Terms of Use

1. Purpose and acceptance

These terms of use (the “Terms”) govern access to and use of the Ankabut mobile application (the “App”), the website ankabut.co (the “Site”) and all services offered under the Ankabut brand (together, the “Services”).

By creating an account, placing an order or using the Services in any way, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and fully accepted these Terms and the Privacy Policy, which forms an integral part of them. If you do not accept these Terms, you must not use the Services.

Professional partners (drivers, couriers, shops, restaurants and pharmacies) are also bound by specific partnership terms. In case of conflict, those specific terms prevail for the matters they cover.

2. Publisher

The Services are published and operated by ANKABUT.CO, which operates the Ankabut brand, with its registered office at Quartier Plateau, Niamey, Republic of Niger.

• Tax ID (NIF): 165506/R
• Phone: +227 20 35 12 05
• Email: contact@ankabut.co

In these Terms, “Ankabut”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to ANKABUT.CO.

3. Definitions

User

Any person who accesses the Services or holds an account, including as a customer.

Partner

Any independent professional listed on the platform: ride-hailing driver, tricycle or motorbike driver, delivery rider, courier, shop, restaurant or pharmacy.

Order

Any request confirmed in the App: ride, delivery, purchase of products, parcel shipment or pharmacy order.

Service provision

The transport, delivery or sale carried out by a Partner to fulfil an Order.

Recipient

The person designated to receive a delivery or parcel.

Service area

The city or region in which a Service is actually available on the date of the Order.

4. Ankabut’s role

Ankabut provides a technology intermediation platform that allows Users to connect with Partners. Ankabut is not a carrier, a retailer, a restaurant or a pharmacist.

• The transport, delivery or sales contract is concluded directly between you and the Partner who carries out the service.
• Partners operate independently, under their own responsibility, and are neither employees, agents nor representatives of Ankabut.
• Each Partner is solely responsible for ensuring that its activity complies with applicable laws: authorisations, licences, insurance, hygiene, product quality and safety.
• When payment is made through the App, Ankabut collects the amounts in the name and on behalf of the Partner, as a collection agent, and then pays them over to the Partner, less its commission.

Ankabut selects Partners according to its own criteria and may check certain documents, but this does not constitute a guarantee of their conduct or of the quality of their services.

5. Service areas and availability

The Services are being rolled out gradually in Niger: first in Arlit, then in Agadez, Niamey and the other regions. Available Services, hours and Partners may vary from one city to another.

The availability of a Service depends on the number of Partners online, traffic conditions, weather and telecommunication networks. Ankabut does not guarantee that an Order can always be accepted or completed within a given time. Displayed times are for guidance only.

6. User account

• Minimum age: the Services are reserved for people aged at least 18 who have legal capacity to enter into contracts. A minor may only travel accompanied by an adult, or under the full responsibility of the adult account holder who booked the ride.
• Accuracy: you agree to provide accurate, up-to-date information (name, phone number, addresses) and to update it if it changes.
• One account per person: the account is personal and may not be transferred or shared.
• Security: you are responsible for keeping your login details confidential and for all activity carried out from your account. Report any unauthorised use without delay to contact@ankabut.co.
• Verification: Ankabut may verify your phone number with a code sent by SMS and, in case of legitimate doubt, ask you to prove your identity.

You may delete your account at any time from the App or from the Delete my account page.

7. Orders

Before you confirm an Order, the App shows you the selected Service, the addresses, the price or price estimate and, where applicable, the estimated time. Confirming the Order constitutes a firm and final commitment to pay the price. Please check your Order carefully before confirming it.

An Order is definitively accepted once a Partner accepts it. A Partner may refuse an Order for a legitimate reason, in particular for safety reasons, an inaccessible address, a prohibited item or inappropriate behaviour.

You must be reachable on your account’s phone number throughout the Order and be present, or be represented by the Recipient, at the pickup or delivery point.

8. Prices, fees and payment

Prices

Prices are expressed in CFA francs (FCFA), including all taxes where taxes apply. They may include the price of the service or products, delivery fees, service fees and, where applicable, a surcharge during periods of high demand, always shown before confirmation.

The price shown at confirmation may be adjusted if the Order is changed: waiting time beyond the free period indicated, an additional stop, a detour or change of destination you request, replaced products or products sold by weight, or any other change on your part. The final amount is shown on the receipt.

Payment

Payment is made using the methods offered in the App at the time of the Order, in particular cash paid to the Partner or mobile payment. When paying in cash, you agree to pay the exact amount shown in the App. An electronic receipt is available in your history.

As the services provided through the App relate to goods and services consumed outside the App, their payment is not processed by Apple or Google.

Any unpaid amount remains due. Ankabut may suspend access to the Services until full payment, and add the amount due to your next Order after informing you.

Tips

Tips are optional and paid in full to the Partner concerned.

Promotional codes

Promotional codes and credits are personal, cannot be combined unless stated otherwise, have no cash value, are non-refundable, and are subject to the conditions and validity periods indicated when issued. Ankabut may cancel any code or credit obtained fraudulently or contrary to its purpose, and recover any benefits wrongly obtained.

9. Cancellations, no refunds and complaints

Cancellation by the User

You can cancel an Order from the App. Once the Order is confirmed, cancelling it does not give rise to any refund, and the cancellation fees or full price shown in the App remain due, in particular when the Partner is on the way or has started preparing or purchasing the products.

If you or the Recipient are absent or unreachable beyond the indicated waiting time, the Order may be cancelled and the price remains due.

Cancellation by Ankabut or the Partner

Ankabut or the Partner may cancel an Order, in particular for safety reasons, unavailability or breach of these Terms. Such a cancellation does not give rise to any compensation. If you had already paid for an Order cancelled by Ankabut or the Partner before any performance, and through no fault of your own, the amount paid is returned as credit in the App, usable for a future Order. This credit is neither refundable nor convertible into cash.

Complaints

You may report any incident to customer service, from the App or by email, within 24 hours of the service. These reports help Ankabut improve the service and, where appropriate, take action regarding the Partner concerned; they do not give rise to any refund or compensation. Displayed times are for guidance only and exceeding them does not give rise to any compensation.

10. Service-specific terms

Rides (car, tricycle, motorbike)

• The number of passengers and amount of luggage may not exceed the vehicle’s capacity. Wearing a seat belt or the helmet provided is mandatory where the vehicle is equipped with one.
• Smoking, consuming alcohol or drugs on board and carrying dangerous or illegal items are prohibited.
• The driver may refuse or stop a ride in case of threatening, violent behaviour or behaviour contrary to these Terms.
• Dirt or damage caused to the vehicle by you or those accompanying you may result in cleaning or repair fees, upon proof.
• Lost items: Ankabut helps put you in touch with the driver but is not responsible for items left behind. Returning them may involve travel fees.

Delivery and courier

• You guarantee that the items entrusted are lawful, properly packaged and that you are authorised to hand them over.
• The courier may ask to check the contents in your presence and refuse any prohibited or insufficiently packaged item.
• Delivery is deemed completed upon handover to the Recipient or to the person present at the address given, possibly confirmed by a code or photo.

Market

• Products are sold by partner shops, which are responsible for their availability, quality, freshness and expiry dates.
• If a product is unavailable, it may be replaced by an equivalent product with your consent, or removed from the Order and not charged.
• Products sold by weight are charged according to their actual weight.
• The sale of tobacco, alcohol or any regulated product may be refused and is never made to a minor.

Fast food

• Meals are prepared by partner restaurants, which are solely responsible for their preparation, hygiene, ingredients and allergen information.
• If you have an allergy or intolerance, contact the restaurant directly before ordering. Ankabut cannot guarantee the absence of any allergen.
• A confirmed meal order can be neither cancelled nor refunded.

Parcels

Prohibited items. It is strictly forbidden to send: weapons, ammunition and weapon parts; explosives, flammable, toxic or corrosive products; drugs and illegal substances; cash, cheques, payment cards, precious metals, jewellery and valuables; official identity documents of a third party; live animals; prescription medicines (to be ordered only through the Pharmacy service); counterfeit or stolen goods or goods whose circulation is prohibited; any item whose transport is against the law. Ankabut and its Partners may refuse any shipment and report any illegal item to the authorities.

Packaging. The sender is solely responsible for packaging and for accurately describing the contents.

Liability. The sender entrusts parcels at their own risk. No compensation or refund is granted in case of loss, damage or delay.

Absent recipient. If the Recipient is absent or refuses the parcel, it is returned to the sender at the sender’s expense.

Pharmacy

• Prescription medicines are only dispensed upon presentation of a valid prescription, sent as a photo in the App. The courier may ask for the original prescription upon delivery.
• The pharmacist may refuse to dispense any product, in particular in case of doubt about the prescription, a contraindication or an unusual quantity.
• Medicines classified as narcotics or psychotropic substances are not available for delivery.
• Products are only handed over to an adult. Proof of identity may be requested.
• For public health reasons, delivered medicines are not taken back, exchanged or refunded.
• For any question about a treatment, consult your doctor or pharmacist.

The Pharmacy service is not an emergency service. In a medical emergency, contact the emergency services immediately or go to the nearest health centre.

11. Rules of conduct

You agree to use the Services fairly and respectfully. In particular, you must not:

• harass, threaten, insult, discriminate against or assault a Partner, another User or a member of the Ankabut team;
• use the Services for unlawful or fraudulent purposes, in particular to transport prohibited items;
• create fake accounts, impersonate a third party or provide false information;
• misuse promotional codes, the referral programme or payment methods;
• ask a Partner to carry out outside the App a service obtained through the App, in order to avoid service fees;
• copy, scrape, decompile, modify or disrupt the App, the Site or their systems.

12. Ratings and published content

After each service, you and the Partner may rate each other and leave a comment. Ratings must be honest and respectful and must not contain any defamatory, abusive, discriminatory or unlawful remarks, or any personal data of a third party.

You guarantee that you hold the necessary rights to the content you publish (comments, photos). You grant Ankabut a free, non-exclusive, worldwide licence, for the duration of the rights, to use, reproduce, adapt and display this content for the operation, improvement and promotion of the Services.

Ankabut does not review content before it is published. However, it may moderate, hide or remove content that breaches these Terms. Comments reflect the opinion of their authors and not that of Ankabut.

13. Suspension and termination

You may stop using the Services and delete your account at any time.

Ankabut may suspend or close your account, temporarily or permanently, in the event of a breach of these Terms, fraud or serious suspicion of fraud, behaviour endangering the safety of others, unpaid amounts, repeated ratings reporting inappropriate behaviour, or at the request of an authority. Except in an emergency or for serious reasons, you will be informed beforehand and may submit your comments.

Closing the account does not release you from paying any amounts due.

14. Intellectual property

The Ankabut brand, logo, icons, App, Site and all their content (text, illustrations, animations, software, databases) are the property of Ankabut or its licensors and are protected by intellectual property law. All rights reserved.

Ankabut grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable and revocable right to use the App and the Site for your personal needs, in accordance with these Terms. You may not reproduce, republish, sell, rent, sublicense or redistribute all or part of this content without prior written permission.

15. Liability

The Services are provided “as is” and “as available”. Ankabut uses reasonable means to ensure that they work properly, without guaranteeing that they will be free of interruptions or errors.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Ankabut is not liable for:

• the acts, omissions, faults or failures of Partners, or the quality, conformity or safety of the products they sell or the services they provide;
• indirect damage, such as loss of income, loss of opportunity, commercial loss or loss of data;
• damage resulting from use of the Services contrary to these Terms, from inaccurate information you provided, or from force majeure;
• failures of telecommunication networks, electricity, your device or third-party services.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, no compensation or refund is owed by Ankabut in respect of a confirmed Order.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits Ankabut’s liability for gross negligence or wilful misconduct, for personal injury caused by its fault, or in cases where the law prohibits such exclusion or limitation.

16. Your indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold Ankabut harmless against any claim, action or judgment, including reasonable legal fees, resulting from your breach of these Terms, of the law or of the rights of a third party, or from sending a prohibited item.

17. Force majeure

Neither Ankabut nor its Partners may be held liable for any delay or failure to perform caused by an event beyond their control, including: natural disaster, sandstorm, flood, epidemic, civil unrest, measures taken by the authorities, traffic restrictions, power or network outages, or failure of an essential supplier.

18. Links

The Services may contain links to third-party sites or services over which Ankabut has no control and for which it accepts no liability.

Anyone may link to the Site’s home page, provided that the link is not misleading, does not suggest any partnership or endorsement that does not exist, and does not display the Site within a frame or third-party page. Ankabut may request the removal of any link at any time.

19. Apps downloaded from the App Store or Google Play

App Store (Apple)

If you downloaded the App from Apple’s App Store, the following provisions apply in addition to these Terms:

1. These Terms are concluded between you and Ankabut only, and not with Apple Inc. (“Apple”). Ankabut, not Apple, is solely responsible for the App and its content.
2. Your right to use the App is limited to a non-transferable licence to use the App on any Apple-branded product that you own or control, as permitted by the Usage Rules set out in the App Store Terms of Service. The App may also be accessed by other accounts associated with you via Family Sharing or volume purchasing.
3. Ankabut is solely responsible for providing maintenance and support for the App. Apple has no obligation whatsoever to provide any maintenance or support services.
4. In the event of any failure of the App to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price, if any, of the App. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation whatsoever with respect to the App.
5. Ankabut, not Apple, is responsible for addressing any claims relating to the App or your use of it, including product liability claims, claims that the App fails to conform to any legal or regulatory requirement, and claims arising under consumer protection or privacy legislation.
6. In the event of any third-party claim that the App or your use of it infringes that third party’s intellectual property rights, Ankabut, not Apple, is solely responsible for the investigation, defence, settlement and discharge of that claim.
7. You represent that you are not located in a country subject to a United States Government embargo or designated by it as a “terrorist supporting” country, and that you are not listed on any United States Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
8. For any question, complaint or claim regarding the App, contact Ankabut using the details given in the “Publisher” section.
9. You must comply with applicable third-party terms when using the App, in particular those of your mobile operator.
10. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms. Upon your acceptance, Apple will have the right, and will be deemed to have accepted the right, to enforce these Terms against you as a third-party beneficiary.

Google Play

If you downloaded the App from Google Play, you acknowledge that these Terms are concluded between you and Ankabut only, and not with Google LLC. Your use of Google Play is also subject to the Google Play Terms of Service. In case of conflict between those terms and these Terms regarding use of the App, these Terms prevail.

20. Changes to the Terms

Ankabut may amend these Terms to reflect changes to the Services, the law or its practices. Any material change will be notified to you in the App or by email at least fifteen (15) days before it takes effect, unless required by law or for safety reasons. Continued use of the Services after that date constitutes acceptance of the new Terms. If you do not accept them, you must stop using the Services and may delete your account.

21. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the law of the Republic of Niger.

In the event of a dispute, you agree to contact customer service first at contact@ankabut.co in order to seek an amicable solution. If no solution is found within thirty (30) days of your written complaint, the dispute may be brought before the competent courts of Niamey, subject to any mandatory rules of jurisdiction.

22. General provisions

• Entire agreement: these Terms, the Privacy Policy and, where applicable, the specific terms constitute the entire agreement between you and Ankabut regarding the Services.
• Severability: if any clause is declared void or unenforceable, it shall be deemed not written and the other clauses remain in force.
• No waiver: Ankabut’s failure to enforce a breach does not constitute a waiver of its right to do so later.
• Assignment: Ankabut may assign its rights and obligations under these Terms to any company in its group or to any successor, in the event of a merger, acquisition or transfer of business. You may not assign your rights without Ankabut’s written consent.
• Evidence: electronic records kept by Ankabut (orders, timestamps, exchanges in the App) are binding between the parties unless proven otherwise.
• Language: these Terms are drafted in French. In the event of any translation, the French version prevails.

23. Contact us

For any question about these Terms or the Services:

• Email: contact@ankabut.co
• Phone: +227 20 35 12 05
• Partners: partenaires@ankabut.co
• In the App: Help or Support section