Terms of Service

iDEA 2.0 is open to undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled in recognised engineering colleges and universities across India.

Each team must consist of 3 to 4 members. All team members must register individually on the platform and be part of the same registered team.

Participants are responsible for ensuring their own eligibility and providing accurate information during registration.

Registration is free of charge. All team members must complete their individual profiles before the team can submit entries.

Registration closes on 22 March 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Late registrations will not be accepted.

By registering, participants agree to comply with all rules, deadlines, and decisions made by the organisers and jury.

The ownership of intellectual property (IP) for individual prototypes will lie with the entity that developed the solution. However, the banking sector and DFS may collaborate with the solution developers for potential commercialisation or deployment of the solution.

IP Ownership — The banks will retain the rights to any IP specifically related to their business, while any open-source or generalisable solutions may be used by the respective institutions under the terms agreed upon by the participating teams.

Participants must ensure their submissions do not infringe any third-party intellectual property rights.

All participants are expected to conduct themselves professionally and respectfully towards fellow participants, mentors, judges, and organisers.

Any form of plagiarism, cheating, harassment, or misconduct will result in immediate disqualification.

Participants must build their solutions during the designated hackathon period. Pre-existing codebases or projects are not permitted.

Round 1 requires submission of a presentation (PPT) and a pitch video link by the Round 1 deadline.

Round 2 (for shortlisted teams) requires a working prototype with GitHub repository, deployed URL, and demo video.

All submissions must address one of the official problem statements. Off-topic submissions will be disqualified.

All submitted entries will be evaluated by a panel of expert judges appointed by the organisers. The judges' decisions are final and binding.

Evaluation criteria include innovation, technical feasibility, impact, presentation quality, and alignment with the problem statement theme.

Shortlisted teams will be announced on 11 March 2026. Results will be communicated via email and the dashboard.

Prize money is disbursed in three instalments: 50% on the day of the Grand Finale, 30% on the day of or after completion of Global FinTech Fest, and 20% upon successful completion of product development.

If a prize-winning team fails to complete the agreed post-hackathon milestones within the stipulated timeframe, or withdraws without prior written approval of the Bank, the remaining 50% of the deferred prize amount shall stand forfeited.

The forfeited amount may, at the Bank's sole discretion, be reallocated to another eligible team. All rights shall vest exclusively with the Bank.

Prizes are awarded only to eligible participants. The organisers reserve the right to withhold prizes if winning entries do not meet the required standard or if misconduct is identified.

iDEA 2.0, CSI-KJSSE, and Union Bank of India are not liable for any loss, damage, or injury arising from participation in the hackathon.

Participants are responsible for ensuring the legality of any tools, APIs, or third-party services used in their submissions.

The organisers reserve the right to amend these Terms of Service at any time. Participants will be notified of significant changes via email.

Continued participation after any amendment constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.