 14 days of the enforcement action with subject line "Community Guidelines Appeal."
Include: (a) your account email; (b) the enforcement action date; (c) a clear explanation of why you believe the action was incorrect; (d) any supporting evidence.
A senior member of our team — different from the original reviewer — will review your appeal within 7 business days.
Appeal decisions will be communicated via email and are final for that case. New evidence may justify re-opening a case.

Community Guidelines Contact

Email: [email protected]

Address: Pune, Maharashtra — 411001, India

These Community Guidelines were last reviewed and updated in July 2025. They are incorporated by reference into our Terms of Service.

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