Mentor Code of Conduct

This Mentor Code of Conduct sets the professional standards expected from every independent mentor who offers paid 1:1 online video sessions through SarthiLink. It is intended to protect UPSC and State PCS aspirants, preserve trust in the marketplace, and ensure that mentorship remains lawful, respectful, and genuinely educational.

This Code applies to mentor profiles, listings, messages, Google Meet sessions, follow-up notes, reviews, and any conduct connected with a SarthiLink booking. It should be read with the Mentor Terms, Community Guidelines, and Acceptable Use Policy.

Mentors must prepare for each session, join on time in the Asia/Kolkata timezone, and use a reliable internet connection, camera, microphone, and quiet environment where reasonably possible. If a mentor is delayed or unavailable, the mentor must promptly inform the Student and cooperate with SarthiLink on rescheduling, cancellation, or refund handling under applicable policies.

Mentors must describe their examination background, ranks, attempts, work experience, teaching experience, subjects, language abilities, and availability accurately. A mentor must not imply selection, government employment, official association, endorsement, or specialist expertise unless the statement is truthful, current, and capable of verification.

Mentors must treat Students with dignity and must not harass, bully, shame, threaten, or discriminate on the basis of caste, religion, gender, disability, language, region, economic background, examination stage, or any other protected or sensitive characteristic. Feedback may be direct, but it must remain constructive and relevant to the Student's preparation goals.

Mentors must maintain professional boundaries. They must not request unnecessary personal information, ask for intimate images, engage in romantic or sexual communication, pressure Students into private relationships, or exploit a Student's anxiety about competitive examinations. Any safety concern should be reported to support@sarthilink.com.

Mentors may guide Students on strategy, concepts, answer writing, interview preparation, and ethical study practices. Mentors must not offer to impersonate a Student, write an examination or assignment for a Student, leak or solicit confidential examination material, facilitate cheating, or provide services intended to defeat examination rules or applicable law.

Mentors may receive personal information such as a Student's name, examination stage, preparation history, weaknesses, goals, notes, or contact details. Mentors must use that information only for the booked mentorship session and must not disclose, sell, publish, or misuse it. Personal data must be handled consistently with the Privacy Policy and applicable Indian data protection principles.

Mentors must not use SarthiLink to solicit Students for off-platform paid sessions, request direct UPI or bank transfers for a platform booking, bypass platform fees, or move a confirmed relationship outside the platform in breach of the Mentor Terms. Legitimate post-session educational references are allowed when they do not avoid the platform transaction or compromise Student safety.

Mentor listings must reflect the actual session duration, price, availability, subjects, languages, and format. Mentors should deliver the service described in the listing and avoid clickbait claims, guaranteed result promises, misleading scarcity statements, or claims that a session will assure selection in any examination.

• Using abusive, obscene, defamatory, hateful, or sexually explicit language.
• Recording or sharing a session without the Student's consent and any required platform permission.
• Promoting unlawful services, fake documents, leaked papers, or paid impersonation.
• Manipulating ratings, reviews, bookings, referrals, chargebacks, or refund claims.
• Introducing malware, spam, phishing links, or other technical abuse.

Breach of this Code may result in listing edits, warnings, removal of content, cancelled bookings, refund decisions, payout holds, temporary suspension, indefinite suspension, or account termination. Enforcement may follow the Account Suspension Policy and other applicable terms.

Students, mentors, or other users may report concerns to support@sarthilink.com. Complaints involving unlawful content, privacy, or statutory grievance handling may also be escalated to grievance@sarthilink.com under the Grievance Redressal Policy.

SarthiLink may update this Code as the mentorship marketplace, applicable law, payment flows, or safety expectations evolve. Material changes will be communicated through reasonable platform channels where required.