FIKA Terms of Service

01About FIKA

FIKA (“we”, “our”, “us”) runs a marketplace app where clients find, chat with and book independent service providers such as plumbers, electricians, cleaners and beauticians.

FIKA is not the provider of the services booked through the app. Each service is an agreement between the client and the provider. FIKA is not an employer or agent of providers, but we verify providers and step in to help when something goes wrong.

02Your account

• You must be at least 16 years old to use FIKA, and at least 18 to offer services as a provider.
• Give accurate information (name, phone number, email) and keep it up to date.
• You can sign up with email, Google or Apple. Keep your login details private: you are responsible for activity on your account.
• One person, one account. Accounts cannot be sold or transferred.
• Tell us straight away at fikarwanda250@gmail.com if you think someone else is using your account.

03Bookings

How a booking works:

• A client sends a request for a date and time. The request is not a confirmed booking until the provider accepts it.
• If a provider has not confirmed within about 20 minutes, we remind them. If the request is still waiting after 30 minutes, we may suggest the client choose another provider of the same service.
• Once confirmed, both sides receive a reminder about 30 minutes before the booking starts.
• After the service the provider marks the booking as completed and the client can rate it.

Clients and providers agree to turn up on time, keep communication inside the app where possible and treat each other with respect.

04Cancelling and rescheduling

• Clients may cancel or reschedule a request from the app before the service starts. Please do so as early as possible.
• Providers should only freeze or decline a request for a genuine reason and should warn the client in the chat.
• Repeated last-minute cancellations or no-shows may lead to lower visibility, suspension or removal from FIKA.

05Prices and payment

Unless the app clearly shows otherwise, the price of a service is agreed between the client and the provider, and the client pays the provider directly (for example in cash or by Mobile Money). FIKA does not hold clients’ money for services and is not responsible for payment disputes between clients and providers, although we will help where we can.

Providers are responsible for their own prices, receipts and any taxes due on what they earn.

06Rules for providers

To offer services on FIKA you agree to:

• Submit true information and a valid legal or business document for verification. FIKA may approve, refuse or withdraw verification at any time.
• Hold any licence, qualification or permit your work requires under Rwandan law.
• Only upload photos of your own real work. Do not use other people’s photos, stock images or misleading pictures.
• Keep your service, duration, location and availability (Active / Not active) accurate.
• Do the work safely, with care and to the standard you advertised.

A FIKA verification certificate confirms that we checked the documents a provider gave us. It is not a guarantee of the quality of every job.

07FIKA Gold

FIKA Gold is an optional paid plan for verified providers. It costs 5,000 RWF for 30 days and includes:

• A gold tick on your profile, service page and in provider lists.
• Placement above standard providers in your service.
• Up to 30 photos of your work (standard providers can show 10).
• Smart client reminders and early access to new features. AI analytics are planned and not yet available.

How Gold works:

• After you request Gold, our team contacts you to collect payment by Mobile Money. Gold starts when payment is confirmed.
• Gold does not renew automatically. We remind you 3 days before it ends.
• When Gold ends, the gold tick and top placement stop, and photos above the standard limit are hidden (not deleted).
• Payments are non-refundable once Gold has been activated, unless FIKA cannot provide the plan.
• Gold does not change how bookings or ratings work, and FIKA may refuse or end Gold for a provider who breaks these Terms.

08Ratings, reviews and FIKA Coins

• Clients can rate a completed booking from 1 to 5 stars and leave feedback. Reviews must be honest and based on a real booking.
• Do not post fake reviews, offer rewards for good reviews or pressure clients to change a rating.
• We may remove reviews that are abusive, fake or break these Terms.

Providers earn FIKA Coins from the stars they receive: 500 stars make 1 coin, shown in the app as worth 10,000 RWF (20 RWF per star). Coins are a loyalty reward. They are not money or a bank balance, cannot be transferred, and are only redeemable in the way and at the times FIKA announces in the app. We may adjust coins earned through fake or removed ratings, and may change the coin programme with notice.

09Content you share

You keep ownership of the photos, messages and reviews you post. You give FIKA permission to store, display and use them inside the app and to promote your service on FIKA’s own channels. This permission ends when you delete the content or your account, except for copies we must keep by law.

You must not post content that:

• Is illegal, hateful, violent, sexual or harassing.
• Belongs to someone else without permission.
• Contains other people’s personal information without their consent.
• Is spam, a scam or an attempt to move clients off FIKA to avoid its rules.

10Prohibited use

• Using FIKA for anything illegal or unsafe.
• Pretending to be another person or business.
• Interfering with the app, copying its data or trying to access other users’ accounts.
• Using bots or automated tools without our written permission.

11Suspension and closing accounts

We may warn, limit, suspend or close an account that breaks these Terms, puts other users at risk or is involved in fraud. Where possible we will tell you why.

You can stop using FIKA at any time and delete your account from Account Settings → Delete Account.

12Liability

FIKA is provided “as is”. We work to keep it running and accurate but cannot promise it will always be available or error-free.

To the extent allowed by law, FIKA is not liable for the quality, safety or legality of services provided by providers, for losses caused by a client or provider, or for indirect losses such as lost profit. Nothing in these Terms limits rights you have under Rwandan consumer law.

13Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Rwanda. If you have a problem, contact us first: most issues can be solved quickly. If a dispute cannot be settled, it will be handled by the competent courts of Rwanda.

14Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms as FIKA grows. We will show the new date at the top of this page and, for important changes, notify you in the app. If you keep using FIKA after a change, you accept the updated Terms.