This Contest (as defined below) is subject to the following terms & conditions (“T&C”), which may be updated by Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited (“BCCL”) having its registered office at The Times of India Building, Dr. D. N. Road, Fort, Mumbai - 400 001 and corporate office at 9-10, Express Building, Bahadurshah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110 102, from time to time without notice to Contestant through his/her parents/legal guardian (as defined below). The Contestant through his parent(s)/guardian confirms to have read and fully understand the T&C at Contest.TheTrustOfIndia.com. The parent(s)/legal guardian of the Contestant agrees that they have consented and after taking their consent the Contestant is entering into the Contest at his/her sole discretion and free will. The Participation or submission of entry in the Contest shall be deemed as the acceptance of the T&C by the Contestant through his parent/legal guardian. Throughout the T&C, wherever the term Contestant/Participant has been used shall include their respective parent(s)/legal guardian as the case may be. The parents/legal guardian hereby agree to ratify all acts, deeds done by contestant/participant to be things lawfully and deemed to have been done by parents/legal guardian themselves.

Entry Submission and Eligibility

• No entry fees is required to participate in the Contest.

• To participate in the Contest, the Contestant must submit his/her entry in the prescribed format on the website. If you are under the age of 18, you should review this T&C with your parent or legal guardian to make sure that you and your parent or legal guardian understands and agrees to it and further if required you shall perform or undertake such activities which will entitle you to enter into a legally binding agreement with BCCL through your parent/legal guardian. While submitting the entries, participants needs to provide their parent/legal guardian email address/mobile number so that we can send an URL to get T&C verified by the parent/legal guardian then only Contestant entry will get judged by the jury.

• Students from class 5th to 12th can participate in the competition. There are 2 categories for the competition –

  1. Primary category – students from class 5th to 8th
  2. Secondary category – students from class 9th to 12th

  The competition is open to all students in India and there’s no registration or participation fee.

• To participate in the contest the Contestant is required to click on the participate button on the website. Select the RK Laxman cartoon that the Contestant wants to caption, write a catchy caption, answer the Trust Question/slogan (I consume news/information from trusted sources because…), fill in his/her details and click on Submit. The entry will be posted on the website, however, will also go under review.

  The team at the backend will check the entry within the next 24-48 hours, and in case the entry does not comply with the contest guidelines – including but not limited to if the slogan is copied from someone else, or from the internet or includes language or words that are not suitable to be posted on the website, the entry will be rejected, and the participant will get an email informing the same on the parent/guardian email ID. Even after 24-48 hours, in case any entry is observed to be violating the guidelines, the objectionable entry will be rejected and an email will be sent on the parent/guardian email ID informing the same.

• To garner votes on the entry, participant can share the entry on Facebook / Twitter / WhatsApp/Linkedin/Mail using #TheTrustOfIndia and invite friends, family to get maximum votes.

• From all the eligible entries received, a total of 320 winners across cities (160 for each of the junior and senior categories) will be selected by the jury at BCCL. The selection of winners will be based on 2 criteria –

  1. Quality of answers submitted – for both the cartoon caption and the Trust Question.
  2. Number of votes received on the entry.

  The 320 entries will then move to the second round of shortlisting, where the jury will select 10 national winners (5 for each category)

All 320 winners across cities will get e-vouchers worth Rs. 1000 each and an e-certificate with the winner’s name, class and school mentioned on it. The 320 winners will stand a chance to get featured in TOI in their respective cities.

The 5 national winners in each category will be rewarded with –

1. Students with 1st position in each category will get a laptop and a physical certificate
2. Students with 2nd and 3rd position in each category will get a tablet and a physical certificate
3. Students with 4th and 5th position in each category will get a smart watch and a physical certificate

The 10 national winners (5 in each category) stand a chance to get featured in TOI.

Weekly winners

From all the eligible entries received, 200 winners will be selected randomly through computer generated technique on a weekly basis (during the period of 12th October to 7th November, 2021) to get e-vouchers worth Rs. 100 each. The voucher will be sent to the winners on the mobile number shared while participating.

Key Dates

Participation window – 12^th October, 2021 - 7^th November, 2021
Voting to end on – 7^th November, 2021
320 winners across cities to be announced by 25^th November, 2021
National winners to be announced by 30^th November, 2021 Participation certificate for all valid entries to be sent by - 30^th November, 2021

• BCCL jury’s decision shall be the final decision and no correspondence will be entertained in this regard.

• BCCL will not be responsible for any defects/inadequacy in the products/services redeemed in lieu of the coupons/gift vouchers and the same would have to be addressed to the sponsor/service provider/manufacturer directly. BCCL shall not be liable to replace/exchange the Prize/products/services at any stage.

• Decision of the BCCL will be final and binding on all participants and no correspondence will be entertained in this regard.

• In case any winner refuses to accept the prize decided for him/her, his participation in the Contest will be declared null and void. Prizes cannot be exchanged for their value in cash or for other prizes. Each Prize may have a validity period and the same can be redeemed with the respective sponsors within such validity period as mentioned on the Prize. Further, any charge over and above the stated Prize shall have to be borne by the Contestant themselves including without limitation travelling, prize collection/delivery charges etc.

• The Prize(s) are non-transferable.

• The Contestant shall be solely liable for any other expenses related to the acceptance/use of the offer or participation in the Contest. All/any Government taxes on prize money/Prize (as applicable), shall be borne by the winner(s) and all deductions, such as tax deduction at source (“TDS”), wherever applicable, shall be made by BCCL in accordance with the Income Tax Act, 1961 or winner shall pay to BCCL such amount.

Other Terms

• The Contestant agrees that, he/she will participate in any promotional activities or material, without additional payment or permission, as requested by BCCL. Subject to applicable laws, Contestant hereby grants BCCL, by participating in the Contest and/or accepting a Prize, the right to use, in perpetuity the Contestant’s information as may be provided by the Contestant, publish and display Contestant’s picture, voice, video, statements, quotes which may be adapted, edited or modified, as solely determined by BCCL for advertising, trade, publicity and promotional purposes in any media without notification or approval, all without any additional consideration. The Contestant further voluntarily on his own volition without any additional consideration assigns , in perpetuity through out the world, all intellectual property rights in the including but not limited to captions/slogans, statements/responses submitted by the Contestant while participating in the Contest, which BCCL and/or its affiliates may use in their sole discretion in the manner deemed fit by BCCL and/or its affiliates as the case may be, including commercial exploitation in any media through any and all devices, mediums, operating systems, technologies and formats, including but not limited to audio, visual, audio-visual, print formats, merchandise, internet, digital through electronic, wire and/or wireless means, or processes via the internet, wireless/wired broad-band (through Internet data card), wired broadband, or telecom operator networks IPTV, OTT platforms or any medium now known or as may be discovered in future.

• The Contestant voluntarily agrees to submit the required documents and personal information to participate in the Contest. Contestant voluntarily consents and permit BCCL will use any personal information that the Contestant provides in accordance with applicable laws for the purposes of this Contest and for any marketing or other purposes. BCCL may also share such information(s) with its affiliates, its service providers and agents for the purpose of this Contest. The information may also be used by BCCL for:

  1. recommending various products or services including those of third parties
  2. dealing with requests, enquiries and complaints and Contestant related activities
  3. marketing products and services and its analysis
  4. abiding with laws and law enforcement / regulatory requests

• BCCL reserves the right to cancel or amend all or any part of the Contest and/or the terms & conditions/technical parameters/Prize without prior notice in the event of circumstances arising beyond its control that makes it necessary to do so. However, any changes to the terms & conditions/technical parameters or cancellation of the Contest, will be updated/posted on website Contest.TheTrustOfIndia.com. It would be the exclusive responsibility of the Contestant alone to keep themselves informed as to any changes in the terms & conditions/technical parameters/evaluation criteria stated for this contest.

• The Contest is provided on an "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" basis. BCCL expressly disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied. BCCL does not make any warranty that the Contest and or emanating results will meet your expectations.

• Entries for the Contest received beyond the window period as stated above, shall be rejected. Further, all multiple entries (entries with the same proof details) received for the Contest and/or incomplete entries or entries where the prescribed format for sending the entry has not been followed shall also be rejected. No correspondence shall be entertained in this regard.

• BCCL will in no event be liable for any damages whether direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential arising out of the Contest or use of the Prize(s) given through the Contest or use of the information shared by the Contestant, in the event any disclaimer is held invalid, the liability of BCCL under this Contest shall not exceed the value of lowest single Prize.

• The Contestant hereby agrees and undertakes not to hold BCCL and/or or any of their group entities or affiliates, their respective directors, officers, employees, agents, vendors, responsible for or liable for, any actions, claims, demands, losses, damages, costs, charges and expenses that the Contestant may/might have suffered, sustained or incurred, or claims to suffer, sustain or incur, by way of and /or on account of participation in the Contest or related to the Prize in any manner whatsoever.

• This Contest shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of India. Any disputes, differences and/or any other matters in relation and arising out of this Contest and/or pertaining to the rules and regulations of this Contest shall be referred to a sole arbitrator appointed by BCCL in accordance with the provisions of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 and any subsequent amendment thereof. The arbitration proceedings shall be held in English and the seat of arbitration shall be at New Delhi. The arbitral award shall be final and binding.

• All disputes shall be subject to exclusive jurisdiction of New Delhi courts only.

• In accordance with the applicable laws, for any grievance, you may reach the grievance officer of BCCL at thetrustofindia@timesgroup.com.

The Privacy Policy located at https://www.indiatimes.com/privacypolicy shall form an integral part of this T&C.