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Refund & Billing Policy.

Last updated: 2026-06-25

This Policy governs subscriptions, prepaid Credits, Karta-managed usage, BYOK billing allocation, auto-refill, refunds, chargebacks, taxes, and failed payments. It is incorporated into and forms part of the Terms of Service (the "Terms"). Capitalized terms used but not defined here have the meanings given in the Terms. In the event of a conflict between this Policy and the Terms on a billing matter, this Policy controls; an executed Order Form controls over both. Nothing in this Policy limits, and this Policy is subject to, the warranty disclaimers and the limitation of liability set out in the Terms.

The Services are for business and developer use only and are not directed to consumers or to personal, family, or household use. References to "Customer" mean the organization or business that contracts for the Services. Amounts are stated and payable in U.S. Dollars unless an Order Form states otherwise.

1. Billing Model

Karta has two billing paths:

  • Karta-managed usage: Customer prepays Karta Credits. Usage draws down the Credit balance.
  • BYOK usage: Customer supplies its own Model Provider key and pays that provider directly. Karta may charge a flat subscription fee and may estimate BYOK usage against a fair-use ceiling, but Karta does not bill BYOK model tokens.

2. Credits

Credits are face-dollar accounting units for Karta-managed usage. Credits are not cash, currency, stored value, a deposit, a bank account, a wallet, a security, or a money-transfer instrument. Credits have no value outside the Services, do not bear interest, and are non-transferable.

Credits may be used only to consume eligible Karta-managed Services. Credits cannot be transferred between organizations, resold, redeemed outside Karta, withdrawn, exchanged for cash, or used as a general payment instrument.

Purchased Credit pack amounts are set out in the then-current pricing. The Free plan may include a one-time promotional Credit grant, the amount of which is set out in the then-current pricing. A promotional grant is limited to one per Customer, and Karta may treat affiliated organizations, accounts, or sign-ups under common ownership or control as a single Customer for this purpose. Karta may withhold, revoke, or claw back promotional Credits where it reasonably determines that Customer has created multiple accounts or otherwise sought to obtain more than one grant or to circumvent this limit.

Credits draw down at the applicable rate card and plan multiplier. Karta's metering records are the system of record for usage and Credit consumption, absent manifest error; Customer may contest a metering entry in good-faith writing within 60 days of the entry, and Karta may true up any under-billing or metering error it later discovers, to the extent permitted by law. Credit pack amounts, the promotional grant amount, rate cards, and plan multipliers are set out in the then-current pricing and may change under Section 11.

3. Prepaid Guarantee

Customer will never owe Karta metered Karta-managed usage charges beyond collected prepaid Credits. At zero balance, Karta-managed requests may pause and return HTTP 402 until Customer tops up. If an in-flight turn briefly overshoots the balance, Karta absorbs the brief, commercially reasonable overshoot for that in-flight turn and does not invoice Customer for it. This absorption does not extend to sustained, repeated, or abusive overshoot, or to any pattern engineered to exploit it, for which Karta reserves the right to charge or to suspend Karta-managed usage.

This guarantee does not apply to BYOK provider charges because those are billed by Customer's provider directly.

4. Subscription Fees

Paid plans may have flat recurring subscription fees charged in advance through Stripe unless an Order Form says otherwise. A paid subscription begins only on Customer's affirmative selection of the plan, and before that selection Karta presents, clearly and conspicuously, the recurring fee, the billing interval, the fact that the subscription renews automatically until cancelled, and how to cancel. Subscriptions renew until cancelled. Customer may cancel at any time, by the same online means through which the subscription was started, effective at the end of the then-current billing period. Where required by applicable law, Karta will provide renewal or charge confirmations.

Payment obligations are non-cancelable and, subject to Section 7, subscription fees are non-refundable except where this Policy, an Order Form, or non-waivable law expressly requires otherwise. Except as expressly stated in the Terms, if Karta permanently discontinues or materially fails to provide a paid subscription feature for reasons within Karta's control and does not remedy that failure within a reasonable period after Customer's written notice, Karta will, at its option, provide a pro rata service credit or refund of prepaid fees for the affected feature for the unused remainder of the then-current billing period. This Section does not create any uptime, availability, or performance commitment; availability shortfalls are addressed solely as set out in the Terms and any applicable SLA, and no self-serve plan carries an availability remedy. The foregoing is Customer's sole and exclusive remedy for such a feature-provision failure.

5. Auto-Refill

Auto-refill is optional and is enabled only by Customer's affirmative opt-in. Before Customer enables auto-refill, Karta presents, clearly and conspicuously, the refill threshold, pack size, required monthly cap, the fact that charges recur automatically until Customer disables auto-refill, and how Customer may disable it. By enabling auto-refill, Customer authorizes Karta and its payment processor to charge Customer's designated payment method on a recurring basis, for the applicable Credit pack, fees, and taxes each time the threshold is reached, until Customer disables auto-refill. If a charge fails or the cap would be exceeded, auto-refill does not complete and Karta-managed usage may pause when Credits are exhausted.

Customer may change or disable auto-refill at any time in the billing settings — by the same online means through which it was enabled — and such change takes effect prospectively for future charges. Where required by applicable law, Karta will provide a confirmation of enrollment and of recurring charges. Customer is responsible for charges already initiated before the change took effect.

6. Credit Expiry

Purchased and promotional Credits expire 12 months after being added to the balance, applied FIFO. Karta may, as a courtesy, attempt to notify Customer before a Credit lot expires, but is not obligated to do so. Expired Credits are forfeited and are not refundable, restored, or reinstated. Credits also expire and are forfeited upon closure or termination of the Customer's account, except for any refund expressly available under Section 7 (including the voluntary-closure refund window and the without-cause-termination refund of unexpired, unused purchased Credits). Expiry warnings are a courtesy and failure to send one does not extend a Credit's expiry or create a refund right.

7. Refunds

Except as required by law or expressly stated in an Order Form:

  • consumed Credits are non-refundable;
  • promotional Credits are never refundable;
  • expired Credits are non-refundable;
  • subscription fees are non-refundable after the billing period begins; and
  • partial Credit lots are non-refundable once any part of the purchase has been consumed.

For voluntary account closure, Customer may request a refund of entirely unused purchased Credits within 30 days of purchase. Credits older than 30 days, partially consumed purchases, promotional Credits, grants, service credits, and Credits associated with abuse or breach are non-refundable. Karta may require the refund to be returned to the original payment method and may deduct from the refunded amount any unrecoverable payment-processor fees, accrued platform or subscription fees, the value of any promotional grant already consumed, and a reasonable processing fee, in each case where permitted by law. Karta may deny or limit a refund where the account shows abuse signals or where Customer has made repeated refund requests.

Consumed usage is never refundable, including usage resulting from Customer's or its Authorized Users' configuration, automation, auto-refill settings, agent behavior, or higher-than-anticipated consumption ("runaway spend"). Within the prepaid model, Customer bears the risk of its own usage and Karta has no obligation to refund Credits consumed by such usage, except as required by non-waivable law.

If Karta terminates a paid subscription without cause, Karta will refund the unused portion of prepaid subscription fees and unexpired, unused purchased Credits for the terminated Services, unless an Order Form says otherwise.

Statutory rights. The Services are sold for business use only and are not intended for consumers. To the extent any purchaser is nonetheless an individual consumer or a buyer in a jurisdiction (including the EEA, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland) that grants non-waivable statutory withdrawal, cooling-off, or refund rights, those rights apply notwithstanding anything in this Policy, and any resulting refund will be prorated to reflect Services and usage already provided to the maximum extent the applicable law allows. Nothing in this Policy waives or limits rights that may not be waived or limited by law.

8. Chargebacks and Disputes

Customer should contact legal@karta.sh before initiating a chargeback. Billing disputes must be raised within 60 days of the charge. Charges not disputed in good faith and in writing within that period are deemed accepted and final, except where a longer period is required by law or by Customer's card-issuer rights, which this Policy does not affect. Provided Customer pays all undisputed amounts when due, Karta will not suspend or terminate Customer's account for amounts that are the subject of a timely, good-faith written dispute; Karta may, however, suspend the specific Services or usage to which the disputed amount relates, and for any disputed amount above a threshold Karta may set from time to time may require Customer to pay the disputed amount under protest pending resolution.

Refunds and successful chargebacks are applied as negative ledger adjustments. If the Credit balance becomes negative, Karta-managed usage pauses until the balance is positive. Karta will not issue a clawback invoice for a negative Credit balance to the extent it results from a refund Karta voluntarily granted under this Policy.

Where a chargeback, reversal, or refund relates to Credits or Services that Customer has already consumed, or is determined to be improper, the corresponding amount remains due, and Karta may recover it, to the extent permitted by applicable law and card-network rules. Karta will recover such amounts first by set-off against the Credit balance and by invoicing Customer; Karta may also charge a separately authorized payment method then on file, but will not re-present a transaction that the cardholder has disputed where card-network rules prohibit doing so. Recovery includes any associated payment-processor, dispute, or reversal fees and reasonable costs of collection, to the extent permitted by law. Bad-faith chargebacks, stolen or unauthorized payment methods, or billing abuse may result in suspension or termination without refund and forfeiture of remaining Credits, to the extent permitted by law.

9. BYOK Provider Billing

In BYOK mode, Customer's Model Provider bills Customer directly, and Customer contracts with and pays that provider under the provider's own terms. Karta is not responsible for provider charges, taxes, invoices, refunds, disputes, outages, suspensions, rate limits, pricing, or provider terms. BYOK usage is outside the prepaid guarantee in Section 3, and for BYOK traffic the provider is not a Karta subprocessor. Customer is solely responsible for its provider keys, spend, and provider relationship.

Karta may estimate BYOK usage for fair-use or plan-limit purposes. Estimates are not bills, are provided "as is," and Karta does not warrant their accuracy.

10. Taxes

Prices are exclusive of taxes unless stated otherwise. Customer is responsible for all sales, use, VAT, GST, withholding, and similar taxes, duties, and governmental assessments, except taxes based on Karta's net income, property, or employees. Karta may collect and remit such taxes where required, and Customer will pay them unless Customer provides a valid tax-exemption certificate accepted by the relevant authority.

If law requires Customer to withhold any amount from a payment to Karta, Customer will pay Karta the additional amount necessary so that Karta receives the full amount it would have received had no withholding been required. Customer will remit any withheld taxes to the appropriate authority and, on request, provide Karta with evidence of payment. The parties will cooperate in good faith to reduce or eliminate withholding where permitted by applicable law or treaty.

11. Price and Rate Changes

Karta may change subscription fees, Credit packs, platform fees, rate cards, or fair-use ceilings. Material increases will be communicated at least 30 days in advance where feasible and apply prospectively, except that changes required by law or by a Model Provider's pricing or terms may take effect immediately. Provider cost changes may be passed through prospectively. Already-purchased Credits draw down at the rate card in effect when usage occurs. Continued use of the Services after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the change; if Customer does not accept a material increase, its sole remedy is to stop using the affected Services and cancel the subscription before the change takes effect.

12. Failed Payment and Suspension

If a subscription payment fails, Karta may retry the charge, notify Customer, downgrade paid features, suspend paid plan access, or terminate if not resolved. Suspension pauses service access; it does not by itself delete Customer Content and does not relieve Customer of accrued payment obligations.

Undisputed amounts not paid when due may, to the extent permitted by law, accrue late interest at the lower of 1.5% per month or the maximum rate allowed by law, from the due date until paid. Customer is responsible for reasonable costs of collection of past-due undisputed amounts, including reasonable attorneys' fees and payment-processor fees. Karta's exercise of any remedy in this Section is without prejudice to its other rights and remedies under the Terms or at law.

13. General Billing Terms

Set-off and application of payments. Karta may set off any amounts Customer owes Karta (including a negative Credit ledger, recovered chargebacks, dispute and reversal fees, taxes, and late interest) against any Credits, refunds, or other amounts Karta owes Customer. Karta may apply payments and Credit balances to Customer's oldest and undisputed amounts first. Customer may not set off, deduct, or withhold any amount against amounts owed to Karta.

Currency, payment methods, and cleared funds. All amounts are stated and payable in U.S. Dollars unless an Order Form states otherwise. Customer bears all bank, currency-conversion, foreign-exchange, and cross-border fees. Karta accepts the payment methods made available through Stripe from time to time, and a payment is deemed made only when Karta has received cleared funds.

Invoices and electronic records. Karta may deliver invoices, receipts, billing notices, and other billing-related communications electronically, including by email to Customer's account contact or by posting in the billing settings, and such communications are deemed received when sent or posted. Customer is responsible for keeping its billing contact and payment method current.

Force majeure. Karta is not liable for, and owes no refund, Credit, or service credit for, any delay or failure in providing the Services caused by events beyond its reasonable control, and any service-credit remedy in this Policy applies only to failures within Karta's control, subject to any force majeure provision in the Terms.

Collections and receivables. Karta may assign or refer past-due, undisputed receivables to a collections agency and may report and pursue them as permitted by applicable law.

Survival. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination or expiration survive, including accrued payment obligations, non-refundability, recovery of improper chargebacks and associated fees, taxes and gross-up, late interest and costs of collection, set-off, and this Section 13.

Severability and modification. This Policy may be modified only as provided in the Terms. If any provision of this Policy (including any late-interest, auto-refill, or recovery provision) is held invalid or unenforceable in a jurisdiction, that provision is modified to the minimum extent necessary or severed for that jurisdiction, and the remainder of this Policy remains in full force and effect.