Terms & Conditions

1. About these terms

These terms apply when you enrol in a course, buy books or study materials, or book a service through empireacademy.lk, by phone, on WhatsApp or at our office. “We”, “us” and “Empire” mean Empire Academy (Pvt) Ltd (reg. no. PV 00284617). “You” means the person placing the order and, where different, the student.

By placing an order you confirm that you have read these terms, our Refund & Cancellation Policy and our Privacy Policy.

2. Enrolment and your seat

• Students must be 16 or older. Students under 18 need a parent or guardian's consent.
• Your seat in a batch is confirmed when we receive payment of the full fee or the first monthly instalment.
• For bank transfers, a seat is held for 48 hours after you place the order. If we don't receive payment in that time, the order is cancelled and the seat released.
• Some courses require a minimum level (for example, N5 knowledge for N4). If a level check shows the course isn't suitable, we will offer a transfer to the right course or a full refund.
• Enrolment is personal to the student and cannot be shared. It can be transferred to another person only with our written agreement before the batch starts.

3. Prices and payment

• All prices are in Sri Lankan rupees (LKR) and include all charges. There are no hidden registration fees.
• You can pay by Visa, Mastercard or American Express card, eZ Cash, mCash or Genie through our payment gateway PayHere, or by bank transfer or deposit to our account at Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC.
• Courier delivery for books is Rs. 450 per order anywhere in Sri Lanka, shown at checkout before you pay.
• We may change prices for future batches. The price you pay is the price shown when you placed your order.
• If a price on the website is clearly wrong because of an error, we will contact you before accepting the order.

4. Monthly instalments

• The first instalment is paid at enrolment. Later instalments are due on the 5th of each month.
• We send a WhatsApp reminder 3 days before each due date.
• If an instalment is more than 14 days late, access to class recordings is paused until it is paid. After 30 days, we may remove the student from the batch.
• The total of all instalments is higher than the pay-in-full price, as shown on each course page.

5. Classes, recordings and schedule changes

• Classes run on the days and times shown for your batch. Classes that fall on a public holiday are moved to another day, which we announce in the batch WhatsApp group at least 3 days in advance.
• Recordings are for your personal study only. Sharing, downloading, re-uploading or selling recordings or tutes is not allowed and may lead to removal from the course without a refund.
• Occasionally we may need to change a teacher or schedule. Where the change is significant, you can choose a refund or transfer as explained in the Refund & Cancellation Policy.
• Online classes need a stable internet connection on your side. We are not responsible for classes missed because of problems with your own device or connection, but recordings are always available.

6. Student conduct

We expect students to treat teachers and classmates with respect, in class and in WhatsApp groups. Harassment, abusive language, cheating in tests or sharing other students' personal information may result in removal from the course. In serious cases, no refund is given.

7. Exams and results

Our courses prepare you for exams run by other organisations, including the JLPT, JFT-Basic, EPS-TOPIK, Goethe-Zertifikat and SSW skills tests. We cannot guarantee that you will pass an exam, and pass rates we publish describe past students' results.

Exam fees are paid separately to the exam organiser and are not included in our course fees. We help with applications when asked, but you are responsible for checking that your application details are correct and submitted before the deadline.

We are a language school and do not provide job placement, recruitment or visa services. We never ask for placement fees.

8. Books, delivery and services

• Books are dispatched within 1 working day of payment and usually arrive in 2–4 working days.
• Please check the address carefully at checkout. If a parcel is returned because the address was incomplete, re-delivery costs Rs. 450.
• Translations are delivered within 3 working days after we receive clear copies of all pages.
• Translations are an accurate rendering of the documents you provide. We do not verify that original documents are genuine.

9. Copyright

Tutes, model papers, flashcards, recordings and other course materials are written and produced by Empire Japanese Center and protected by the Intellectual Property Act, No. 36 of 2003. You may use them for your own study but not copy, sell or distribute them.

10. Our responsibility to you

We provide our courses and services with reasonable care and skill. If something goes wrong because of our fault, our liability is limited to the amount you paid for the course or item concerned. Nothing in these terms limits your rights under the Consumer Affairs Authority Act, No. 9 of 2003, or any liability that cannot be limited by law.

11. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of Sri Lanka. If you have a complaint, please contact us first — most issues are resolved within a few days. Any dispute that can't be settled will be handled by the courts of Colombo.

12. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. The version that applies to your order is the one published on the date you placed it.