Terms of Use

1. About these terms

ABVENTS is an online platform, operated from Dodoma, Tanzania, that helps people plan events: invitations, guest lists, RSVP, contributions (michango), committees, budgets, and finding and booking event service providers.

By creating an account, buying tokens, listing a business, sending a booking request or otherwise using ABVENTS, you agree to these Terms of Use and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the platform.

2. Definitions

In these terms:

• "ABVENTS", "we", "us" and "our" mean the ABVENTS platform and the team that runs it.
• "Organiser" or "client" means a person who uses ABVENTS to plan an event, invite guests, run a contribution campaign or book service providers.
• "Service provider" or "vendor" means a business or person that lists event services on ABVENTS, such as venues, catering, photography, decoration or entertainment.
• "Guest" means a person an organiser invites to an event. "Contributor" means a person an organiser asks to contribute to an event.
• "Committee member" means a person an organiser adds to an event committee and allows to sign in to the committee portal.
• "Tokens" means the prepaid credit organisers buy to pay for cards and messages on ABVENTS.
• "Booking" means an agreement between a client and a service provider for event services that is requested, confirmed or paid through ABVENTS.
• "Booking price" means the total price the client and the service provider agree for a booking.
• "Commission" means the 10% fee ABVENTS earns on the booking price of every booking.

3. Eligibility and accounts

• You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. Guests and contributors who only receive messages or open an RSVP or contribution page do not need an account.
• Give accurate, complete and current information, including your real name and a phone number and email address that you control, and keep them up to date.
• We may ask you to verify your phone number with a one-time code sent by SMS. To prevent abuse, no more than 2 verification codes are sent to the same phone number per day.
• Keep your password secret. You are responsible for everything done through your account. Tell us straight away if you think someone else has used it.
• One person or business should not open several accounts to avoid limits, commission, suspension or reviews.

4. Planning tools for organisers

Planning on ABVENTS is free. Organisers can create events, keep guest lists, publish RSVP pages, run contribution campaigns, set up committees, track budgets and search for service providers without paying.

Sending invitation cards, contribution cards and messages is paid for with tokens, as explained in the next section.

You are responsible for the events you create and for everything you publish, including names, dates, venues, amounts and payment instructions. Make sure they are correct before you send them.

5. Tokens, prices and charges

Buying tokens

Tokens are prepaid credit bought with mobile money or card through our payment provider, ClickPesa. The current packs are:

• Starter: 120 tokens for TZS 3,000.
• Mwanzo: 600 tokens for TZS 15,000.
• Sherehe: 6,000 tokens for TZS 135,000.
• Harusi: 15,000 tokens for TZS 300,000.

Tokens are added to your account once ClickPesa confirms the payment. Any charges your mobile money operator or bank makes for the payment are yours.

What tokens pay for

• Invitation card: 40 tokens per guest, charged once when the card is first sent or downloaded. It includes the invitation, one reminder, RSVP confirmation and check-in at the gate.
• Contribution card: 16 tokens per contributor, charged once. It includes the card message, one reminder and the first thank-you message.
• Extra messages beyond what a card includes: SMS 2 tokens per SMS part, WhatsApp 1 token.

Refunds, expiry and transfers

• If a message is not delivered, the tokens charged for it are returned to your balance automatically.
• Tokens do not expire and can be used for any of your events.
• Tokens are not money. They cannot be refunded or exchanged for cash, and they cannot be transferred to another account.
• If you were charged for tokens that were never added to your account, contact us with the payment reference and we will check it with ClickPesa.

Price changes, errors and fraud

• We may change pack prices or token charges. Changes are shown on the Pricing page and apply from the time they are published. They do not reduce tokens already in your balance.
• If tokens are added or charged by mistake, we may correct your balance and will tell you why.
• If tokens were bought with a payment that is reversed, stolen or fraudulent, or were obtained by abusing the platform, we may remove them and suspend the account.

You can clear your token history from your own view at any time. Clearing it only hides the list from you; we still keep token and payment records as explained in the Record keeping section.

6. Contributions (michango)

ABVENTS gives organisers tools to ask for, record and acknowledge contributions. ABVENTS does not collect, hold or pay out contribution money.

• Contributors pay directly into the organiser's own mobile money, bank or other accounts. ABVENTS is not a party to any contribution.
• The organiser confirms which payments were received. Amounts shown on ABVENTS are the organiser's records, not a statement from a bank or mobile money operator.
• The organiser is responsible for the campaign, for using the money for the stated purpose, for the accuracy of what is published and for following any law that applies to raising money.
• Questions or complaints about a contribution, including refunds, must be taken up with the organiser. We may help by sharing the records we hold, and we may remove campaigns we believe are misleading or unlawful.

7. Invitations, guests and contributors

When you add guests, contributors or committee members, you give us their names, phone numbers and sometimes email addresses. By doing so, you confirm that:

• you obtained their details lawfully and they are happy to be contacted about your event;
• you will only use ABVENTS to contact them about your event, not for advertising or unrelated messages;
• you will stop contacting anyone who asks not to be contacted, and remove their details when asked.

Messages are sent in your name as the organiser. A guest or contributor may also ask ABVENTS to remove their details, and we may do so.

Invitation cards and QR codes are for the guests they were issued to. Check-in at the gate is a tool for the organiser; the organiser and the venue decide who is admitted.

8. Committees and the committee portal

Organisers can group tasks by committee and let committee members sign in with a phone-verified account. The organiser approves each member and decides what they can see and do.

The organiser is responsible for who they give access to and for removing access when it is no longer needed. Committee members must use the information they see only for the event.

9. Service providers: listing and commission

• Listing on ABVENTS is free. There is no monthly fee and no listing fee.
• ABVENTS earns a commission of 10% of the booking price on every booking made through the platform.
• You are responsible for the accuracy of your profile, prices, photos and availability, and for having any licence or permit your business needs.
• You must deliver the services you agreed, at the agreed time and quality, and tell the client promptly about any problem.
• You are responsible for your own taxes on what you earn.

Bookings are made either through escrow or by direct payment, as described below. The client and the service provider are the parties to the service agreement; ABVENTS provides the platform and, for escrow bookings, handles the payments.

Some profiles are marked "Listed by ABVENTS". These are businesses we list before they join the platform themselves. Requests to them go to the ABVENTS team, who contact the business on the client's behalf.

10. Escrow bookings

With an escrow booking, the client pays through ABVENTS by ClickPesa and the money is released to the service provider in stages:

• Deposit: the client pays 30% of the booking price. ABVENTS keeps its 10% commission from the deposit and pays the remaining 20% of the booking price to the service provider's mobile money.
• Balance: the client pays the remaining 70% through ABVENTS. We hold it until the client confirms that the service was delivered, and then pay it to the service provider in full.
• Automatic release: if the service provider marks the booking as delivered and the client neither confirms nor opens a dispute within 3 days, the balance is released to the service provider.
• Disputes: if the client opens a dispute before the balance is released, ABVENTS reviews the booking and may release the held balance to the service provider, or refund it to the client.

Service providers must keep correct mobile money details on their profile. We are not responsible for payments sent to the details you gave us.

11. Direct-payment bookings and commission settlement

With a direct-payment booking, the client pays the service provider directly and ABVENTS does not handle the money. The commission works as follows:

• The 10% commission becomes due as soon as the service provider confirms the booking.
• The service provider pays the commission to ABVENTS using the payment details shown in the dashboard and uploads the receipt. ABVENTS checks the receipt before marking the commission as paid.
• A service provider cannot confirm another booking while the commission on a previous booking is unpaid, in the same way a ride-hailing driver clears commission before taking the next trip.
• A service provider cannot mark a direct-payment booking as completed until its commission has been settled.
• If commission is still unpaid 7 days after the event date, the service provider's profile is hidden from search until it is cleared.

12. Cancellations

• Cancelling a confirmed booking requires a reason, which is recorded.
• When a confirmed booking is cancelled, the commission stays due unless ABVENTS waives it after reviewing the reason.
• For escrow bookings, money already released follows the escrow rules above; any balance still held is dealt with through the dispute process.
• Repeated or unexplained cancellations may lead to the measures in the Suspension and termination section.

13. Keeping bookings on ABVENTS

ABVENTS is free to list on and free to search because it is paid through commission. Clients and service providers who meet through ABVENTS must therefore make their booking through ABVENTS.

If we find that a booking was taken off the platform to avoid commission, we may:

• charge the commission that would have been due;
• issue a warning;
• hide the profile from search;
• suspend or remove the account;
• remove the Verified badge and reviews.

14. Communication and contact details

• Before a booking is confirmed, all communication between clients and service providers must stay in ABVENTS chat.
• The other party's phone number and email are shown only once a booking is confirmed and, for escrow bookings, once the deposit has been paid.
• Phone numbers, email addresses, links and social media handles typed in chat before then are hidden automatically, and attempts to share them are recorded.
• Be respectful in chat. Do not send abusive, threatening, misleading or unrelated messages.

We send account, booking, payment and event messages by SMS, email or WhatsApp. Messages to phones are sent in Swahili. These service messages are part of using ABVENTS and cannot be switched off while you have an active account or booking.

15. Reviews, verification and ranking

• Only a client with a completed, paid booking can review the service provider for that booking.
• Reviews must be honest and about the service received. We may remove reviews that are false, abusive, unrelated or written in exchange for a reward.
• The Verified badge is given by ABVENTS after reviewing a service provider. It shows that we checked certain information at that time; it is not a guarantee of future work. We may remove it.
• Search results and ranking take into account completed, paid bookings, along with other factors such as relevance to the search.

16. Problems between users

If something goes wrong with a booking, first try to resolve it with the other party in ABVENTS chat. For escrow bookings, the client can open a dispute before the balance is released.

When we review a dispute, we look at the booking details, the chat, delivery records and any evidence both sides send us within the time we ask. Our decision on money held in escrow is final as far as the platform is concerned, but it does not take away any right either party has to go to court.

For direct-payment bookings, ABVENTS does not hold the money and cannot order a refund, but we may act on accounts that break these terms.

17. Things you must not do

When using ABVENTS you must not:

• break any law, including laws on fraud, fundraising, electronic communications and personal data;
• pretend to be someone else, create fake events, fake listings or fake reviews;
• ask for contributions or payments for an event that does not exist or for a purpose other than the one stated;
• send spam, advertising or messages to people who have not agreed to hear from you;
• share contact details to move a booking off the platform, or otherwise avoid commission;
• upload content that is unlawful, offensive, hateful, or that you do not have the right to use;
• copy data from the platform with automated tools, or try to access accounts or systems you are not allowed to;
• interfere with the platform, its security or its limits, or upload viruses or harmful code.

18. Your content and our intellectual property

You keep ownership of the content you upload, such as photos, card designs, event details and profile text. You give ABVENTS permission to store, display, resize and send that content as needed to run the services you use, including showing service provider profiles to visitors.

You confirm that you have the right to use what you upload, including photos of other people.

The ABVENTS name, logo, website, software and card templates belong to ABVENTS. You may use them only to use the platform as intended, and may not copy, sell or reuse them without our written permission.

19. Suspension and termination

We may warn you, limit features, hide a profile, suspend or close an account, or remove content if you break these terms, if we reasonably suspect fraud or misuse, or if the law requires it. Where it is safe and lawful, we will tell you the reason and give you a chance to respond.

You may stop using ABVENTS and ask us to close your account at any time. Closing an account does not cancel commission or other amounts already owed, bookings already confirmed, or our right to keep records as the law requires. Unused tokens are not refunded when an account is closed.

20. Record keeping

We keep token, payment, commission and booking payment records for 5 years for accounting and tax purposes, even if you clear your history view or close your account. After that, they may be deleted. How we handle personal information is explained in our Privacy Policy.

21. Disclaimers

We work hard to keep ABVENTS available and accurate, but we provide it "as is". In particular:

• Service providers are independent businesses, not ABVENTS employees or agents. We do not guarantee the quality, safety or legality of their services, even when they have a Verified badge.
• Organisers are responsible for their own events and contribution campaigns. We do not guarantee that an event will take place or that contributions will be used as promised.
• Messages depend on mobile networks, email providers and WhatsApp. We cannot guarantee that every message arrives or arrives on time; undelivered messages are refunded in tokens.
• The platform may sometimes be unavailable for maintenance or because of problems outside our control.

22. Limitation of liability

As far as the law allows, ABVENTS is not liable for indirect or consequential losses, such as lost profits, lost opportunities or the cost of replacing an event or service, or for the acts and omissions of organisers, service providers, guests or contributors.

Where we are liable, our total liability to you for any claim is limited to the amount you paid to ABVENTS (for tokens or commission) in the 12 months before the claim arose. For escrow bookings, this limit does not reduce our duty to account for money we are holding for that booking.

Nothing in these terms limits any right you have under Tanzanian law that cannot be excluded by agreement.

23. Indemnity

You agree to compensate ABVENTS for losses, claims and reasonable costs that arise because you broke these terms or the law, misused other people's personal data, or failed to deliver or pay for a booking.

24. Changes to the services and these terms

We may improve, change or stop parts of ABVENTS. We may also update these terms. When we make an important change, we will update the date at the top and, where possible, tell users through the platform or by email before it takes effect.

25. Governing law and resolving disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the United Republic of Tanzania, including the Electronic and Postal Communications Act where it applies.

If you have a complaint about ABVENTS, please contact us first so we can try to resolve it. If we cannot resolve it together within a reasonable time, either side may take the matter to the courts of the United Republic of Tanzania.