Refund and Return Policy

1. Scope and character of a donation

1. 1.1This Policy governs every request for the reversal, refund, return or recall of a Contribution made to Perfect Care Foundation (the “Foundation”) through the Platform or through any banking channel notified on it, and every request for the return of an In-Kind Deliverable.
2. 1.2Capitalised expressions not defined here bear the meanings given in the Terms and Conditions, of which this Policy forms part.
3. 1.3A Contribution is a voluntary and gratuitous disposition made animo donandi. It is not the price of any good or service, and the reciprocal remedies of a contract of sale — rejection, rescission for breach of condition, or a cooling-off right — have no application to it.
4. 1.4Where the Platform expressly denominates a Transaction as the purchase of a good or service rather than as a Contribution, Clause 13 applies to it in addition to the remainder of this Policy.
5. 1.5Nothing in this Policy excludes or restricts any right conferred by the Sindh Consumer Protection Act, 2014, or by any other Applicable Law, upon a person who is in fact a consumer and which cannot lawfully be excluded or restricted.

2. Definitions

“Chargeback” — A reversal initiated by a Donor through their card issuer or bank rather than through the Foundation.

“Duplicate Transaction” — Two or more Contributions of identical amount, instrument and designation recorded within a period of twenty-four (24) hours, where the Donor intended only one.

“Processing Error” — A debit that differs from the instruction actually given, arising from a defect in the Platform, in a Payment Service Provider’s systems, or in the Foundation’s own handling.

“Reversal” — The return of a Contribution to its source instrument or account, whether in whole or in part.

“Unauthorised Transaction” — A Contribution effected using a payment instrument without the authority of the person lawfully entitled to it.

3. The general rule: irrevocability

1. 3.1Subject to Clause 4, a Contribution is final and irrevocable upon acceptance by the Foundation. Acceptance occurs upon the registration of cleared funds in the Foundation’s records, as provided by Clause 5.1 of the Terms and Conditions.
2. 3.2The reason for this rule is operational and not merely contractual. Contributions are committed to procurement, to staffing, to medical and educational supply, and to disbursement to Beneficiaries, frequently within days of receipt. A sum reversed after commitment is a sum withdrawn from a person who has already received, or been promised, assistance.
3. 3.3The Foundation nevertheless recognises that a payment system occasionally malfunctions and that instruments are occasionally misused. Clause 4 states the grounds on which a Reversal will be made notwithstanding Clause 3.1.
4. 3.4The Foundation additionally retains an unfettered discretion to make a Reversal in circumstances of genuine hardship or manifest injustice falling outside Clause 4. The exercise of that discretion in one case creates no precedent, no expectation and no entitlement in any other.

4. Grounds on which we do reverse

A Reversal will be made where the Donor establishes, to the reasonable satisfaction of the Foundation, one or more of the following grounds.

1. 4.1Duplicate Transaction. The full amount of each surplus debit is reversed. Where duplication arises from repeated submission by the Donor following an apparent failure, the Foundation treats the ground as established without further enquiry into fault.
2. 4.2Unauthorised Transaction. The full amount is reversed where the Donor or the lawful holder of the instrument establishes that the instrument was used without authority, and reports the matter both to the Foundation and to the issuing bank.
3. 4.3Processing Error. The amount debited in excess of the amount instructed is reversed. Where the entire debit was erroneous, the entire debit is reversed.
4. 4.4Manifest error in amount. Where a Donor demonstrably intended one amount and a materially different amount was captured — including through the misplacement of a decimal separator or the addition of a digit — the excess is reversed, provided the request is made within the window in Clause 6.
5. 4.5Declined or non-accepted Contribution. Where the Foundation declines a Contribution under Clause 5.2 of the Terms and Conditions, the full amount is returned to source without the need for any request.
6. 4.6Failure of an undertaken In-Kind Deliverable. Where the Foundation expressly undertook to procure or perform a specific, identified In-Kind Deliverable in consideration of a designated Contribution, and wholly failed to do so or to substitute an equivalent, the Donor may require a Reversal of the sum attributable to that Deliverable.
7. 4.7Legal compulsion. Where a competent authority directs the return of a Contribution.

5. Grounds on which we do not reverse

For the avoidance of doubt, and without limiting Clause 3.1, a Reversal will not be made on any of the following grounds.

1. 5.1A change of mind, a reconsideration of affordability, or a subsequent alteration in the Donor’s personal or financial circumstances.
2. 5.2Disagreement with the Foundation’s allocation of funds between Programmes, or with its exercise of the reallocation power in Clause 5.5 of the Terms and Conditions.
3. 5.3Disagreement with the proportion of Contributions applied to administrative, governance and fundraising costs, that application being expressly acknowledged by Clause 5.4 of the Terms and Conditions.
4. 5.4Dissatisfaction with the pace, scale, visibility or outcome of a Programme, or with the Foundation’s published reporting.
5. 5.5The Donor’s inability to obtain an anticipated taxation benefit, or any change in taxation treatment, the Legal Disclaimer having expressly disclaimed advice on that subject.
6. 5.6Disagreement with a juristic opinion adopted by the Foundation in the application of Zakat or other Shariah-designated funds.
7. 5.7A dispute between the Donor and a third party who made the Contribution using the Donor’s funds with authority.
8. 5.8The lapse of the time limits in Clause 6.
9. 5.9The exchange-rate movement or bank charge described in Clause 7.4 of the Terms and Conditions.

6. Time limits

1. 6.1A request founded on Clause 4.1, 4.3 or 4.4 must reach the Foundation within seven (7) calendar days of the date on which the disputed amount was debited.
2. 6.2A request founded on Clause 4.2 (Unauthorised Transaction) must reach the Foundation within thirty (30) calendar days of the debit, reflecting the longer period in which a cardholder ordinarily discovers misuse on a statement.
3. 6.3A request founded on Clause 4.6 must reach the Foundation within ninety (90) calendar days of the date by which the In-Kind Deliverable was undertaken to be procured or performed.
4. 6.4The Foundation may extend a period in this Clause where the Donor establishes that the delay was attributable to illness, bereavement, absence abroad, natural disaster, or another cause genuinely beyond the Donor’s control.
5. 6.5Nothing in this Clause extends, and nothing in it purports to abridge, any period of limitation prescribed by the Limitation Act, 1908.

7. How to make a request

1. 7.1A request must be made in writing to info@pcf.org.pk bearing the subject line “Refund Request”. A request made by telephone may be used to alert the Foundation but does not start time running until confirmed in writing.
2. 7.2A request must state: the full name of the Donor; the email address and telephone number used at the time of the Transaction; the date, amount and currency of the disputed debit; the transaction or receipt reference; the Programme designation if any; the ground in Clause 4 relied upon; and whether a Chargeback has already been initiated.
3. 7.3An incomplete request is not rejected; the Foundation will identify what is missing, and time under Clause 9 runs from receipt of the last outstanding particular.

8. Evidence we require

1. 8.1A statement extract may be redacted to conceal unrelated transactions and all but the last four digits of any account or card number. The Foundation neither requires nor wishes to receive full instrument numbers, verification values or banking credentials, and any document containing them will be securely destroyed on receipt.
2. 8.2The burden of establishing a ground rests upon the person asserting it, save where the Foundation’s own records independently establish it.

9. How we determine a request

1. 9.1The Foundation acknowledges a request within three (3) Business Days of receipt.
2. 9.2The Foundation issues a reasoned determination within fifteen (15) Business Days of receiving a complete request. Where the determination depends upon an enquiry of a Payment Service Provider, that period is extended to thirty (30) Business Days and the Donor is informed of the extension and its reason.
3. 9.3A determination states the ground relied upon, the evidence considered, the conclusion reached, the reasons for it, and the amount to be reversed if any.
4. 9.4A request declined in whole or in part may be escalated under Clause 17.
5. 9.5The Foundation’s records and those of its Payment Service Providers are, in accordance with Clause 7.5 of the Terms and Conditions, the primary evidence of a Transaction in the absence of manifest error demonstrated by the Donor.

10. Method, currency and deductions

1. 10.1A Reversal is made only to the original instrument or account from which the Contribution was debited. The Foundation does not reverse to a different card, a different account, a wallet, a cash payment or a third party, this restriction being a control against the laundering of funds and the misappropriation of donations.
2. 10.2Where the original instrument has expired, been cancelled or been closed, the Foundation will make the Reversal to an account in the same name as the original instrument holder, upon production of evidence of that identity and of the closure.
3. 10.3Following approval, the Foundation initiates the Reversal within seven (7) Business Days. The subsequent appearance of the credit depends upon the Payment Service Provider, the card scheme and the issuing bank, and ordinarily takes a further seven (7) to twenty-one (21) Business Days. The Foundation is not responsible for delay occurring within that chain.
4. 10.4A Reversal is made in the currency of the original debit. Where conversion is involved, the Donor bears the consequence of any exchange-rate movement between the date of the Contribution and the date of the Reversal, and the Foundation is not liable for any resulting shortfall.
5. 10.5Payment-gateway charges, interchange fees, correspondent-bank deductions and similar charges levied on the original Contribution are generally not recoverable by the Foundation from the Payment Service Provider. Where the ground for Reversal is one for which the Foundation is responsible — in particular Clause 4.3 — the Foundation bears those charges and reverses the gross amount. Where the ground is one for which the Foundation is not responsible, the Foundation reverses the net amount actually received by it, and the difference is not recoverable.
6. 10.6No interest, compensation or consequential loss is payable upon any Reversal.

11. Recurring contributions

1. 11.1The cancellation of a recurring mandate is governed by the Cancellation Policy and is not a Reversal.
2. 11.2An instalment already collected before a cancellation takes effect is a completed Contribution and is reversible only on a ground in Clause 4.
3. 11.3Where a Donor establishes that a cancellation instruction was duly given and the Foundation nevertheless collected a further instalment, that instalment is reversed in full under Clause 4.3.
4. 11.4Where a recurring mandate has continued unnoticed by the Donor over an extended period, the Foundation will, upon request and as a matter of discretion under Clause 3.4, ordinarily reverse the instalments collected during the three (3) months immediately preceding the request, and will cancel the mandate.

12. Zakat and restricted funds

1. 12.1A Contribution designated as Zakat is accepted in the capacity of wakeel and is subject to a heightened restriction: once disbursed to an eligible Beneficiary it cannot be recalled, because the property has passed to that person and the Donor’s religious obligation has been discharged in respect of it.
2. 12.2Where a request founded on Clause 4 is made in respect of a Zakat Contribution that has not yet been disbursed, the Reversal is made in the ordinary way.
3. 12.3Where such a Contribution has been disbursed, the Foundation will not recall it from the Beneficiary. Where the ground for the request is Clause 4.1, 4.2 or 4.3 — that is, where the Donor is not at fault — the Foundation will reverse the equivalent sum from its own unrestricted funds, so that the Donor is not prejudiced by the Foundation’s or the payment system’s error.
4. 12.4Where a Contribution designated to a Restricted Fund has been reallocated under Clause 5.5 of the Terms and Conditions, that reallocation is not a ground for Reversal, the Donor’s designation being directory as to preference and not mandatory as to application.

13. Return of physical goods

1. 13.1This Clause applies only where the Foundation has supplied a physical article to the person who paid for it. It does not apply to an In-Kind Deliverable distributed to a Beneficiary, because the Donor is not the consignee of such a Deliverable and acquires no right of return in respect of it. The Shipping and Delivery Policy explains that distinction in full.
2. 13.2An article supplied to a payer which is damaged in transit, materially different from its description, or defective, may be returned within fourteen (14) calendar days of delivery, provided it is returned in the condition in which it was received together with its packaging.
3. 13.3The intending returner must first obtain a return authorisation by writing to info@pcf.org.pk. An article returned without authorisation cannot be traced to its sender and may be refused.
4. 13.4Where the return is founded on damage, misdescription or defect, the Foundation bears the cost of return carriage and refunds the sum paid in full. In every other case the returner bears the cost of return carriage and the Foundation refunds the sum paid less the original outbound carriage cost.
5. 13.5The following are not returnable in any circumstance: perishable foodstuffs; medical or pharmaceutical consumables; personalised or inscribed articles; articles whose hygiene seal has been broken; and any article constituting the performance of a sacrificial service already carried out.
6. 13.6A refund under this Clause is made within fifteen (15) Business Days of the Foundation’s receipt and inspection of the returned article, by the method in Clause 10.1.

14. Chargebacks and payment disputes

1. 14.1Where a Chargeback is initiated, the Foundation will respond to the issuing bank with the transactional and log evidence in its possession, including the acceptance record contemplated by Clause 21.8 of the Terms and Conditions.
2. 14.2Where a Chargeback is initiated in respect of a Transaction for which a Reversal has already been made or approved, the Donor shall not retain both sums, and any double recovery is repayable to the Foundation on demand as money had and received.
3. 14.3Where a Chargeback is determined against the Donor, the Foundation may recover from the Donor any fee levied upon it by a Payment Service Provider in consequence.
4. 14.4The pendency of a Chargeback does not suspend the Foundation’s determination of a request under this Policy, but the Foundation will not pay twice, and may defer settlement until the Chargeback is concluded.

15. Abuse of this Policy

1. 15.1The Foundation may decline a request, and may refuse to accept further Contributions from a person, where it reasonably concludes that the person has made a materially false statement in support of a request, has made repeated requests displaying a pattern inconsistent with genuine error, or has used the donation facility for the purpose of testing or validating payment credentials.
2. 15.2Conduct within Clause 15.1 falls within Clause 9.5 of the Terms and Conditions, and the Foundation reserves the remedies there described, including report to the relevant Payment Service Provider and to the Federal Investigation Agency’s Cybercrime Wing.
3. 15.3The Foundation may recover from such a person the administrative and banking costs occasioned by the abuse.

16. Records and receipts

1. 16.1Upon a Reversal the original receipt or acknowledgement ceases to evidence a Contribution to the extent reversed, and the Donor shall not rely upon it for any taxation or other purpose.
2. 16.2Where a Zakat certificate or tax acknowledgement has been issued in respect of a reversed Contribution, the Foundation will issue a corrected document and, where the original has been submitted to an authority, will confirm the correction to that authority upon request.
3. 16.3Records of requests and Reversals are retained in accordance with the schedule in Clause 12 of the Privacy Policy.

17. Grievance and escalation

1. 17.1A Donor dissatisfied with a determination may, within fifteen (15) Business Days of it, request internal review by writing to info@pcf.org.pk with the subject line “Refund Review”, identifying the determination and the grounds of dissatisfaction.
2. 17.2A review is conducted by a person who did not make the original determination, and a reasoned outcome is issued within thirty (30) Business Days.
3. 17.3The dispute-resolution mechanism in Clause 22.3 of the Terms and Conditions is available upon the conclusion of a review, and nothing in this Policy restricts the right to approach a competent authority or court, including the consumer forum constituted under the Sindh Consumer Protection Act, 2014, where that Act applies.

18. Governing law

1. 18.1This Policy is governed by the laws of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and is subject to the jurisdiction and dispute-resolution provisions in Clause 22 of the Terms and Conditions.
2. 18.2This Policy may be amended in the manner provided by Clause 19 of the Terms and Conditions. A request is determined under the version of this Policy in force on the date of the Transaction to which it relates.

19. How to contact us

Perfect Care Foundation — Refunds
WS-17, Sector 16-B, North Karachi Industrial Area, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan

Email: info@pcf.org.pk (subject line: “Refund Request”)
Telephone: 021-36924455

Please do not send full card numbers, CVV codes or banking passwords. We never require them and will destroy any document containing them.