Urgent Duty Terms

1. Agreement and acceptance

These Urgent Duty Terms supplement LocumNet's general Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. A hospital accepts them each time it posts an urgent duty. A doctor accepts them each time the doctor applies and again when submitting a cancellation. Acceptance is recorded with the account identifier, agreement version and timestamp. If a user does not agree, the user must not post, apply for, accept or attend an urgent duty through LocumNet.

The hospital's posting and a doctor's expression of interest are not, by themselves, a final engagement. A duty becomes confirmed when the hospital selects the doctor through LocumNet and the platform records the assignment. Mandatory law, written facility policies and any separately signed lawful agreement continue to apply.

2. LocumNet's limited platform role

LocumNet provides listing, matching, identity and document collection, communication controls, attendance OTPs, administrative coordination and payment facilitation. Except where LocumNet expressly agrees in writing, LocumNet is not:

• a hospital, clinic, medical establishment, employer, staffing principal, insurer or healthcare provider;
• a party delivering diagnosis, treatment, prescriptions, surgery, emergency care or clinical supervision;
• the guarantor of a doctor's attendance, performance, fitness, conduct or outcome, or of a hospital's facilities, safety, payment or statutory compliance;
• an emergency service. Users must use the appropriate emergency channels where patient safety is at risk.

Nothing on the platform creates a partnership, agency, fiduciary relationship or employment relationship with LocumNet merely by use of the service. The true legal classification of the hospital–doctor arrangement depends on law and the actual working relationship and cannot be changed by a label in these Terms.

3. Eligibility, credentials and verification

A doctor must hold a valid, current registration and all qualifications, permissions, competencies and indemnity cover legally required for the duty. The doctor must provide accurate information, disclose restrictions or disciplinary action, and work only within competence. A hospital must independently inspect original credentials, registration status, identity and role-specific competence before permitting clinical work. A LocumNet “verified” badge means only the checks expressly described by LocumNet; it is not a warranty of clinical competence or future conduct.

The hospital must hold all registrations, licences and approvals required for its establishment and must provide lawful staffing, orientation, supervision, equipment, medicines, infection-control systems, records access, security, occupational safety and emergency escalation appropriate to the duty. Both parties remain responsible for compliance with applicable NMC/State Medical Council standards and other professional rules.

4. Clinical responsibility and patient safety

The doctor retains independent professional judgment and owes duties directly to patients under applicable law and professional standards. The hospital remains responsible for institutional systems, credentialing, privileges, staffing, supervision where required, patient records, consent systems, clinical governance and a safe workplace. Neither party may ask the other to perform an unlawful, unsafe or unethical act. A doctor must immediately escalate patient-safety risks and may decline work outside competence, but must follow lawful handover and emergency obligations.

Medical records and patient information must remain within authorised hospital systems unless lawfully required otherwise. Users must not upload identifiable patient information to LocumNet's general messaging or support fields.

5. Rates, platform fee, security and settlement

The doctor rate shown to the hospital is the gross amount intended for the doctor for each payable requested hour. LocumNet adds the displayed platform service fee, currently 10%, to the hospital charge. The doctor-facing shift workspace displays the doctor's expected duty payment and does not display the hospital's fee-inclusive rate.

Payment is calculated only for the requested hours recorded for the assignment, subject to verified attendance and authorised adjustments. The OTP system does not authorise overtime. Extra hours require a separate written approval and lawful arrangement. Taxes, withholding, invoicing and statutory contributions are allocated according to applicable law and the parties' actual legal relationship.

Where a security amount, advance or payment hold is required, its amount and status must be shown before confirmation. A label such as “refund eligible” records the contractual disposition; actual settlement depends on the connected regulated payment provider, bank processing, fraud review, chargebacks and applicable law. LocumNet should use an authorised payment aggregator and does not ask users to send card credentials through messages.

6. Attendance, OTPs and evidence

The hospital receives separate start and sign-out OTPs. It must give the start OTP only after physically confirming the selected doctor's identity and arrival, and the sign-out OTP only at the end of the requested duty. The doctor must enter the codes personally and must not request or use them remotely. Sharing, guessing, reusing or falsifying an OTP or attendance record is prohibited.

Platform timestamps, OTP attempts, account activity, communications and administrator actions may be retained as evidence for payment, safety, fraud, complaints and disputes. A technical record is relevant evidence but does not prevent either party from producing reliable contrary evidence.

7. Hospital cancellation

• Before selection of a doctor, the hospital may withdraw the duty without an urgent-duty security consequence.
• After selection, cancellation at least two hours before the scheduled start is recorded as eligible for full security refund.
• Cancellation inside two hours is recorded as security forfeiture, except where LocumNet determines that mandatory law, proven force majeure or a material doctor default requires a different outcome.
• A duty already started cannot be cancelled through the ordinary withdrawal function. Patient handover, payment and dispute procedures apply.

Completed, cancelled or closed duties may be removed from the hospital's dashboard, but LocumNet retains the underlying audit, attendance, payment and dispute record.

8. Doctor cancellation, replacement and default

• More than six hours before the scheduled start, the selected doctor may cancel online with a genuine reason. The position reopens and the hospital and LocumNet are notified.
• Inside six hours, the doctor must propose a suitably qualified registered replacement and provide accurate name, phone, email and medical registration details privately to LocumNet. The nominated person must independently consent to being contacted.
• The original doctor remains assigned until LocumNet verifies the proposal and an administrator approves release. Nomination does not automatically assign, credential or authorise the replacement.
• An administrator may approve without penalty, approve and issue warning points, reject inadequate details, suspend urgent-duty access or blacklist serious/repeated defaults. The decision may consider timing, reason, prior conduct, patient-safety risk, evidence, force majeure and replacement quality.
• No-show, false replacement information, contact circumvention, OTP misuse or abandoning a duty without safe handover may result in non-payment, warning points, suspension, blacklisting, indemnity claims and reports to appropriate authorities where legally required.

A restricted doctor may contact LocumNet support to request review and provide evidence. Restoration is discretionary subject to law, safety and fair process.

9. Communications and reminders

Users consent to operational messages about applications, selection, OTP availability, cancellations, payment and upcoming duties through dashboard, email and, where enabled, SMS. Reminders are a convenience and are not guaranteed; delivery may fail because of networks, device settings, incorrect contact information or third-party providers. Failure to receive a reminder does not cancel an accepted duty or remove the user's responsibility to track it.

10. Contact privacy and non-circumvention

Doctor and hospital contact details remain hidden during initial interest and are disclosed only where required for a confirmed, paid or lawfully coordinated engagement. Users must not scrape, reverse-engineer, publish or misuse hidden identity/contact data. They must not bypass LocumNet's confirmed engagement, attendance, fee or safety workflow using information obtained through the platform. This restriction does not prohibit pre-existing relationships that can be documented or any disclosure required by law, patient safety or a regulator.

11. Personal data, confidentiality and security

Each party must process only the minimum personal data needed for the duty, use it only for lawful staffing, credentialing, attendance, payment, safety and dispute purposes, keep it secure, and delete or return it when no longer required subject to retention law. Replacement contact information is visible only to authorised LocumNet administrators unless further disclosure is lawful and necessary. Data subjects may exercise applicable rights through LocumNet's privacy contact.

Users must promptly report suspected account compromise, unauthorised disclosure or inaccurate information. LocumNet may restrict access while investigating a security or safety risk.

12. Warranties, indemnity and limitation

Each user warrants that information supplied is accurate, authority to contract exists, required consents have been obtained, and platform use will comply with law and professional obligations. To the extent permitted by law, each hospital and doctor is responsible for and will indemnify LocumNet against third-party claims, losses, penalties and reasonable costs caused by that user's breach, negligence, clinical conduct, unlawful instructions, credential failure, tax/employment obligations, data misuse or fraud.

LocumNet does not exclude liability that cannot lawfully be excluded. Subject to that restriction, LocumNet is not liable for indirect, consequential, special or punitive loss; loss arising from clinical decisions or patient care delivered by users; a user's non-attendance or non-payment; or third-party network/payment failure. Any contractual cap must be interpreted consistently with mandatory consumer, contract, data-protection and healthcare law. Nothing in these Terms limits a patient's rights or a party's liability for fraud, wilful misconduct, death/personal injury where limitation is prohibited, or statutory/regulatory obligations.

13. Complaints, investigations and records

Users must cooperate with proportionate verification, payment, safety and complaint investigations. LocumNet may preserve relevant records, temporarily hold a disputed settlement through the authorised provider where contractually permitted, restrict accounts, correct obvious errors and disclose information where legally required. Decisions affecting access should be reasoned, documented and open to an internal review request.

14. Force majeure

A party is not treated as deliberately defaulting solely because performance was prevented by an event beyond reasonable control, such as a natural disaster, sudden medical emergency, government restriction, major transport disruption or communications outage, provided the party gives prompt notice, supplies reasonable evidence, protects patient safety and takes reasonable steps to mitigate and arrange continuity.

15. Governing law and dispute process

These Terms are governed by the laws of India. Users should first submit a written complaint to LocumNet with the duty reference and evidence. If unresolved, the parties may use good-faith mediation. Subject to mandatory law and any valid separately agreed arbitration clause, courts with lawful territorial and subject-matter jurisdiction in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh will have jurisdiction. Nothing prevents urgent injunctive relief, a statutory complaint, professional-regulator action or reporting a criminal/safety matter.

16. Changes, severability and contact

LocumNet may update these Terms prospectively for legal, safety or operational reasons. A materially changed version requires fresh affirmative acceptance for a new urgent-duty action. If a provision is unenforceable, it is modified or severed only to the minimum extent necessary and the remainder continues. No waiver is effective unless recorded by an authorised party.

Questions, complaints, privacy requests and appeals may be submitted through the LocumNet contact page. The published grievance contact and response process should also be maintained in the general Terms and Privacy Policy.