Refund & Cancellation Policy

1. The two-phase payment structure

Every SurtAI project is invoiced in two distinct phases, each tied to a defined milestone. There is no ambiguity about what you are paying for at each stage.

2. The 35% Concept and Planning Fee

What it covers

The 35% Concept and Planning Fee is the payment for a defined, completed body of work — not a deposit. The work it covers begins immediately upon receipt of payment and is delivered in full before any production begins. It includes all of the following:

• Strategic discovery session (your business, your customer, your competitive context)
• Competitive context and reference research
• Character and location research and mood boards
• Full creative concept development
• Frame-by-frame storyboard
• Animatic (rough cut with timing, pacing, and transitions)

By the time you review these deliverables, significant hours of senior creative direction have been invested and completed on your behalf.

Refund position

The 35% Concept and Planning Fee is non-refundable once work has commenced. The parties acknowledge that this fee represents a genuine pre-estimate of SurtAI's losses arising from the commitment of senior creative resources, time, and proprietary methodology to this specific project — losses that are difficult to quantify precisely at the time of contracting.

EU and UK clients — right of withdrawal

By paying the Concept and Planning Fee, EU and UK clients acknowledge that SurtAI will commence performance of the services immediately upon receipt of payment, and expressly request that SurtAI does so. In doing so, you waive any right of withdrawal applicable to digital services under EU Directive 2011/83/EU (Consumer Rights Directive) or equivalent UK legislation, to the extent such rights would otherwise apply to this B2B engagement. These Terms govern a commercial B2B transaction; consumer withdrawal rights do not apply to business clients.

If concept alignment is not reached

If you review the delivered concept materials and decide not to proceed, the project stops cleanly at that point:

• No pressure to proceed with a direction you don't believe in.
• The 65% Production and Delivery Fee is never invoiced. That phase did not start.
• The 35% Concept and Planning Fee is retained by SurtAI as payment for work already delivered.
• You retain all concept documents, storyboard, and animatic delivered to you during Phase one.

3. The 65% Production and Delivery Fee

The Picture Lock trigger

The Production and Delivery Fee is invoiced only after you have given explicit written approval of the Picture Lock — the formal written sign-off confirming that the edit (every cut point, transition, and frame timing) is final. This approval is the contractual trigger for the production phase and for the invoice.

Picture Lock approval must come from the named decision-maker confirmed at the start of the project. Approval given verbally or by telephone does not constitute Picture Lock approval for contractual purposes.

What is included

The 65% fee covers image generation, animation, DaVinci Resolve editing, colour grade, sound design, music, transitions, all agreed delivery masters, and two (2) rounds of revisions. Revisions beyond two rounds are quoted separately.

Payable before delivery

The Production and Delivery Fee is payable in full before final masters are delivered. Final files will not be transferred until the invoice is settled.

Cancellation before production commences

If you have approved Picture Lock and paid the Production and Delivery Fee, but request cancellation before active production work has commenced on that phase, contact SurtAI in writing immediately. If no substantive production work has begun, SurtAI will assess the position fairly and, where appropriate, issue a full refund of the 65% fee within 7–10 business days.

Cancellation after production commences

Once active production has begun on the basis of your Picture Lock approval, the 65% Production and Delivery Fee is non-refundable in full. At this stage, significant creative and technical resources have been irreversibly committed to your project. If you wish to cancel mid-production, contact SurtAI in writing immediately. SurtAI will provide a fair and reasonable assessment of work completed to date, and any partial refund will be discussed and agreed in writing by both parties at SurtAI's reasonable discretion.

4. Approval windows and timeline protection

Each approval gate in your project has a stated response window, confirmed in your signed project schedule. If you do not respond within the stated window, the following applies:

• The project timeline advances as planned.
• You are deemed to have accepted the current version, or you may request a change at additional cost.
• Delays arising from missed approval windows do not entitle you to a revised delivery date at no additional cost.
• The 48-hour no-change window before the agreed final delivery date is absolute. No change requests of any kind are accepted within this window.

These rules exist to make the 2–3 week delivery timeline possible and are confirmed in the project schedule you sign at the start of every engagement.

5. How to request a cancellation or refund

All cancellation and refund requests must be made in writing:

• Email: billing@surtaistudio.com
• Phone: (+91) 630-093-6283

Please include your project reference, the name under which the project was registered, and the reason for your request. We will acknowledge your request within 2 business days and respond with our assessment within 5 business days.

6. Refund processing timelines

Where a refund is approved by SurtAI, it will be processed to the original payment method within 5 business days of approval. Thereafter:

• Stripe (international — credit/debit card) — typically 5–10 additional business days to appear on your statement, depending on your card issuer.
• Razorpay — UPI — typically 2–3 business days.
• Razorpay — credit or debit card — typically 5–7 business days.
• Razorpay — net banking — typically 3–5 business days.

Refunds are always returned to the original payment method and in the original transaction currency. SurtAI cannot issue refunds in a currency other than the currency of the original transaction. International refunds are processed in compliance with applicable FEMA regulations and RBI guidelines governing receipt and repatriation of foreign currency payments.

7. Disputes and chargebacks

If you have a concern about a charge, please contact SurtAI directly at billing@surtaistudio.com before initiating a chargeback or payment dispute with your card issuer, bank, or payment platform. We are committed to resolving payment concerns fairly and promptly, and in most cases can do so faster than a formal dispute process.

Initiating a chargeback or payment dispute without prior written notice to SurtAI constitutes a material breach of these Terms. SurtAI reserves the right to contest any chargeback with full documentation of services rendered and fees earned, and to suspend all project work and file delivery pending resolution of the dispute.

8. Limitation of liability on refunds

In all circumstances, SurtAI's total refund obligation to you shall not exceed the total fees actually paid by you to SurtAI for the specific project. SurtAI is not liable for any consequential, indirect, or punitive losses arising from a decision to cancel a project, including loss of anticipated business outcomes, marketing timelines, or third-party commitments made in reliance on project delivery.

9. Summary

• 35% Concept and Planning Fee: non-refundable. Covers real, delivered work — discovery, research, concept, storyboard, animatic.
• 65% Production and Delivery Fee: never invoiced without your explicit written Picture Lock approval.
• If concept alignment is not reached: project stops, no production invoice raised, no further charges.
• If you cancel after Picture Lock approval and production commences: the 65% is non-refundable. Contact us immediately for a fair assessment.
• All refunds: returned to original payment method within 5 business days of approval, plus gateway processing time.

10. Questions before you commit

If anything in this policy is unclear, or if you have a specific situation you'd like to discuss before engaging, reach out before you pay. We would rather you fully understand how this works before we start.

• Email: billing@surtaistudio.com
• Phone: (+91) 630-093-6283