Merchant Terms and Conditions

1. What Loko is (and is not)

1.1 Loko is a technology marketplace. We connect your business with customers, take orders, arrange delivery through independent couriers, and collect payment on your behalf. We are not the seller of your food, goods, or services — you are. The contract of sale for every order is between you and the customer.

1.2 You are an independent business. Nothing in this Agreement makes you or your staff an employee, agent, partner, or franchisee of Loko. You decide what you sell, at what price, and when you are open.

2. Your account and your details

• You must give us your real trading name, the owner's full legal name, a working phone number, and the true location of your business. We may ask for your national ID or business licence to verify who you are before or after approval.
• Keep your details current — especially your payout number. If money goes to the mobile-money or bank account you gave us, we have paid you, even if you later tell us the details were old or wrong.
• Your account is yours. Do not share your sign-in with anyone you would not trust with your money.
• We may decline or remove any application at our discretion, and being approved to list is not an endorsement of your business by Loko.

3. Your listing, menu, and prices

• Everything on your listing must be accurate: item names, descriptions, prices, and photos. Photos must be of what you actually sell.
• You set your own prices. Do not list a higher price on Loko than you charge walk-in customers for the same item without telling us.
• Keep your availability honest — mark items out of stock and close your storefront when you cannot fulfil orders.
• You give Loko a free, non-exclusive licence to use your business name, listing, photos, and menu in the app, on our website, and in Loko marketing (for example "new on Loko" posts). Ask us to stop and we will remove you from future marketing.

4. Orders and fulfilment

• Accept and prepare orders promptly during the hours you list. Repeated unfulfilled or heavily delayed orders can lead to suspension (Section 10).
• Prepare every order as described on your listing. If something is unavailable, contact the customer (or Loko) before substituting — never silently swap or shrink an order.
• Hand orders only to the assigned courier or, for pickup orders, to the customer with the order code.
• Delivery is performed by independent couriers arranged through the Platform. Once a courier collects an order in good condition, delivery risk is managed through the Platform — you are not liable for what happens in transit, and the courier is not your employee or ours.

5. Commission and fees

5.1 Loko charges a commission on the item value of each completed order, at the rate published on the Platform for your category. For restaurants, the current rate is 10% (ten percent), with a 0% introductory rate for your first 3 (three) months on the Platform.

5.2 Delivery fees paid by customers fund the courier and the Platform and are not part of your item value — commission is not charged on delivery fees.

5.3 We may change commission rates or introduce new fees by giving you at least 30 (thirty) days' notice through the app, WhatsApp, or email. If you do not agree to a change, you may leave the Platform under Section 11 before it takes effect; continuing to take orders after the effective date means you accept the new rate.

5.4 There is no fee to join and no fee to be listed.

6. Payments, collection, and settlement

6.1 You appoint Loko as your limited commercial agent solely for collecting payment from customers for your orders. Payment by a customer to Loko discharges the customer's debt to you.

• We collect customer payments through the payment methods offered on the Platform (for example EcoCash and other Paynow methods) and hold your share on your behalf.
• Your earnings are your order item value minus our commission and minus any deductions properly made under this Agreement (Section 7).
• We settle your earnings to the mobile-money or bank account you nominated, on the settlement cycle published on the Platform, or sooner on request through your merchant dashboard or WhatsApp.
• Cash-on-delivery orders: where the customer pays cash on delivery, you receive the cash price directly (or via the courier as published), and any commission due on such orders may be deducted from your next settlement.
• Your merchant dashboard shows every order, commission, and payout. Tell us within 30 days if you believe a statement is wrong — after that the statement is taken as accepted, except for fraud or manifest error.

7. Refunds, complaints, and deductions

• Customer refunds on the Platform are issued as Loko wallet credit, not as payment reversals.
• Where a refund is caused by your fault — a wrong, incomplete, spoiled, or materially not-as-described order — the refunded amount may be deducted from your earnings or your next settlement. We will show you the order and the reason for every deduction.
• Where the fault is not yours (courier error, customer error, platform error), the refund is not charged to you.
• You may dispute any deduction within 30 days through your dashboard or WhatsApp, and we will review it in good faith.

8. Food safety, licences, and the law

• You are responsible for the safety and quality of everything you sell. Food must be prepared, stored, and packaged hygienically and be safe to eat.
• You must hold whatever licences, permits, or health certificates the law and your local authority require for your kind of business, and you — not Loko — are responsible for obtaining and keeping them.
• You must not sell anything illegal, stolen, or counterfeit, nor alcohol or restricted goods to anyone the law does not allow.
• You must comply with the Consumer Protection Act [Chapter 14:44] in your dealings with customers.

9. Taxes

9.1 What you earn through the Platform is your business income. You are solely responsible for declaring it and for any tax, levy, or statutory obligation that applies to your business. Loko is not your employer, does not withhold tax on your behalf, and provides order statements only as a record-keeping aid.

10. Suspension and removal

10.1 We may pause, suspend, or remove your listing — with or without notice — where we reasonably believe there is: repeated customer complaints; unsafe or not-as-described food or goods; fraud or abuse of the Platform, its promotions, or its couriers; a legal or regulatory requirement; or a risk to customers, couriers, or Loko. Where practical we will tell you why and give you a chance to fix it.

10.2 Suspension does not erase money owed: earnings already due to you remain payable, less any deductions properly made under this Agreement, and amounts you owe us remain deductible.

11. Leaving the Platform

• This Agreement is not exclusive — you may sell anywhere else you like, and either you or Loko may end this Agreement at any time, for any reason, by notice through the app, WhatsApp, or email.
• On ending, you must fulfil or cancel any orders already accepted, and we will settle your outstanding earnings within 14 (fourteen) days, less any amounts properly deductible.
• Sections that by their nature survive (payments and deductions, liability, disputes, data) continue to apply after the Agreement ends.

12. Your data and your customers’ data

• We process your personal information (and your customers' information shared with you for fulfilment) in line with our Privacy Policy and the Cyber and Data Protection Act [Chapter 12:07].
• Customer details shared with you exist only to fulfil orders. You must not use them for your own marketing, sell them, or keep them longer than fulfilment requires.
• We record the fact, time, version, and channel of your acceptance of this Agreement as evidence of the contract.

13. Liability

13.1 You are responsible for what you sell, and you indemnify Loko against third-party claims arising from your food, goods, services, or breach of this Agreement.

13.2 Loko provides the Platform "as is". To the maximum extent the law allows, Loko is not liable for indirect or consequential losses (such as lost profits), and our total liability to you under this Agreement is limited to the commission we earned from your orders in the 3 (three) months before the event giving rise to the claim. Nothing in this Agreement excludes liability that cannot be excluded under Zimbabwean law.

14. Disputes and governing law

• Talk to us first: raise any dispute through your dashboard, WhatsApp, or legal@lokoglobal.org, and we will try to resolve it amicably within 30 days.
• If we cannot resolve it, the dispute shall be referred to arbitration in Harare under the Arbitration Act [Chapter 7:15], by a single arbitrator agreed by the parties (or appointed under that Act), in English. Either party may instead use the Small Claims Court where the amount qualifies.
• This Agreement is governed by the laws of Zimbabwe.

15. Changes to this Agreement

15.1 We may update this Agreement from time to time. For material changes we will give you at least 30 (thirty) days' notice through the app, WhatsApp, or email, and may ask you to re-accept the new version. Continuing to take orders after the effective date of a change means you accept it.

16. Acceptance

16.1 You accept this Agreement electronically — by ticking "I agree" on the registration form, by replying YES to the agreement message on WhatsApp, or by continuing to use the merchant Platform after being shown these terms. Electronic acceptance is binding to the same extent as a handwritten signature.