Terms of use


These Terms and Conditions have been substantively updated to take into consideration changes in legislation and regulations applicable to our business in Nigeria.

1. INTRODUCTION

These terms and conditions govern the legal relationship between DaftSMS and its Users.

TAKE NOTE THAT THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS CONTAIN PROVISIONS THAT DISCLAIM, LIMIT AND EXCLUDE THE LIABILITY OF DAFTSMS TO YOU AND THAT INDEMNIFY DAFTSMS AGAINST CLAIMS AND DAMAGES THAT IT MAY SUFFER AS A RESULT OF YOUR CONDUCT.

Please read these terms and conditions carefully.

2. INTERPRETATION

2.1 The words and phrases listed below shall bear the following meanings in these terms and conditions, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

“DaftSMS” means the legal entity with whom you contract for the provision of the Services; “End user” or “recipient” means any person, including both natural and juristic entities who receives or is intended to receive any message sent by a User using the Services; “Network Operator” means any party licensed to install, operate and maintain a cellular telephony network; “Services” shall mean and include all products and services offered or provided to Users by DaftSMS; “SMS” means a short message service provided by means of a text or data message to the cellular handset either on request of the handset User or via a pre-configured batch process; and “User” shall mean any natural or legal person who makes use of any of the Services or who uses or visits the Website.

2.2 Any reference in these standard terms to the singular includes the plural and vice versa, any reference to persons includes both natural and juristic persons and any reference to a gender includes the other gender.

2.3 Any clause headings inserted into these terms and conditions have been inserted for convenience only and shall not be taken into account in interpreting the terms and conditions.

2.4 Words and expressions defined in any other part of these terms and conditions shall, for the purposes of that part, bear the meaning assigned to such words and expressions in that part.

2.5 To the extent that any provision of this Agreement conflicts with any law, then to the limited extent of such conflict, such provision shall be severed from this Agreement without affecting the enforceability of the remainder of its terms.

3. AGREEMENT

3.1 Persons using the Website or the Services for any reason whatsoever bind themselves and agree to these terms and conditions.

3.2 Should a User not agree to all the terms and conditions of this agreement or be unable to comply with these terms and conditions, the User should immediately cease using the Website and/or terminate the registration process.

3.3 You may not use the Website or the Services if you are not of a legal age to form a binding contract with DaftSMS.

3.4 Users agree that all terms and conditions herewith published shall be binding on the User and that should there be a contradiction between these general terms and conditions and any other product-specific or service-specific terms and conditions, the product-specific or service-specific terms and conditions shall prevail to the limited extent of such conflict.

3.5 DaftSMS reserves the right to refuse to accept and/or execute an order or request to do business or to render any Services without giving any reasons therefor. DaftSMS also reserves the right to cancel orders in whole or in part in DaftSMS’s sole and absolute discretion.

4. CHANGES AND AMENDMENTS

4.1 DaftSMS expressly reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to alter and/or amend any criteria or information set out in these terms and conditions or any information on the Website without prior notice and to update prices and rates quoted on its Website from time to time.

4.2 Users undertake to check the Website frequently and to acquaint themselves with the changes and/or amendments in the information supplied on the Website and, in this regard, Users undertake to check, at a minimum, these terms and conditions for any alteration thereto, including in respect of the prices and nature of any Services, prior to the conclusion of each new credit purchase or service order in respect of the Services governed by these terms and conditions. Users should regularly verify which networks are covered by the Services. Changes may occur as to which networks are covered from time to time.

5. THE SERVICES

5.1 DaftSMS shall make all reasonable endeavours to ensure uninterrupted and continued use of the Services, however the delivery of SMS messages is largely dependent on the effective functioning of Network Operators’ cellular networks, network coverage and the SMS recipient’s mobile handset. DaftSMS does not and cannot guarantee the availability of any Service, the delivery of SMS messages or the compatibility between any message or content format and any particular mobile handsets or mobile operating systems.

5.2 Network Operators may modify, enhance, develop or discontinue components of their services at any time without prior notice, in which event DaftSMS shall be entitled to modify, enhance, develop or discontinue affected Services to Users without notice.

5.3 DaftSMS shall use its reasonable endeavours to provide the User with advance notice of any modification, suspension or termination of its Services and shall endeavour to minimise the duration of any suspension thereof in so far as this is reasonably practicable.

5.4 Messages shall be deemed to have been delivered when DaftSMS has sent the messages to the immediate destination that it is requested to send to, including, but not limited to, mobile telephone networks, SMTP or other servers.

5.5 DaftSMS shall have the right to withhold, terminate or suspend the provision of Services to the User at any time. Where this Agreement or the provision of any Service is terminated by DaftSMS for any reason other than breach by the User or discontinuance of a Service by a Network Operator, DaftSMS shall refund all monies already paid in advance by the User for any unused terminated Service.

5.6 Ordinary mobile terminated messaging services may be terminated by the User at any time.

6. ACCEPTABLE USAGE

6.1 Users acknowledge and understand that DaftSMS acts as a conduit for the provision of information and content. Users acknowledge that DaftSMS shall not be responsible or liable for any content transmitted and that full responsibility for content shall rest on the User. Users shall observe all relevant legislation and regulations applicable in their jurisdiction and in the jurisdiction of all persons to whom they cause messages to be delivered. It shall be the sole responsibility of Users to familiarise themselves with all applicable laws, regulations and codes of conduct to which they may be subject and to ensure compliance therewith.

6.2 Users shall furthermore ensure that all messages, advertising, information and content produced or generated by a User for transmission or delivery by means of the Services shall comply with all laws and any relevant code of conduct to which DaftSMS itself subscribes.

6.3 Users shall not do, nor omit to do, anything that would result, directly or indirectly, in any breach by DaftSMS or by the User of any requirement or provision of any applicable legislation, regulations, code of conduct or network usage policies, failing which DaftSMS shall be entitled to immediately suspend or terminate the provision of Services to the User and the User shall have no claim of any nature against DaftSMS (including claims for re-imbursement, refund, compensation or damages). Users hereby indemnify DaftSMS against any fine imposed on DaftSMS or any damages suffered by DaftSMS as a result of any act or omission of a User that amounts to a breach of any law or code of conduct to which DaftSMS may be subject.

6.4 Users may not use, or knowingly allow others to use, the Services for any purpose that may bring DaftSMS’s name into disrepute, or for any purpose that, in DaftSMS’s sole and absolute discretion, is improper, immoral or undesirable.

6.5 Users shall not permit, do, nor omit to do, anything which might have the effect of prejudicing or impeding the legitimate activities, interests or goodwill of DaftSMS nor any Network Operator.

6.6 Users may not use the Services to send messages without reasonable cause nor for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or distress to any person.

6.7 In the event of any transgression of any applicable law, regulation, code of conduct, or any provision of these terms and conditions, or in the event of any complaint being received by DaftSMS in relation to a User, then the User hereby acknowledges and agrees that DaftSMS may in its sole and unfettered discretion remove message recipient contact numbers from the database of a User and/or suspend or terminate Services to a User without prejudice to any other rights that it may have in law or in terms of these terms and conditions.

6.8 Users acknowledge and agree that all messages sent may be stored and can be audited and reviewed by DaftSMS or any other person acting on behalf of DaftSMS at any time to ensure compliance with these terms and conditions and any applicable law, regulations or code of conduct.

7. REGISTRATION AND SECURITY

7.1 To register to make use of the Services, a User must complete the registration process and must provide DaftSMS with up to date, complete and accurate information as requested by DaftSMS. Failure to provide accurate and complete information on registration may result in termination of the Services. A User may also be required to choose a Username and password. Users are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their Usernames and passwords and Users undertake not to divulge their Username and passwords to any other person. A User is entirely responsible for any and all activities that occur under its account and a User shall be strictly liable to make payment of all charges incurred under its account whether or not these charges are incurred by the User or any other person, authorised or unauthorised, intentionally or unintentionally, or as a result of any virus, hack or security breach.

7.2 Users agree to notify DaftSMS immediately of any unauthorized use of their account(s) or any other breach of security.

7.3 It is expressly prohibited for any person, business or entity to gain or attempt to gain unauthorised access to any page on this Website, or to deliver or attempt to deliver any unauthorised, damaging or malicious code to this Website. Any person who delivers or attempts to deliver any unauthorised, damaging or malicious code to this Website or attempts to gain unauthorised access to any page on this Website shall be held criminally liable and in the event that DaftSMS should suffer any damage or loss, civil damages will be claimed.

7.4 In the event that a person wishes to lodge a complaint that a User has used the Services in any manner that infringes on the complainant’s rights or the rights of another person, the complainant shall provide DaftSMS with a written notice setting out:

  1. the full names and address of the complainant;
  2. the written or electronic signature of the complainant;
  3. identification of the right that has allegedly been infringed or the law or code of conduct alleged to have been infringed;
  4. identification of the material or activity that is claimed to be the subject of unlawful activity;
  5. the remedial action required to be taken by the service provider in respect of the complaint;
  6. telephonic and electronic contact details, if any, of the complainant;
  7. a statement that the complainant is acting in good faith; and
  8. a statement by the complainant that the information in the complaint is to his or her knowledge true and correct and an indemnity by the complainant in favour of DaftSMS for any misrepresentation of the facts or for wrongful suspension or termination of any Services by DaftSMS in response to the complaint.

7.5 Any person who lodges a notification of unlawful activity with a service provider knowing that it materially misrepresents the facts is liable for damages for any wrongful suspension or deactivation of services. Users acknowledge and agree that DaftSMS shall not be liable to the User or any other person for damages or other liabilities resulting from wrongful suspension or deactivation of services in response to any such notification.

7.6 In the event that a User forgets his or her password and/or his or her contact details used for password recovery has changed (e-mail address, mobile number) and he or she requests a password change, mobile number change or e-mail address change, DaftSMS will call or e-mail the existing contact telephone number or email address on the account. The User agrees that if there is no response or no confirmation of the above request, the User may be required to re-register. The User further agrees that if any person responding to the above contact confirms the request, then the request may be effected and a new password issued to such person and the User agrees that DaftSMS shall not be liable for any damages or breach of privacy, security or confidentiality resulting therefrom, including but not limited to where unauthorised persons have gained access to the Users email account or telephone.

8. PRIVACY

8.1 DaftSMS will not intercept, monitor, copy or disclose any User messages or personal information about the User or the User's DaftSMS account, phonebook or MSISDN’s, other than in the normal course of the use of the Services, without the User's prior permission unless DaftSMS believes in good faith that such action is necessary to conform to legal requirements, to co-operate or comply with legal process, investigations, summonses, subpoenas and the like, to protect and defend the rights, property or legally protectable interest of DaftSMS, the User or other third party, to enforce any of the provisions of these terms and conditions or to protect DaftSMS's business or reputation. The User agrees that DaftSMS may access its account and message contents for the purposes described above without notice and in order to respond to service or technical issues and that DaftSMS may communicate with the User from time to time for purposes including, but not limited to, communicating information regarding any updates, upgrades, notices, or other information.

8.2 A recipient of a message has the right to know the identity of the sender, and this will be disclosed on request to the recipient.

8.3 Users agree that DaftSMS may make use of a User's profile and account information for non-personal statistical purposes.

8.4 Users agree that they shall not violate any privacy laws, regulations or applicable codes of conduct relating to the protection of personal information of End Users including but not limited to names, addresses, email addresses, landline and mobile telephone numbers and shall not disclose the personal information of end users to any third party save without the express consent of the End User or where specifically required or permitted by law to do so.

9. PAYMENT AND PRICES

9.1 Users are required to purchase credits which shall reduce for each message sent. The number of credits used per individual message depends on the message destinations and message body count. The number of credits used per message is subject to change from time to time without prior notice and shall be indicated on the Website. Unless expressly indicated to the contrary in writing, the cost of a credit is inclusive of DaftSMS database hosting, User support and message handling costs.

9.2 DaftSMS charges are located online at http://www.daftsms.com/rate_price.php and may be provided as a schedule to any other format of these terms and conditions. DaftSMS may vary its charges for SMS messages from time to time and without prior notice to Users. In the event that a Network Operator introduces reciprocal charges, DaftSMS retains the right to increase the number of credits needed per message, for that specific network.

9.3 Payment security: Users acknowledge that DaftSMS makes use of secure third party online payment gateways and Users acknowledge and agree that DaftSMS shall not be liable for any losses arising from the use of any third party payment gateways whatsoever.

9.4 Cooling-off periods: DaftSMS shall comply with any cooling off periods prescribed by law subject to any reasonable cancellation fees that may be imposed.

9.5 Without prejudice to any other right that it may have in law, DaftSMS shall have the right to suspend or disable the operation of any User account and the provision of services to any User where payment of all charges have not been made in full by the due date, or where DaftSMS reasonably suspects that payment has been made or effected by fraudulent means.

10. USER WARRANTIES AND USER OBLIGATIONS

10.1 Users warrant that:

10.2 Any subscription service for which an End User is debited or billed on a repeated basis without expressly confirming each individual transaction, individual programme or application administered by a User to an End User must be offered on an "opt-in basis." In addition, each User must also offer a convenient, easy-to-use and conspicuous method for an End User to opt-out from any subscription service, individual programme or application.

11. BREACH

11.1 Where a User breaches any of these terms and conditions, including terms relating to payment of any amount due to DaftSMS then, without prejudice to any of its legal rights, DaftSMS shall be entitled to, amongst other things, to cancel its agreement with the User, to suspend or terminate the provision of services to the User, to suspend, disable or terminate the User’s account/s, to sue for specific performance by the User, to claim damages and/or to retain any monies already paid by the User in respect of services not utilised by it as damages resulting from such breach and to set off any claims that DaftSMS may have against the User from any other amounts due to the User by DaftSMS.

11.2 Where a User account is suspended or terminated due to any breach of these terms and conditions, DaftSMS reserves the right to also suspend or terminate all other accounts registered by, or on behalf of such User, as well as suspend or terminate any account registered by any other person or persons whom DaftSMS, in its sole and unfettered discretion, believes is affiliated with the User concerned.

12. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY, WARRANTIES AND INDEMNITIES

12.1 THE USER HEREBY INDEMNIFIES AND HOLDS DAFTSMS HARMLESS AGAINST ANY AND ALL DAMAGES, LIABILITIES, FINES AND RISKS THAT MAY FOLLOW FROM THE TRANSGRESSION OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

12.2 DAFTSMS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE, LOSS OR LIABILITY OF WHATSOEVER NATURE ARISING FROM THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE WEBSITE OR THE SERVICES OR ANY CONTENT PROVIDED FROM AND THROUGH THE WEBSITE.

12.3 Furthermore, DaftSMS makes no representations or warranties, implied or otherwise, that, amongst others, the content and technology available from the website are free from errors or omissions or that the Services will be 100% uninterrupted and error free.

12.4 These terms and conditions together with any other contractual documents expressly referenced in these terms and conditions contain all of the terms of agreement between the User and DaftSMS.

12.5 The Website and the Services are supplied on an "as is" basis and are not supplied to meet the User's individual requirements. To the fullest extent permitted by law, DaftSMS disclaims all representations and warranties relating to the Services (whether express, implied and statutory, including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose). It is the sole responsibility of the User to satisfy itself prior to entering into this agreement with DaftSMS that the Services and the Website will meet the User's individual requirements and be compatible with the User's hardware and/or software and message recipient handsets and devices.

12.6 Users agree to hold DaftSMS harmless and indemnify DaftSMS fully against any claim by any third party, including message recipients or End Users, as a result of any system failure, message corruption, interruption or termination of services, unsolicited direct marketing, harassment, emotional disturbance, inappropriate or obscene content, breach of privacy or breach of data security, provided that none of the aforegoing result from DaftSMS’s own gross negligence or fraudulent acts or omissions.

12.7 Users indemnify and hold DaftSMS harmless against all reasonable damages, awards, penalties or legal costs claimed or imposed by any party as a result of any action, commission or omission by the User that constitutes a breach or contravention of any legislation, regulations, code of conduct or network provider codes or practice or acceptable usage policies.

12.8 In the event of any litigation between DaftSMS and the User, the successful party shall be entitled to recover their reasonable legal costs incurred by it in enforcing its rights on an attorney and client scale.

12.9 Users further indemnify and hold DaftSMS harmless against any reasonable claims, actions or damages from any party as a result of the fraudulent or unauthorised use of the User’s Username and password or loss thereof.

12.10 Without derogating from the aforegoing, in no event shall DaftSMS be liable for any damages whatsoever, including but not limited to any direct, indirect, special, consequential, punitive or incidental damages, or damages for loss of use, profits, data or other intangibles, or the cost of procurement of substitute goods and services, arising out of or related to the use, inability to use or unauthorised use of the Website or the Services, whether such damages arise in contract, delicit, under statute, in equity, at law or otherwise.

12.11 Notwithstanding the aforegoing provisions and without derogating therefrom or limiting their application in any way, in the event that a User has a valid claim against DaftSMS arising from any Services provided under these terms and conditions then the User’s claim shall be limited to payment of an amount equal to the amount paid for the Services that are the subject of the claim in the month prior to any such claim arising.

13. GENERAL

13.1 The failure of either party to exercise in any respect any right provided for herein will not be deemed a waiver of any further rights hereunder. If any provision of these terms and conditions is found to be unenforceable or invalid, such term(s) or condition(s) shall be severable from the remaining terms and conditions. The remaining terms and conditions shall not be affected by such unenforceability or invalidity and shall remain enforceable and applicable.

14. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS

14.1 All content, trademarks and data on this website, including but not limited to software, databases, text, graphics, icons, hyperlinks, private information, and designs are the property of or licensed to DaftSMS, and as such, are protected from infringement by domestic and international legislation and treaties. Subject to the rights afforded to the User herein, all other rights to all intellectual property on this site are expressly reserved.

14.2 Content from the Website may not be used or exploited by Users for any commercial and non-private purposes without the prior written consent of DaftSMS.

15. LINKING AND FRAMING

15.1 Any third party site may link to this Website provided that such a link is directed at the home page of this Website. It is expressly prohibited for any person, business, entity or website to link to any page other than the home page of this Website, without the prior written approval of DaftSMS.

15.2 DaftSMS may provide links to the User only as a convenience and the inclusion of any link does not imply DaftSMS's endorsement of such sites.

15.3 Any linked third party websites,pages or advertisements that may be accessible from the Website, including content posted in social media or RSS feeds displayed on the Website are not subject to the control of DaftSMS. DaftSMS shall not be held responsible or liable (whether directly or indirectly) in any way for the contents, use, or inability to use or access any such third party websites, pages or advertisements and any use or reliance thereon shall be at the Users sole and exclusive risk.

15.4 It is expressly prohibited for any person, business, entity, or website to frame any page on this Website, including the home page, in any way whatsoever, without the prior written approval of DaftSMS.

16. SEARCHING TECHNOLOGY

16.1 Apart from good faith search engine operators and use of the search facility provided on the Website by Users, no person may use or attempt to use any technology or applications (including web crawlers, robots or web spiders) to search, collect or copy content from the Website for any purpose whatsoever, without the prior written consent of DaftSMS.

16.2 The use of non-malicious search technology, such as 'web-crawlers' or 'web-spiders', to search and gain information from this Website is not permitted if such technology will result in slowing down this Website's server or copyright infringement of any data and information available from this website. Data and information may only be used as provided for in these terms and conditions. E-mail addresses, names, telephone numbers and fax numbers published on the Website may not be incorporated into any database, used for electronic or direct marketing or other similar purposes. No permission is given, nor is it implied, that information on the Website may be used to communicate unsolicited communications to DaftSMS notwithstanding that such information may be published as DaftSMS’s contact information.

17. APPLICABLE LAW

17.1 These terms and conditions shall be governed by, construed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of Nigeria and the Nigerian courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction in respect of any disputes that may arise between the User and DaftSMS.

18. ENTIRE AGREEMENT

18.1 These terms and conditions constitute the entire agreement between DaftSMS and the User.