Event participation

01Eligibility and payment

1. Only a three-round event here charges anything. A three-round hackathon takes a participation fee of ₹399 per team, due once and only from a team selected for Round 3, and registering and Rounds 1 and 2 are free. A single-round event charges nothing at any stage, for entry, judging or a certificate. This section and section 02 apply only to the paid rounds of a three-round hackathon, and only from selection for Round 3 onwards.
2. Only teams declared eligible or shortlisted for the applicable paid event or round may participate.
3. Round 3 seats are limited. For a three-round hackathon, the teams ranked 1st to 50th in Round 2 are mailed first. Any seat not confirmed and paid for within 12 hours goes to the teams ranked 51st to 100th, and we send a new round of mails every 12 hours until the seats are filled or all 100 have been mailed. Seats are held in the order payments are received.
4. Because mails go out in rounds, more than 50 teams may confirm a seat. Every team that confirms after being mailed is accepted, up to the 100 that qualified, and by taking part you agree to compete with them as well. Only a team that has reserved a seat is eligible to take part in Round 3 and to receive a Finalist Certificate.
5. Unless stated otherwise, only the team leader must make one payment on behalf of the entire team.
6. Teams must verify their event name, team name, members and eligibility before paying.
7. Multiple payments will not create additional entries, rankings or benefits.
8. Payment grants access only to the applicable event or round. It does not guarantee a certificate, ranking, prize, internship, qualification or any other result.
9. Any division or collection of the fee between team members is the team’s responsibility. BuildX will not resolve internal payment disputes.

02Non-refundable participation fee

Once payment has been successfully completed and participation access has been provided, the fee is final and non-refundable.

No refund will be issued because:

• The team or any member changes their mind.
• The team withdraws before or during the event.
• A member becomes unavailable or leaves the team.
• The team experiences an internal disagreement.
• The participant is dissatisfied with the event, judging, ranking or result.
• The participant did not read or misunderstood the rules.
• The team misses a deadline or fails to make a valid submission.
• The team is disqualified for violating any rule.
• The participant experiences personal internet, electricity, device, software, travel or scheduling problems.
• The participant expected a benefit that was not expressly promised on the official event page.
• The organiser makes a reasonable operational change that does not remove the essential opportunity to participate.
• There was a slight miscommunication, including one that happened unintentionally. A small slip in a message, a mail or an announcement is not a ground for a refund.

A refund will be considered only if:

• BuildX cancels the paid event or round without providing an equivalent alternative.
• The same payment is demonstrably charged more than once.
• A payment is debited but recorded as failed and requires reversal through the payment provider.

Participants must not initiate false chargebacks, provide misleading information, threaten organisers, harass volunteers or use abusive or coercive conduct to demand a refund. Genuine payment errors must be reported through the official support channel.

Fraudulent disputes or knowingly false chargebacks may lead to disqualification, exclusion from future events and submission of relevant records to the payment provider or appropriate authority.

03Participation and submission rules

1. Every team must follow the official problem statement, the round or window instructions and the submission requirements for the event it entered.
2. All required forms, files, repositories, links and demonstrations must be submitted before the announced deadline.
3. Where an event takes a submission from every participant, as stated on that event’s own page, each member must file their own entry for the team’s project, naming the role they held and the part they built. A member who files no entry is not recorded as having taken part in that round or window, even where the project was submitted by somebody else.
4. Inaccessible links, missing permissions, corrupted files, incomplete forms and late submissions may be rejected.
5. Participants are responsible for keeping proof of their submission, and of the Round 3 payment where one was made.
6. Submitted work must be original and must comply with the announced rules concerning prior work, AI tools, open-source components and third-party resources.
7. Plagiarism, copied projects, fake evidence, manipulated timestamps, impersonation, fabricated information or misleading claims may result in immediate disqualification without refund.
8. Payment does not excuse a participant from any eligibility, conduct or submission requirement.

04Rankings, results and feedback

1. Where an event runs qualifying rounds, Round 1 and Round 2 outcomes are sent by email to everyone who made a valid submission for that round — every team, or every participant where the event is sat individually — whether or not they have been selected for the next round, at the address given at registration. Those who qualify receive the instructions for the next round in the same email.
2. We do not post the list of selected or shortlisted teams for Round 1, Round 2 or Round 3 in the group. Each finalist is told its own rank only.
3. Where an event runs as a single round — one window of 48 hours — there are no qualifying rounds and nothing to clear beforehand. The one submission made inside the window is what is judged, its outcome is the final outcome, and no fee is charged at any point.
4. We will announce the top 3 teams in the official event group, together with the project URL of what each of them built. No participant’s personal details, and no further material from a team’s submission, are published or passed on unless that participant or team has given consent.
5. Only the top three are announced, with the project URL of what each of them built, and nothing further is made public: no ranking list or leaderboard is published. Every finalist is told its own rank, and only their own, by email on the day the certificates are distributed, and it is printed on their certificate. A placing is not disclosed to anyone else.
6. By entering, a team accepts that if it finishes in the top three its team name and the project URL it submitted may be published with the results.
7. Individual scores, judging sheets, internal notes, comparative rankings and detailed scoring breakdowns will not be provided, and participants cannot demand personal feedback, re-evaluation, another presentation opportunity or comparison with another team.
8. We understand the wish for transparency, but that does not mean we share every detail of every round. We have automated the sending of mails and we follow that system as it is, as already stated on each event page. For transparency, we announce the top 3 in the official group itself, and that is the most important part. This is how much transparency we will deliver, and not more than that, because we have more events to manage. What we have promised, we will always deliver.
9. We are not obliged to give every participant every tiny detail. That covers scores, answer sheets, internal notes, how a decision was reached, the exact timing of a mail, and any other detail of how we run an event. What we have promised on the event page, we will deliver, and nothing beyond that is owed.
10. Judges may consider the announced criteria together with originality, completion, eligibility, rule compliance and verification of claims.
11. The judges’ decision is final, except where the organisers identify a clear administrative error, conflict of interest, plagiarism, fraud or rule violation.
12. Payment does not influence judging and does not create a right to qualify or win.
13. Teams that finish on the same points may share the same rank.

05Certificate policy

1. Which certificates an event issues is listed in the certificates block on that event’s own page, and that list governs.
2. Where an event takes a submission from every participant, a certificate is issued against that participant’s own valid entry. The role and the contribution printed on a certificate are the ones its holder declared in that entry, and a participant who filed none is not issued one.
3. A single-round event issues a certificate to every participant who files a valid entry inside the window. Placing is not required, and there is nothing to pay for it — these events charge no fee at any stage, a certificate included. Registering without submitting, or making a submission that is not valid, earns none.
4. A three-round event issues certificates in one of two ways, and which one is stated in the certificates block on its own page. The first issues one certificate at the highest round the participant completed — Round 1 completion, Round 2 completion, National Finalist, or Winner with the rank on it. Clearing a round upgrades that certificate rather than adding a second one beside it, and no participant is issued more than one.
5. The second starts certifying from Round 2. Where the event page states this, a valid Round 2 submission earns a Round 2 Completion Certificate, which is then upgraded at the final round. A team that reaches Round 3 and does not take part keeps the Round 2 certificate it already earned. An event announced as a single round and later run as three rounds is of this kind.
6. Where an event issues round-completion certificates, a participant who made a valid Round 2 submission keeps the Round 2 Completion Certificate even if they later withdraw from Round 3, and that withdrawal does not cancel it.
7. A finalist is a team that has been selected for Round 3, has reserved its seat where the event charges a fee, and takes part in the final round.
8. Qualification for Round 3 alone does not create eligibility for a Final Round or Finalist Completion Certificate.
9. A Round 3 or Finalist Completion Certificate requires successful registration, a reserved seat and payment of the fee where the event charges one, and a valid final-round submission.
10. A team that pays but withdraws or fails to submit will not receive a Round 3 Completion Certificate.
11. Every Finalist Certificate prints the team’s own rank, and the Winner Certificate names first, second or third. The rank is also sent to the team by email on the day the certificates are distributed. Only the top three teams are announced publicly, and no full ranking list is published.
12. Winner certificates will be issued only to the officially announced winning teams.
13. Certificates may be withheld for invalid submissions, false information, plagiarism, misconduct, disqualification or failure to complete mandatory requirements.

06Rewards and opportunities

1. A prize pool is a stated total value, not a promise of cash. A pool may be awarded as cash, as AI or platform credits, or as other non-cash rewards, and it may consist of any one of those or of a combination of them — nothing requires a pool to be part cash and part credits, and nothing requires it to include cash at all. This means the same for every event, whether the event charges a fee or is free.
2. Rewards are subject to eligibility verification, sponsor approval and compliance with all event rules.
3. Internships, interviews, incubation, credits, subscriptions, merchandise and similar benefits are governed by the conditions announced for the event.
4. For internship opportunities, the sponsor will personally contact you and guide you on the further process.
5. Non-cash rewards cannot ordinarily be exchanged for money.
6. Winners may be required to provide identity, project, eligibility or payment verification before receiving rewards.
7. Failure to provide verification within the stated period may result in forfeiture of the applicable reward.
8. BuildX will coordinate sponsored benefits but is not responsible for reasonable delays caused by sponsors, couriers, payment providers or external platforms.

07Schedule and operational changes

1. BuildX may reasonably change schedules, round structures, submission methods, judging arrangements, communication channels or event tools when operationally necessary.
2. Where a communication channel, group or event tool is changed, the new link is sent by email to every registered participant at the address given during registration, and joining it is the participant’s own responsibility.
3. Missing an announcement because a new channel was not joined, or because the registered email address is wrong or unmonitored, is not a ground for an extension, a re-evaluation or a refund.
4. Reasonable changes will not automatically create a right to a refund.
5. Material changes will be announced through an official event channel.
6. The organisers may extend a deadline, reopen submissions or provide an alternative method when a widespread organiser-controlled platform failure occurs.
7. Participants cannot demand an extension for individual internet, device, electricity, software or availability problems.
8. Participants are responsible for monitoring official announcements and maintaining correct contact information.

08Conduct and communication

1. Participants must communicate respectfully with organisers, judges, volunteers, sponsors and other participants.
2. Where there is a participation fee, it covers the cost of running the event. It does not buy the organisers, their time or their attention, and it does not entitle anyone to priority treatment, instant replies or special consideration.
3. Allow 24 hours for a reply to a genuine query raised through the official support channel. Repeated messages, tagging, calling or escalating inside that window will not produce a faster answer.
4. Threats, harassment, abusive language, discrimination, spam, impersonation, deliberate disruption or disclosure of another person’s private information may result in removal or disqualification without refund.
5. Participants must not ask an organiser, judge or volunteer to break a rule, waive a requirement, extend a deadline outside the published process or make an exception in their favour. A question may be asked once; a decision, once given, is not reopened by repeating the request.
6. Pressure, force, coercion, intimidation or threats directed at an organiser, judge, volunteer or sponsor disqualify the entire team, not only the individual responsible. Where an organiser, judge or volunteer reports feeling threatened, the team is removed from the event without refund.
7. Genuine questions and complaints must be submitted through the official support channel.
8. Messages sent to personal accounts, unrelated groups or unofficial contacts may not be treated as formal complaints.
9. Participants must not publish knowingly false statements or manipulated evidence concerning the event, organisers, judges or sponsors.
10. Nothing prevents a participant from raising an honest complaint, reporting misconduct or exercising a lawful right.

09Intellectual property and publicity

1. Teams retain ownership of their original projects unless separate written terms state otherwise.
2. Participants permit BuildX to display their team name, participant names, project title, project description, screenshots, demo material and results for event administration and promotion.
3. Private repositories or confidential source code will not be publicly shared without permission, although private access may be required for judging and verification.
4. Teams must possess the necessary rights to all code, designs, datasets, media, trademarks and other materials used in their submissions.

10Data and privacy

Participant information may be processed for registration, payment verification, communication, judging, certificates, rewards, fraud prevention and event administration. Relevant information may be shared with judges, sponsors, payment providers or service partners only where reasonably necessary for these purposes.

11Changes to these terms

1. We may update these Terms when it is needed to run our hackathons and see them through to the end.
2. An update applies to the events that are still running or yet to start. It does not take away anything we have already promised in writing to a team.
3. The latest version on this page is the one that counts. If an update changes something important, we will say so through an official event channel.
4. By staying in an event after an update, the team accepts the updated Terms.