DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION POLICY

1. PURPOSE:

   TheExpertCafé Private Limited (“Company” or “we” and through similar words such as “us,” or “our) is a global digital Market Research products and solutions company. Company is the pioneers of online panel services in emerging markets, with its 5.8 million proprietary panellists in 34 countries, conducting over 6.8 million surveys annually.
   We foster a free, fair and welcoming environment for all the individuals, panellists where we value diversity and unique contributions and do not tolerate any form of discrimination.

2. STATEMENT:

   This policy on diversity and inclusion (“Policy”) has been framed on the universally accepted elements of diverse and inclusive society pronounced by United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs (“DESA”) and under the provisions of the applicable laws globally and which enshrines such principles, including but not limited to, Constitution of India (“Constitution”), the Equality Act. The objective of this Policy is to lay down in detail framework for the Company for promoting and monitoring equality, diversity and inclusion amongst our valued Panel members (“Panellists”).

3. COMPANY’s APPROACH AND COMMITMENT:

   The Company’s global business and panel building teams assess the issues that the Company faces with respect to the diversity and inclusions and creates robust frameworks to practice our beliefs. One of the core values of the four (4) core values of the Company is Respect for Individuals which may be viewed on our official website:
   
   “We foster an environment where we value diversity and unique contributions. We create a trusting, open and inclusive environment by treating each person in a manner that reflects the culture of TheExpertCafé .”
   
   Company is committed to understand cultural nuances and create a diverse and inclusive environment for its Panellists and other related stakeholders for the purposes of abiding Company’s core values.

4. APPLICABILITY:

   The Policy shall be applicable to any and all of the Panellists of the Company. This Policy further shall be applicable for survey selection practices, including but not limited to, the following:

   1. survey invitations;
   2. survey data analysis; and
   3. survey incentives and rewards.



5. QUINTESSENTIAL PRACTICES:

   The Company believes in equity and recognises the diversity and inclusion inter alia by the following practices:

   1. Continuously addressing potential mentality barriers through systematic change management and linking diversity to other change management efforts;
   2. Diversity is considered and recognised as business interest and is taken care of at all levels within our panellists;
   3. Operating in accordance with all the applicable legislations within our operational jurisdictions;
   4. No panellists are neglected for any reasons and even in the event they do not fit into a set of cultural norms save and except, the conditions set forth in Section 7;
   5. Provides incentives and rewards to the panellists without any discrimination and purely on the basis of the responses in the surveys.



6. RESPONSIBILTIES AND WARRANTIES:

   Each member in every level of the Company participates in promoting this Policy:

   1. CEO & Head of Business:
      1. Regularly reviewing Company’s panellist policies and procedures for handling any discrimination or underlying issue for achieving a balance.
   2. Team Leads & Managers:
      1. Implementing this Policy at all levels in day-to-day business and while managing the panel studies;
      2. Addressing the complaint of panellists, if any, regarding discrimination and informing the required department;
      3. Any other actions that team leads may deem fit in accordance with this Policy.
   3. Employees:
      1. Implementing this Policy in their day-to-day roles and responsibilities and business dealings;
      2. Apprising the supervisor or senior management regarding any related concerns with respect to discrimination amongst the panellists.



7. EXCEPTIONS:

   Notwithstanding the foregoing, this Policy shall not be applicable in the survey requires a specific target audience, such as, applicable only to a certain age group, demographics, gender, region, education, healthcare information, ownership of device/ product, work experience/ designation or any other client requirements.
   Provided, however, the Company takes appropriate consents from its Panellists prior to commencing with the aforesaid surveys. The Company shall not proceed with the survey without taking the prior written consent from the Panellists taking the said survey/s.

8. OBSERVATIONS:

   The Company had inter alia following observations, upon implementing the Policy:

   1. the increase in quality of the results and effectiveness of the global market research studies;
   2. diverse Panellists bring different mindset, experiences, theories to identify and answering the global market research issues;
   3. Inclusion for panellists encourages the staff to consider factors and problems that they may otherwise overlook or undervalue.



9. PROCEDURE OF FILING COMPLAINT:

   In lieu to this Policy, the Company does not discriminate between its Panellists based on ethnicity, color, religion, sexual orientation, political affiliation, national origin, age, disability or any other related factors, save and except, the conditions mentioned in Section 7.
   In the event of any discriminations, concerns or issues, the Panellists shall file the complaint to the Company by mailing at usasupport@theexpertcafe.com and in the following manner:

   1. Complaints shall be submitted in writing and in strict confidence, not later than 30 (thirty) working days from the date of such incident. Provided, however, the Company shall reserve the rights to allow an extension of another 15 (fifteen) working days for filing of the complaint;
   2. Upon the receipt of the Complaint, the Panel engagement team will review the same;
   3. The complaint shall be acknowledged and resolutions shall be provided by the Company via e-Mail within a period of seven (7) working days from date of receipt of the complaint.

   The Company reserves the rights to change the aforesaid stipulated timelines pertaining to the complaints or as may be required under applicable laws.
   For the purposes of Section 9, all the complaints shall be treated in strict confidence and any information shall be disclosed on “need to know” basis.




10. DEFINITIONS:

    1. Diversity: "Diversity" means and includes acceptance and respect to each other, understanding that each individual is unique, and embracing the rich diversity. The individual differences may be based on ethnicity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical capabilities, religious affiliations, political beliefs, or other ideologies.
    2. Inclusion: “Inclusion” means the action of including and framework to leverage diversity. Inclusion means creating a socially inclusive environment wherein various groups of individuals feel supported, attended to and are able to perform their personal best.



11. WRITE TO US:

    All the present and prospective clients and other related stakeholders may ask queries, provide suggestions at:
    Panel Engagement Team: usasupport@theexpertcafe.com.

12. REVIEW:

    This Policy should be reviewed annually. The review process should include an examination of the compliance of the applicable legislations, performance indicators and consultation with members of the Company.

***Disclaimer: - In the event there is a discrepancy found between the applicable legislations and this Policy, the provisions of applicable legislation shall prevail. TheExpertCafé Pvt. Ltd. disclaims any liability, whatsoever, arising out of or in connection with this Policy.***