Escrow & Refund Policy

01What escrow means here

When a contract is funded, the agreed amount is held in an escrow arrangement operated by our payment partner authorised by the Reserve Bank of India. The money leaves the client’s hands but is not yet the freelancer’s — it is held safely until the conditions for release are met. Hushcontracts does not spend, lend, invest, or earn interest on this money.

02Funding a contract

• A contract (or its first milestone) must be funded into escrow before work begins. The freelancer or team can see that the funds are held, which is their assurance the money is real.
• Funding is done through our payment partner using the methods they support (for example UPI, cards, or net banking).
• Amounts are shown in Indian Rupees (₹). Any payment-processing charge is disclosed before you pay.

03How money is released

Escrowed funds are released to the freelancer or team when:

• the client approves the delivered work (or the relevant milestone); or
• the client does not respond within the review window after a submission, and the auto-approval conditions in the “Inactive contracts” section are met; or
• a dispute is resolved in favour of release, in whole or in part.

Once release is triggered, the payout is initiated to the freelancer’s or team’s account through our payment partner, typically within a few hours, subject to the partner’s settlement timelines and any required checks.

04Milestones

A job may be split into milestones that both sides agree in advance. Each milestone is funded, submitted, reviewed, and approved on its own. Approving one milestone releases only that milestone’s funds — the rest stay safely in escrow. This keeps larger projects honest for both sides: work is paid for in steps, never all-or-nothing.

05Cancellations

• Before work starts. If a funded contract is cancelled by mutual agreement before any work is delivered, the full escrowed amount is refunded to the client (less only non-refundable payment-processing charges, if any, which we will always disclose).
• After work has started. If either side cancels once work is underway, the parties should agree a fair split for work done so far. If they can’t agree, either side may raise a dispute and we will administer the escrow as described below.

06Refunds

Because Hushcontracts holds money in escrow rather than taking payment for its own goods, a “refund” means returning escrowed funds to the client instead of releasing them to the freelancer. A refund happens when:

• a contract is cancelled before work is delivered;
• both sides agree the work should not be paid for;
• a dispute is resolved in the client’s favour, in whole or in part; or
• the freelancer or team fails to deliver and abandons the work.

Approved refunds are returned to the original payment method through our payment partner. The time to reach your account depends on the partner and your bank, usually within 5–7 business days.

07Disputes

If the client and freelancer can’t agree on whether work should be paid, either side can raise a dispute on a funded contract. While a dispute is open, the affected funds stay locked in escrow — neither released nor refunded.

• We ask both sides for their account and any evidence (deliverables, messages, the agreed scope and milestones).
• We review the records on the platform and aim to reach a fair outcome within a reasonable time, which may be a full release, a full refund, or a split.
• Our role is to administer the escrow fairly on the evidence available to us. We are not a court; our decision on the escrow does not decide any wider legal rights the parties may have against each other.

08Inactive & abandoned contracts

• Client doesn’t review. After work is submitted, the client has a review window to approve or raise an issue. If the client does nothing within that window and does not raise a dispute, the work may be auto-approved and the funds released, so freelancers aren’t left unpaid by silence. The current window is shown on the contract.
• Freelancer abandons. If the freelancer stops responding and does not deliver within the agreed time, the client may request a refund of the escrowed funds for undelivered work.

09Fees & charges

Posting and bidding are free. Hushcontracts charges a platform fee on completed contracts, disclosed before you commit and deducted at the point of release. Payment-processing charges levied by our payment partner may also apply and are disclosed at the time. Where funds are refunded before work begins, our platform fee is not charged; certain third-party processing charges may be non-refundable and will always be shown up front.

10Off-platform payments

Taking or making payment for platform work outside Hushcontracts — to avoid escrow or fees — removes the very protection this policy provides. If you pay a freelancer directly, the money is not in escrow and we cannot help recover it. Off-platform circumvention is a breach of our Terms of Service and may lead to account suspension.

11Contact

Questions about escrow, a release, or a refund? Email support@hushcontracts.com. For a formal grievance, contact support@hushcontracts.com.