Terms of Service

Last updated:

These terms govern your use of The City Plug, an AI-assisted local discovery and matching service in Uganda, accessible via WhatsApp and Telegram. By messaging our bot, you agree to these terms.

1. What The City Plug is - and isn't

The City Plug helps you find products, services, and housing by connecting you with independent third-party sellers and service providers, and helps sellers list what they offer. We are a discovery and matching service, not a party to any transaction between a buyer and a provider. We don't sell products, perform services, own property, or handle payments between buyers and providers.

2. Who can use this service

You must be at least 18 years old, or the age of legal majority where you live, to use The City Plug. By using the service, you confirm that you meet this requirement.

3. Your responsibilities

Provide accurate information - about yourself if you're searching, and about what you're offering if you're listing a product, service, or property.
Use the service for genuine local discovery and commerce, not spam, fraud, harassment, or anything illegal.
Deal honestly and fairly with anyone you're connected with through the service.
Not attempt to circumvent, disrupt, or abuse the AI system (e.g. prompt injection, attempting to extract other users' data, or automated bulk messaging).

4. Listings and content

If you list a product, service, or property, you're responsible for its accuracy, for having the right to sell or offer it, and for honoring any price or terms you state. We may draft or reformat your listing using AI based on what you send us, but you review and approve it before it's published, and you remain responsible for its content. We may remove, suspend, or decline to publish any listing at our discretion, including for violating these terms or being reported by other users.

5. Paid listing promotion ("Boosted" and "Featured" listings)

Providers may pay to promote a listing so it appears more prominently in search results and carries a "Featured" badge, for a set duration they choose at the time of payment. Specifically:

Promotion affects ranking and visibility only - it does not affect whether your listing is judged a good match for a given request, and it never displaces a listing that's a clearly better match for what someone asked for.
Payment is currently collected via Mobile Money or bank transfer and confirmed manually by our team; promotion is activated once payment is confirmed.
Promotion periods are non-refundable once activated, except where required by law or at our discretion (e.g. a listing removed for a terms violation part-way through a paid period).
We reserve the right to decline, suspend, or end a paid promotion at any time if the underlying listing violates these terms, without a refund for the remaining period.
Prices for promotion are set by us and may change; the price in effect at the time you pay is the price you're charged for that period.

6. No guarantee of outcome

We use AI to interpret requests and match them to listings, and a human may review requests our AI can't confidently handle. We don't guarantee that we'll find what you're looking for, that a listing is accurate, that a provider will respond, or that any transaction will be completed successfully. Any agreement, payment, or exchange between a buyer and a provider is strictly between them - we are not a party to it and bear no responsibility for its outcome.

7. Disputes between users

If something goes wrong between a buyer and a provider - a scam, a misrepresented listing, a payment dispute - that dispute is between those two parties. We may, at our discretion, assist by reviewing reports or suspending an account, but we're not obligated to mediate, and we don't guarantee any particular resolution. If you're the victim of fraud, we recommend reporting it to the Uganda Police Force in addition to reporting it to us.

8. AI limitations

Our AI can misunderstand requests, transcribe voice notes incorrectly, or make an imperfect match. We work to improve this over time, and requests our AI can't confidently handle are routed to a human - but we don't guarantee the AI's output is always accurate.

9. Account suspension

We may suspend or terminate your access to the service, including any active paid promotions, if you violate these terms, provide false information, or use the service in a way that harms other users or the platform.

10. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, The City Plug and its operators are not liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of the service, including losses arising from a transaction with another user, inaccurate listings, or AI errors. Our total liability for any claim relating to the service is limited to the amount you've paid us, if any, in the 3 months before the claim arose.

11. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. We'll update the "Last updated" date above when we do. Continued use of the service after a change means you accept the updated terms.

12. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Uganda.

13. Contact us

Questions about these terms can be sent to us directly through the WhatsApp or Telegram bot - just ask to speak with a human.

Note: This is a template terms of service drafted for The City Plug's specific business model, including the paid listing promotion feature described in §5. It is not a substitute for legal advice - we'd recommend having it reviewed by a lawyer familiar with Uganda law (including consumer protection and electronic transaction rules) before relying on it for a live product, especially once real payments are involved.