Domestic Referral Policy

This Referral policy applies to users (referred to as “user”, “users'', “your'' or “you”) who are participating in upGrad’s Referral Scheme (the “Scheme”). Your participation in the Scheme is deemed if (a) you share your referral code with others by any means whatsoever, or (b) you use another’s referral code in your application. By participating in this Scheme, you acknowledge and agree to be bound by all of the terms and conditions of this referral policy (“Policy”), which are in addition to and subject to upGrad’s “Terms of Use” and “Privacy Policy'' available on the Platform. Upgrad offers curated and specially designed online higher education and industry-relevant diploma, certification programs and career assistance services (“Program”). By accepting this Referral Policy, you consent, agree and undertake to abide, be bound to the terms of this Referral Policy. If you do not agree to this Policy, please do not participate in the Scheme. upGrad reserves the right to modify or terminate the Scheme, in whole or in part, at any time and in any manner.
 

Definitions:

“Referrer” means a person who refers someone for upGrad course

“Enrolled Referrer” means an upGrad user who has paid the full amount for an upGrad Program and making the reference.

“Not Enrolled Referrer” means a non upGrad user who is making the reference

“Referral Code” is the code generated when the Referrer signs up on the upGrad platform or otherwise in a manner decided by upGrad. 

“Referee” The friend who enrolls in an upGrad program through the Enrolled Referrer’s reference, using the Referral Code. 

Criteria - The Referrer must share her/his Referral Code with the Referee, which in turn must be used/applied by the Referee in his/her application process at upGrad for enrollment to a program. It is the responsibility of the Referrer andReferee solely to make sure that the Referral Code is used before the application submission. upGrad shall not accept the Referral Code any time after the application submission by a Referee. Additionally, the Referee must pay the entire fee amount towards the program chosen by them for the Referral to be considered complete. 

Value & Disbursement of Reward- The amount of Reward receivable is dependent on the status of the Referrer and the Referee at the time when such Reward is to be disbursed.

Referral Payout Policy - Terms of Usage

• It is the responsibility of the Referrer and Referee, to be sure that the Referral Code is applied correctly before or at the time of application submission.
• Referral Code applied at the application submission stage will be valid.
• For applications submitted by redirecting to the university website, it is the Referee's responsibility to make sure that the Referral Code is applied at the Edit Profile section or the Application submission or before making any payment at the university website.

1. Not Enrolled Referrers 

• The Not Enrolled Referrer shall receive a gift voucher valued at Rs. 3,000 per referral, subject to TDS, within thirty (30) working days from the commencement date of the cohort of Friend’s Program, upto a maximum of five (5) referrals in a quarter. 
• The Referee’s Reward shall be the fee waiver (if applicable) on the Program fees and shall be determined on the basis of the Program which the Referee has registered and paid for. The fee waiver shall be applied to the balance payment stage and not at the time of block payment.
• The Not Enrolled Referrer who earns 30,000 or more in the form of referral reward from upGrad in one year needs to submit their PAN Account details to get the future/upcoming payments processed.

2. Enrolled Referrer/Expert policy

• The Reward receivable by the Enrolled Referrer or Expert, as the case may be, shall be determined on the basis of the Program which the Referee has registered and paid for.  For example, if the Enrolled Referrer has enrolled for EPGP (Executive Post Graduation Program) in Data Science Programs and the Referee has enrolled for Advanced Certificate in Digital Marketing, the Enrolled Referrer shall be eligible for a Reward attributable to the Advanced Certificate in Digital Marketing and Communication Program in the table below i.e. INR 7,500
• The Referee’s Reward shall be a fee waiver(If applicable) on the Program fees, which shall be applied at the balance payment stage, and not at the time of block payment/caution amount payment.
• The Enrolled Referrer or the Expert, as the case may be, will receive the Reward in the form of a cash payout, after deducting TDS as per applicable laws.
• The Enrolled Referrer or the Expert, as the case may be, shall receive the referral benefits, subject to TDS, in a split of first 50% within 7 working days from the date of full payment of Program fees  by Referee and the rest 50% would be released within 7-10 working days post Referee’s program batch commencement date or once upGrad receives the login list from the enrolled university.
• The Enrolled Referrer who earns cash payout as a referral reward from upGrad needs to submit their PAN Account details to get the payment processed.  PAN details form will be shared to the Enrolled Referrer by referral@upgrad.com to fill the details & submit to upGrad.
• All these benefits are applicable only for learners/experts & will not be applicable in case the learner is an upGrad Employee

3. Alumni Discount (fee Waiver)

• Existing users/learners/students/alumni who enroll themselves for a new Program are eligible to receive the Reward amount in form of an Alumni discount(fee waiver), as mentioned in the table below, which shall be determined on the basis of the new Program he/she has enrolled for.
• The Alumni Discount shall be the fee waiver (if applicable) on the Program fees and shall be determined on the basis of the Program for which the Alumni has registered and paid for. The fee waiver shall be applied to the balance payment stage and not at the time of block payment/caution amount payment.

Program wise value of the Reward is provided in the table below:

Any Reward in the form of a fee waiver shall be calculated on the Program fees plus all applicable taxes. We have provided an example below:

Program Fees: INR 1,00,000

Taxes @18%: INR 18,000

Total: INR 1,18,000

Application of Reward: (-) INR 10,000

Grand Total payable post Reward: INR 1,08,000 

4) Terms Applicable:- 

• upGrad learner who enrolls again for another program, shall be eligible for above mentioned alumni discount of the program in which the learner is enrolling. In this case the learner cannot use any referral code and will not be eligible for any referral reward.
• The Enrolled Referrer’s batch should also have commenced before the payout window if he/she is an enrolled learner himself/herself in order to be eligible for the Enrolled Referrer benefits.
• The benefits under this Referral Policy cannot be clubbed with any other scholarship/fee waiver or other benefits. If the referee has already availed of another benefit, the benefits of this Referral Policy shall not apply. For further clarity, please drop an email to referral@upgrad.com.
• In case of cash payments, you, shall receive the referral benefits, subject to TDS, in a split of first 50% within 7 working days from the date of full payment towards program fee made by the Referee and the rest 50% would be released within 7-10 working days post Referee’s batch commencement date or once upGrad receives the login list from the enrolled university. 
• If the batch commencement date is the same as the date of full payment of program fee then the referral benefit will be paid out 100% to the Enrolled Referrer.
• The team will be reaching out for the PAN OR bank details once the final login is issued to the Referee along with receipt of full payment of the program fee.
• If the Enrolled Referrer does not avail referral benefit by sharing PAN or bank details within 3 months from the date of Referee’s batch commencement, the referrer benefit will lapse and become void.
• Referee benefits are pre-applied at the time of fee payment except for programs from the following university - IIT- Delhi  where the benefits are processed in the form of a cashback.
• Both the Referee and Referrer shall be eligible for any referral benefit, only if the Referral code is used at the time of sign-up or at the time of application submission with upGrad, before blocking the seats."
• The referrer needs to submit his/her PAN/Bank details only. Any third parties' PAN or bank account details cannot be accepted to avail referral reward.
• As per the new Section, 206 AB inserted in the Income Tax Act by the Finance Act 2021, if you are a 'specified person' as prescribed under section 206AB, the tax deducted at source shall be at  - (a) 5% or (b) twice the rate applicable to referral fees;  whichever is higher. (TAT for TDS certificate would be 45 days after QTR end (1,2 & 3 QTR) for 4th QTR (JFM) it would 70 days)

"specified person" means a person who has not filed the returns of income for both of the two assessment years relevant to the two previous years immediately prior to the previous year in which tax is required to be deducted, for which the time limit of filing return of income under sub-section (1) of section 139 has expired; and the aggregate of tax deducted at source and tax collected at source in his case is rupees fifty thousand or more in each of these two previous years

Income tax department has facilitated a link where businesses can check if any person is a 'specified person' and thereby deduct the relevant taxes to comply with the provisions of Section 206 AB

5)  Fair Usage Requirements

• upGrad’s Referral Policy has been designed with a vision to make upskilling a lucrative and economical option for the friends and family members of our learner community. The Referrer must refrain from using his / her code publicly on social media platforms as this will be clear ineligibility for referral rewards.
• Referral invitation links with valid content about upGrad/upskilling posted on Social media will be considered towards referral benefit. However, the final eligibility decision lies with upGrad subjected to post successful verification.
• The Referral Code usage shall be evaluated on a case-to-case basis by upGrad and upGrad holds the power to block the Referral Code if any misuse is suspected, at the sole discretion of upGrad. The decision of upGrad will be final in this case.
• The Referrer must refrain from sharing his or her code with any employee at upGrad or any entity associated with the direct sale of any of upGrad’s Programs for the purpose of getting the Referral Code used by upGrad’s prospective learners who the Referrer has no connection with. In such cases, if found then there shall be a detailed evaluation for the same post in which all future payments shall be forfeited including the Referral Code.
• To validate fair usage, upGrad will conduct a call based verification process to understand the connection between the Referrer and Referee. Failure to do so shall result in forfeit of all payments related to the Referral Code used and blocking of the same.
• Source of Referee: There will be a check of the source of the Referral Code and of whether the Referrer used any marketing channel to share the Referral Code or if it was shared through the Referrer himself/herself. The misuse of the Referral Code through any social media channels will cause upGrad to block your Referral Code. Our Finance team may contact you for clarification.
• The Referral Code once entered by the Referee who has blocked the seat and has enrolled with upGrad, cannot be modified/changed.. (Please note:- If the Referral Code once entered by a friend is incorrect, the policy remains the same and the Referrer will not be entitled for any reward).
• Referral Reward payout will also be on the basis of the final code usage before application submission stage at upGrad or before payment made directly on the university website. ( For any clarification please feel free to email to referral@upgrad.com)