Phone Munshi Privacy Policy

What Phone Munshi does

Phone Munshi acts as a receptionist for a tradesman. When he cannot answer a call, the call is forwarded to the Phone Munshi AI agent, which speaks to the caller, works out what job is needed, and passes the details to the tradesman for confirmation. Phone Munshi may also follow up with the caller on WhatsApp.

Two kinds of people, two roles

• The tradesman who subscribes sets up call forwarding and decides what happens with the jobs. For his callers' personal data, the tradesman is the Data Fiduciary and Sonkawade Labs is the Data Processor acting on his instructions.
• Callers who ring the tradesman provide the call and message content.

Call forwarding and calls answered by the AI agent

Phone Munshi works through call forwarding set up on the tradesman's own phone number with his telecom operator. When a call goes unanswered, is busy, or cannot be reached, the operator forwards it to a number operated for Phone Munshi and the AI agent answers it. Because of this:

• Only calls the tradesman does not answer reach the AI agent. Calls he picks up himself are not forwarded and are not processed by us.
• Callers are told at the start of the call that they are speaking to an automated assistant answering on the tradesman's behalf, and that the call is being processed to arrange the job.
• If a caller does not wish to continue with the assistant, they may hang up and contact the tradesman directly. The AI agent does not carry out any action beyond taking down the job enquiry and arranging a follow-up.
• Call forwarding may attract charges from the tradesman's telecom operator, which are between the tradesman and that operator.

Information we may process

• The caller's phone number and the time, duration and outcome of the call.
• Call audio and its written transcript, for calls answered by the AI agent.
• WhatsApp messages exchanged with the caller, and WhatsApp messaging identifiers.
• Job details worked out from the conversation, such as the work needed, the address or area, the preferred time and the price quoted.
• The tradesman's account details, phone number, service area, rates and job history.
• Payment references, where a payment link is issued for a confirmed job.
• Technical logs required for call handling, delivery, reliability and abuse prevention.

How we use the information

• To answer a forwarded call, understand what work the caller needs, and propose a time and a price.
• To send the job to the tradesman for confirmation and to tell the caller the outcome.
• To record confirmed jobs and show the tradesman what work was booked.
• To resolve disputes about what was agreed on a call, and to improve accuracy and reliability.
• To monitor abuse, errors, call failures and service reliability.

Call recording and transcripts

Calls answered by the AI agent are recorded and transcribed so that the job details can be worked out, shown to the tradesman, and checked if there is later a dispute about what was agreed. The caller is informed at the start of the call. A caller who does not consent to this may end the call. Recordings and transcripts are kept only as long as needed for the job, dispute handling and legal obligations, and a caller may ask for the recording of their call to be deleted using the contact details below.

WhatsApp and Meta platform usage

Phone Munshi uses the WhatsApp Business Platform to send follow-up messages, job confirmations and payment links, and to receive replies. Messages sent over WhatsApp are also subject to Meta's own terms and privacy policy.

AI processing

Call audio, transcripts and message content are sent to third-party AI and speech providers to convert speech to text, understand the request, compose a reply, and convert text back to speech. These providers process the content to return a response and act under contract.

Separation between tradesmen

Each tradesman's calls, callers and jobs are kept separate and are not shared with another tradesman.

Storage, security and location of processing

• Data is stored on cloud infrastructure used to operate the service, including database and hosting providers engaged by Sonkawade Labs. Processing takes place in India and, where a provider operates outside India, in that provider's regions under contractual safeguards.
• We use reasonable safeguards such as access controls, encryption in transit, encryption at rest where configured, environment-based credentials and audit logging.
• No method of storage or transmission is completely risk free. You remain responsible for securing your own devices, accounts and credentials.
• The sonkawadelabs.in website itself does not set cookies and does not run analytics or advertising trackers. Web fonts are loaded from a third-party CDN, which may receive your IP address as part of a normal web request.

Third-party sharing policy

We share personal data only where reasonably necessary with:

• Service providers acting for service delivery — hosting, database, messaging, telephony, speech and AI processing providers, and support vendors.
• Cashfree Payments, our payment partner, for any payment made for the service. Card and bank details are entered on Cashfree's own checkout and are not stored by Sonkawade Labs.
• Regulators, courts, law enforcement or government bodies where disclosure is required by law or lawful order.
• A lawful successor in the event of a merger, acquisition or business transfer, subject to applicable safeguards.

We do not sell personal data to third parties.

Data retention

We retain data only as long as reasonably necessary to operate Phone Munshi, troubleshoot issues, satisfy legal obligations, and handle deletion or support requests. Security logs, payment references and compliance records may be retained longer where needed to protect lawful interests or satisfy a legal obligation.

Legal basis and Indian law

We process data on the basis of your consent, our customer's instructions, the requirements of delivering the service you asked for, legitimate uses permitted under applicable Indian law, and compliance obligations. This Policy is to be read with the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

Consent and withdrawal (DPDP Act, 2023)

• By continuing with a forwarded call after the automated assistant has identified itself, or by messaging Phone Munshi on WhatsApp, you consent to the processing of your phone number, the call audio and transcript, and the details you provide, for the purpose of arranging the job with the tradesman you called.
• You may withdraw consent at any time, as easily as it was given, by ending the call, or replying STOP on WhatsApp or emailing sumitsonkawade@sonkawadelabs.in. After withdrawal we stop processing your data for future requests; processing already completed remains lawful.
• You may nominate another individual to exercise your rights in the event of death or incapacity, as provided under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
• This notice is published in English. A copy in Marathi, Hindi, or another language listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India may be requested by email.

Your rights

Subject to applicable law, you may request:

• Access to a summary of the personal data we process about you.
• Correction or updating of inaccurate personal data.
• Deletion or erasure of your data, subject to lawful retention exceptions — see the Data Deletion Instructions.
• Withdrawal of consent for future processing where consent is the basis.
• Information about the categories of third parties with whom data is shared.
• Grievance redressal and, if unsatisfied after our response, a complaint to the Data Protection Board of India as provided under the DPDP Act, 2023.

Children

Phone Munshi is intended for users aged 18 and above. If you are a minor, use Phone Munshi only with the consent and supervision of a parent or lawful guardian.

Data deletion requests

You may request deletion of data related to Phone Munshi by emailing sumitsonkawade@sonkawadelabs.in with the subject Phone Munshi Data Deletion Request. Full instructions, including what can be deleted and what we may have to keep, are on the Phone Munshi Data Deletion Instructions page. We respond to deletion requests within 30 days.

Grievance redressal and the Data Protection Board of India

• Grievances are acknowledged within 48 hours and resolved within 30 days of receipt, or within any shorter period prescribed under applicable law.
• If you are not satisfied with the response of the Grievance Officer after exhausting this process, you may file a complaint with the Data Protection Board of India in the manner prescribed under the DPDP Act, 2023 and its rules.

Personal data breach

In the event of a personal data breach affecting data under our control, Sonkawade Labs will notify the Data Protection Board of India and the affected data principals in the form and manner, and within the timelines, required under the DPDP Act, 2023 and the rules made under it, and will take reasonable steps to mitigate harm.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Updated versions are posted on this page with a revised "Last Updated" date. Continued use of Phone Munshi after an update means the revised Policy applies to the extent permitted by law.