Annual Maintenance Plan Terms

Last updated: 10 April 2025 · Questions: support@neelnetworks.com · Governing law: Mumbai, India

These terms apply to every Annual Website Maintenance Plan. They set out exactly what is included, what is not, how quickly we respond, what we will need from you, and how the plan year works. Please do read them; they are written to avoid surprises on both sides.

Our maintenance plans exist to keep your website healthy, secure and current throughout the year. The particular scope, allowances and deliverables for your plan are set out in your individual maintenance contract or proposal, agreed before the plan is activated. The terms on this page apply to all plan holders, at every tier.

These terms supplement our Terms of Service. Where the two differ on a matter specific to your maintenance plan, these terms take precedence.

• Your plan covers a defined set of services for 12 calendar months from the date of activation. Anything requested outside that scope will be identified, explained and quoted before any work begins.
• The plan applies to the specific website or websites named at the time of purchase. It does not automatically extend to additional websites, subdomains or new sites built later unless we agree that in writing.
• Plans are intended for websites we built, or websites formally handed over to us. For a site we did not build, we would first need to carry out a technical audit of the code, which is chargeable, before we can responsibly take on its maintenance.

The number of new pages and products you may add under your plan is not fixed in this document. It is agreed individually, based on the scope and value of your plan, and stated clearly in your signed maintenance contract or proposal.

This is deliberate. A small business on a basic plan has very different needs from a high-volume eCommerce store, and we would rather your allowance reflected what you actually need than an arbitrary number applied to everyone. If you are not sure what your allowance is, your contract or proposal email will say, or simply write to support@neelnetworks.com and we will confirm it.

Rules that apply to every plan

• Unused allowances do not carry forward. Anything unused at the end of your plan year does not roll into the next.
• Editing existing pages or products does not count against your allowance, provided the edits fall within routine maintenance.
• Additions beyond your allowance are charged at the standard per-page or per-product rate at the time. We will always share the cost and obtain your written approval first.
• Content must be supplied by you. New pages and products need complete text, images and pricing before work can begin. Content writing does not form part of any maintenance plan.
• What counts as a page or product is determined by us for billing purposes. A landing page with several sections is one page; a product with several variants is one product.
• Allowances can be increased mid-year if your needs grow. Do ask, and we will quote a prorated top-up for the remaining months.

The following are included in your plan, subject to the fair use section below and to the allowances in your own contract:

• Plugin and CMS updates — regular updates to WordPress core, plugins, themes and third-party extensions, to maintain compatibility, security and performance.
• Bug fixes — identifying and resolving faults that stop your website working correctly, whether visual or functional.
• Error resolution — PHP errors, broken links, database errors, missing pages and similar technical faults affecting your visitors.
• Technical glitches — layout breaks, forms not submitting, payment gateway errors and display inconsistencies across browsers or devices.
• Security monitoring — basic monitoring for malware, spam injections and known vulnerabilities, including remediation of common threats. Recovery from a major attack may be quoted separately depending on its scale.
• Performance checks — periodic review of loading speed, with optimisation within the existing code such as caching, image optimisation and database cleanup.
• Backup verification — confirming that your scheduled backups are running and intact. Setting up and managing backup storage is a separate service.
• New pages, up to the allowance in your contract, where complete content is supplied.
• New products for WooCommerce or Shopify stores, up to the allowance in your contract, where complete product data is supplied.
• Minor content updates — small text changes, image swaps and contact detail updates within existing pages, subject to fair use.
• Liaison with your host on SSL, server configuration, email delivery and similar matters, handled on your behalf.
• Training — up to one hour each plan year by video call, to help you or your team manage the admin panel confidently.

All of this is delivered by our own in-house team in Mumbai.

The following fall outside every maintenance plan, at every tier, and are always scoped and quoted separately:

• Pages or products beyond the allowance in your contract
• Complete redesigns, structural overhauls or rebranding
• New features, custom plugins, new integrations or functionality not in the original website
• Content writing, SEO copywriting or blog posts
• Graphic design, new banners, illustrations or brand assets
• Third-party licence costs — premium plugins, themes, APIs, paid tools or platform fees
• Domain renewals, hosting charges and SSL renewal fees
• Recovery from a major hack or data loss caused by changes on your side, third-party plugin vulnerabilities or compromised credentials
• Server, host or platform migration, such as moving from WordPress to Shopify
• Social media management, Google Ads management or any marketing activity
• SEO strategy, keyword research, link building or ongoing SEO management
• Mobile application development or changes
• Work on websites we did not build, unless formally transferred to us with a technical handover
• Bespoke development that would normally require its own project scope

If you are ever unsure whether something is included, please write to us before submitting the request. We will always clarify scope before committing to anything.

Everything included is subject to fair and reasonable use. A maintenance plan is designed for routine upkeep; it is not an unlimited on-demand development service, content studio or design team.

• Please use the official channel. Requests should come by email to support@neelnetworks.com rather than by telephone or verbally, so that every request is tracked, prioritised and completed properly.
• Critical issues come first. A site that is down, a broken checkout or a security breach will always take priority over cosmetic requests, whatever the order in which they arrived.
• Volume. If requests in a given month require a disproportionate amount of time relative to the plan value — dozens of small edits each week, for instance — we will raise it with you and may quote separately for the excess.
• One at a time. Please allow us to complete one request before sending the next. Simultaneous requests are queued in priority order.
• Content ready. A request needing text, images or files can only start once those have been provided in full.

We have never invoked this clause without first discussing it with the client. It exists to keep plans sustainable so that every client receives the service they expect.

We classify every request into one of three levels. The response time is measured from receiving your request to beginning active work on it.

These are business days, Monday to Friday, 10:00 am to 7:00 pm IST, excluding Indian public holidays. We make every reasonable effort to meet them, though we cannot guarantee them where the cause lies with a third-party platform or hosting provider outside our control.

Requests must come through the official channel. We are not able to track or action a request made verbally or through an informal channel such as a personal number or a social media message.

1. Email support@neelnetworks.com with your website address, a clear description, any screenshots or files, and the timeline you are hoping for. The more detail you give, the faster we can respond.
2. We acknowledge and classify it within the response window, confirming the priority level, whether it falls within your plan, and an estimated completion time.
3. We complete the work and share it for review, by email. For anything visible, we will usually share a staging link or screenshots before it goes live.
4. Please review within 5 business days. Work not reviewed within that time is treated as approved and may be deployed.
5. Anything out of scope is flagged and quoted before we do it. We never bill for out-of-scope work without your written consent.

You are of course welcome to telephone us about an emergency, but please do follow up by email so the request is formally recorded.

• The plan runs for exactly 12 calendar months from the date payment is confirmed and the plan is activated.
• The twelve-month clock runs continuously. It does not pause or extend during quiet periods or while no requests are being submitted.
• Where there is a gap between payment and activation — because the website is still being built, for example — the start date is agreed in writing at the time of activation.
• We send an activation confirmation stating your start date, end date and the allowances included.
• The plan applies to the domains confirmed at activation. Please tell us in writing if your primary domain changes.

Do keep that activation email. It carries your plan reference, dates and allowances, and it answers most questions that arise during the year.

• Nothing renews automatically. Your plan will not auto-renew or auto-bill. The decision is entirely yours.
• We remind you 30 days before expiry by email, with the options and current pricing, and again at 14 days if we have not heard from you.
• If a plan lapses, cover ceases immediately. We do not carry out maintenance outside an active plan; requests are quoted individually at standard rates.
• A late renewal starts from the date of payment. Lapsed periods are not backdated, and work done in the gap is charged at standard rates.
• Pricing may change at renewal. Any change is communicated at least 30 days before your renewal date, so you have time to decide.
• Upgrading mid-year is straightforward. Ask us and we will calculate a prorated cost for the remaining months.

We would gently encourage you to renew before expiry. Even a few weeks without maintenance can allow plugin conflicts or security vulnerabilities to develop that cost more to repair than the cover would have cost.

A maintenance plan works best as a partnership. To look after your website properly we ask that you:

• Provide access promptly — admin panel, hosting, FTP or SFTP, and any relevant third-party accounts, ideally within one business day of our asking.
• Supply complete content for new pages and products before we begin, as incomplete content holds up the queue.
• Review completed work within 5 business days. Anything not reviewed in that window is treated as accepted and may go live.
• Tell us about changes made by others. If you, your team or another agency installs a plugin, updates a theme, edits code or changes hosting settings, please let us know at once. Unnotified changes may take the affected areas outside our cover.
• Please do not edit code directly — PHP files, theme files or database records — without telling us. Where such a change causes a problem, putting it right falls outside the plan.
• Keep your contact details current, as reminders and updates go to the address on file.
• Report issues early. A problem reported late, particularly a security problem, is always harder and costlier to resolve.
• Keep your own backups. We verify backups as part of the plan, but an independent copy in a separate location remains the soundest protection.

Payment

• Plans are payable in full at activation, unless a written schedule has been agreed.
• We accept bank transfer (NEFT, IMPS or SWIFT), UPI, PayPal, Wise and other methods by arrangement.
• Additional work beyond your plan is payable within 15 days of the invoice date.
• Late payment of an additional invoice may pause maintenance until the balance is cleared.

Refunds

• Plans are not refundable once activated, as the plan commits our team's time for the year.
• Where we are genuinely unable to meet our obligations for reasons within our control, a prorated refund for the unused period may be considered, after deducting the value of everything already delivered.
• Unused page or product allowances are not refunded at the end of the year.
• If you end the plan mid-year for reasons unconnected with our performance, no refund is issued, though we will of course complete every approved request already in the queue.

Please also see our Refund Policy. For maintenance matters specifically, the terms on this page take precedence.

We are not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential or punitive damages in connection with a maintenance plan, including:

• Downtime caused by hosting failures, server outages or third-party platform issues beyond our control
• Data loss from server failures, third-party plugin conflicts or changes made on your side
• Security breaches originating in third-party plugins, themes or hosting environments outside our maintenance scope
• Loss of revenue, loss of customers or business disruption arising from a website issue
• The consequences of changes made to the website without telling us

Our total liability under any plan is limited to the annual plan fee paid for the current plan year.

A maintenance plan does not guarantee search rankings, traffic, conversion rates or business outcomes, all of which depend on a great deal beyond maintenance.

Nothing here excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be excluded under Indian law.

We may update these terms, and the current version is always published here.

• For an active plan, material changes are communicated by email at least 14 days before they take effect, and continuing to use the plan afterwards constitutes acceptance.
• For a new plan, the terms in force at activation apply for that full plan year.

These terms are governed by the laws of India, and any dispute relating to a maintenance plan is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Mumbai, Maharashtra. Both parties agree to attempt a resolution through good-faith discussion before beginning formal proceedings.

We reply to maintenance queries within one business day.