Who we are and what this covers
Kothi (“Kothi”, “we”, “us”), based in Lahore, Pakistan, operates the website kothi.pk, the Kothi mobile app and the agency console at agency.kothi.pk (together, the “Platform”). This policy explains how we handle personal information — anything that identifies you or could be used to — when you use the Platform.
It applies to the Platform only, not to any other website, app or business you reach through it, including the agencies you contact. It is written to meet our obligations under the laws of Pakistan.
By using the Platform you agree to this policy. If you do not agree with it, please do not use the Platform. Words defined in our terms of use mean the same here.
What we collect
Browsing. You can search, view listings and read area guides without an account. When you do, we receive the ordinary information any website receives: your device’s network address, browser or app version, the pages you open and when. We count how many times each listing is viewed. We do not build an advertising profile of you.
An account. If you create one: your name, and the mobile number or email address you signed up with. If you set a password, we keep only a one-way hash of it, which cannot be turned back into the password. If you sign in with Google or Apple, we receive your name and email address as they provide them — never your password for those accounts.
A verified mobile number. To contact an agency or submit a property you must verify a mobile number with a one-time code. We keep the number and the fact that it was verified.
Enquiries. When you use Call or WhatsApp on a listing we record which listing, which channel, and when. We do not record or listen to the call or read the message; those pass directly between you and the agency.
Property submissions. If you offer your own property: the address and details you give about it, and how to reach you.
Saved searches and shortlists. The searches you save and the properties you shortlist, so we can show them to you again and, for a saved search, tell you about new matches.
Agency applications. If you apply to become an agency: your business name and address, city, years in business, team size, CNIC number, National Tax Number, business registration, dealer registrations for the areas you apply for, the number of properties you have available there, your declarations, and — at onboarding — copies of the documents that support them. See section 6.
Messages to us. Anything you email or WhatsApp to Kothi, and our replies.
Location. We do not track your location. If you allow the app to use your location for a search near you, it is used for that search and not stored.
Why we use it
To run the Platform: to show you listings, remember your account, shortlist and saved searches, and put you in touch with the agency for the property you asked about.
To make enquiries real: a verified number means the agency you contact will actually reach you, and lets us hold agencies to the response times they commit to.
To invoice agencies: the record of enquiries is the basis on which agencies pay for their areas, and on which any dispute about an invoice is settled.
To send you what you asked for: new matches for a saved search, a code to sign in, a receipt, a reply to your message, or notice of something that affects your account or an enquiry you made.
To keep the Platform safe and honest: to detect spam, fraud, scraping and abuse, to verify agencies, and to protect Kothi, its users and its agencies.
To understand use of the Platform in aggregate — which areas people search, which listings are viewed — so we can improve it. These figures never identify you.
To comply with the law, and to establish or defend legal claims.
We do not sell personal information, and we do not use it to show you advertising. Kothi carries no third-party advertising.
Enquiries and agencies
Every listing states who is answering for it: the authorised agency for the area, or Kothi. When you tap Call or WhatsApp, your number is shared with whoever that is, so they can call you back.
The agency is a separate business with its own responsibilities for your information. Our terms require it to use your details only for your enquiry, to keep them secure, not to pass them on, and not to add you to any marketing list. If an agency breaks that rule, tell us at hello@kothi.pk and we will act on it — it is grounds for removing the agency from the Platform.
Kothi does not record calls or read messages between you and an agency. What we keep is that an enquiry was made, on which listing, by which channel and when.
Where Kothi answers for a listing, contact is by WhatsApp. Your WhatsApp messages to us are handled by Kothi staff and kept as long as needed to deal with your enquiry.
If you are an agency
Applying. We keep everything you declare when you apply, and the outcome. If we decline an application we keep the record so that the decision can be explained and so that the same business cannot apply repeatedly under different names.
Documents. At onboarding we ask for copies of your CNIC, NTN certificate, business registration, dealer registrations and office proof. They are used only to verify what you declared, are seen only by Kothi staff who verify agencies, and are kept while you hold territory and for as long afterwards as the law or a dispute requires.
Published details. While you are authorised, your business name, city, the areas you hold, and your contact number on your listings are public. Your CNIC, NTN, documents, staff details and billing records are never published.
Measurement. We record how quickly you respond to enquiries, complaints about your listings, and how accurate your listings prove to be, and we show you your own figures. They are used to decide whether to keep, extend or withdraw your authorisation, as our terms describe.
Billing records. Invoices, payments, proofs of transfer and every enquiry delivered to you are kept as the record of what you were charged and why, for as long as the law requires accounting records to be kept.
Customer data you receive. The customers’ details that enquiries deliver to you are yours to protect. You are responsible under the law for how you handle them, and under our terms for using them only for the enquiry.
Where it is kept and for how long
Your information is stored on secure servers operated for Kothi by its hosting providers. Some of those servers are outside Pakistan. Wherever it is, it is handled under this policy and protected as section 9 describes.
Your account and what is on it — name, contact details, shortlist, saved searches — are kept until you delete the account.
Enquiry records are kept for as long as the agency that received them holds territory on the Platform, and for as long afterwards as an invoice based on them could be disputed, because they are the evidence of what the agency was charged.
Property submissions are kept until the property is listed, withdrawn or the submission has gone unanswered for six months.
Agency records — applications, documents, invoices and payments — are kept while the agency is on the Platform and afterwards for as long as the law requires business and tax records to be kept.
Server logs are kept for a short, fixed period for security and troubleshooting, then deleted.
Information may be kept for longer where the law requires it, or where it is needed to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim.
Security
We protect personal information with measures appropriate to its sensitivity: connections to the Platform are encrypted; passwords are stored only as one-way hashes; agency documents and backups are encrypted; access to personal information inside Kothi is limited to the people who need it for their work and is logged.
A listing never carries an agency’s number in its page. The number is fetched only at the moment you ask for it, so a number that should no longer be shown is not.
No system is perfectly secure. If we learn of a breach that affects your information, we will tell you and the relevant authorities as the law requires.
You help by keeping your password and sign-in codes to yourself, and by telling us at hello@kothi.pk if you think your account has been used by someone else.
Payments
Customers and owners never pay Kothi anything, so we hold no payment information about them.
Agencies pay their fees by bank transfer and record the transfer in the console. We keep the amount, date, reference and the proof of transfer the agency uploads. We do not hold card details and do not take card payments.
Your choices and rights
See and correct. Your name, contact details, shortlist and saved searches are on your account page, where you can change them. You may ask us for a copy of everything else we hold about you.
Delete your account. From the app, under Profile, or by email from the address or number on the account — see Delete your account. Deleting an account removes your name, contact details, saved searches, shortlist and notification settings. Enquiry records already delivered to an agency remain with that agency and in our billing record, as section 8 explains, but are no longer linked to a live account.
Stop emails and notifications. Emails about a saved search stop the moment you delete the search. Push notifications stop when you turn them off for the app on your phone. We send no marketing email unless you have asked for it, and every marketing email has an unsubscribe link.
Stop an agency contacting you. Tell the agency; if it does not stop, tell us and we will act.
Object or complain. If you think we have handled your information wrongly, write to us first. You may also complain to any authority the law gives that role.
To make any request, email hello@kothi.pk from the address or number on your account, so that we know it is you. We may ask for more to confirm your identity before acting, and we answer within 30 days.
Children. The Platform is for adults. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under eighteen; if we learn we have, we delete it.
Changes and contact
We may change this policy from time to time. The effective date at the top shows when it last changed. For a change that matters to you we will tell you on the Platform or by email; continuing to use the Platform after a change means you accept it.
Questions about this policy or about your information: hello@kothi.pk. Kothi, Office 8A, Iqbal Avenue, Johar Town, Lahore, Pakistan.