Terms of Service

1. What Ayoun FreightLink is

Ayoun FreightLink ("the Platform") is an online marketplace operated by Ayoun Technologies Limited ("Ayoun", "we") that connects businesses that need goods moved ("Shippers") with licensed road transporters ("Carriers") in Zambia and on the regional corridors. Ayoun is not a carrier, freight forwarder, clearing agent or insurer. The contract of carriage for every job is between the Shipper and the Carrier; Ayoun provides the marketplace, the payment handling described in section 6, the tracking and evidence tools, and dispute facilitation. Nothing in these Terms makes Ayoun a party to the contract of carriage or responsible for the goods.

2. Eligibility

The Platform is for businesses. By registering you confirm that you are at least 18, that you are authorised to bind the company you register, and that the company is lawfully trading (PACRA-registered or the equivalent in its home country, with a valid tax number). Carriers further confirm that they hold the RTSA operator's licence, roadworthy vehicles with valid fitness certificates, goods-in-transit insurance, and, where they offer it, cross-border permits (COMESA Yellow Card, carrier licences for the destination countries) and dangerous-goods permits and trained drivers.

3. Accounts

One company per account; a company may have several users. You are responsible for everything done under your users' logins and must keep passwords confidential, enable two-factor authentication where we require it, and tell us at once if you suspect misuse. We may suspend an account that appears compromised. Information in your profile must be accurate and kept current, licence and insurance expiry dates in particular, since the Platform blocks quoting when a required document has expired.

4. Verification and trust tiers

We review the documents you upload and mark a company Verified when they appear genuine and current. Verification is a check of documents, not a guarantee of performance; we do not inspect vehicles or audit companies. Trust tiers, ratings and completed-job counts are computed from Platform activity and shown to other members; you may not manipulate them. We may withdraw verification or lower a tier if documents lapse, a dispute is upheld against you, or we receive credible reports of misconduct, and we will tell you why.

5. Loads and quotes

A Shipper posting a load must describe it truthfully: cargo type and class, weight or volume, value, packaging, pickup and delivery points and dates, and any special requirements (hazardous goods, temperature, escorts, clearing). A Carrier's quote is an all-in price in the stated currency for the described load, valid until the Shipper's deliver-by date unless the quote says otherwise, and includes the truck type offered and transit time. A quote may be updated or withdrawn until it is accepted. Accepting a quote creates a binding job on the quoted terms; the commission rate in force at that moment is fixed for the job.

6. Payment and escrow

When a job is awarded the Shipper pays the full quoted amount to Ayoun's designated account (bank, MTN MoMo, Airtel Money or Zamtel Kwacha) and the job shows Funds secured once an administrator confirms receipt. Where the Shipper has switched on "require funding before dispatch", the Carrier is not obliged to load until funds are secured. Ayoun holds the money on the Shipper's behalf and releases it as follows: an optional milestone (the percentage set in the job) to the Carrier on confirmed loading; the balance, less commission, when the Shipper confirms the signed proof of delivery, or automatically after the auto-confirm period shown on the job if the Shipper neither confirms nor disputes it. Funds held are not interest-bearing, are kept separately from Ayoun's own funds and remain the property of the paying Shipper until released.

7. Commission

Ayoun's fee is a percentage of the quoted price (currently 3.0 %, shown on every quote before acceptance) and is deducted from the Carrier's payout. Ayoun issues a tax invoice for the commission to the Carrier; VAT, where applicable, is added at the statutory rate. No fee is charged for posting loads, quoting, or jobs cancelled before award.

8. Payouts

Payouts go to the bank or mobile-money account on the Carrier's profile within two business days of release. A fuel advance, if the Shipper agrees one, is paid on dispatch and deducted from the final payout. Ayoun may withhold a payout while a dispute is open, where it reasonably suspects fraud, or where the law requires it.

9. Cancellation

Either party may cancel before the truck is dispatched; the escrow is refunded to the Shipper in full. After dispatch, cancellation by the Shipper entitles the Carrier to the dead-mileage amount agreed in the quote or, if none, a reasonable amount set by Ayoun in its dispute role, up to 25 % of the price. A Carrier that fails to present the truck within 24 hours of the agreed pickup time without notice may be cancelled by the Shipper and will have the no-show recorded on its profile.

10. Carrier obligations

The Carrier must: provide the truck and driver named on the job (substitutions only with the Shipper's consent through the Platform); keep the vehicle roadworthy, licensed and insured for the full value of the goods; load, secure, carry and deliver the goods with reasonable care and within the agreed time; keep the job status current and respond to messages; record seal numbers and take the loading, in-transit and delivery photos the Platform asks for; obtain a signed proof of delivery from the consignee and upload it the same day; comply with all road, customs, axle-load and dangerous-goods regulations on the route; and carry the Shipper's goods only, with no consolidation unless the quote said so.

11. Shipper obligations

The Shipper must: describe the goods accurately and declare their value and any hazard; have the goods packed, labelled and ready at the agreed time and place; provide the documents the Carrier needs (invoice, packing list, permits, customs documents or clearing-agent details for cross-border jobs); make loading and offloading facilities available with reasonable waiting time (4 hours at each end; demurrage beyond that as stated in the quote); fund the escrow when required; confirm or dispute the POD within the auto-confirm window; and not ask the Carrier to carry anything illegal, undeclared or outside the quoted scope.

12. Evidence

Status events, GPS positions, photos, seal numbers, consignment notes and the POD recorded on the Platform are the primary record of the job. Both parties agree that these records, together with the Platform's audit trail, may be relied on in any dispute and produced to insurers or a court. Deliberately false evidence is a material breach.

13. Disputes between members

Either party may raise a dispute on a job through the Platform. Doing so freezes any pending payout. Both parties must respond to Ayoun's requests for information within three business days. Ayoun will review the evidence and, within ten business days of receiving it, decide whether to release, refund, split or hold the escrow and may annotate either profile. Ayoun's decision on the escrow is final as between the Platform and the parties, but does not prevent either party pursuing its contract-of-carriage claim against the other in court or arbitration. Ayoun does not adjudicate loss or damage claims beyond the escrow amount; those go to the Carrier's insurer.

14. Off-platform dealing

Members found using the Platform to find a counterparty and then contracting the same job outside it to avoid commission may be suspended and are liable for the commission that would have been due. Contact details are shared for executing jobs, not for building a parallel directory.

15. Insurance and risk

Risk in the goods passes from the Shipper to the Carrier on loading and to the consignee on signed delivery. The Carrier's goods-in-transit insurance is the first recourse for loss or damage; the Shipper is responsible for declaring the true value so that cover is adequate, and for arranging its own cover for high-value cargo. Ayoun does not insure goods, vehicles or payments and makes no promise that a Carrier's cover is sufficient for a given load, although the Platform warns when the declared value exceeds the Carrier's stated cover.

16. Ayoun's liability

The Platform is provided "as is". To the extent the law allows, Ayoun is not liable for: the acts or omissions of any Shipper, Carrier, driver, consignee or clearing agent; loss of, damage to or delay of goods; the accuracy of information members post; interruption of the Platform, WhatsApp or email; or any indirect or consequential loss. Where liability cannot be excluded, Ayoun's total liability to a member for all claims in any twelve-month period is limited to the commission Ayoun earned from that member in that period. Nothing excludes liability for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by Ayoun's negligence. Escrow funds remain the property of the paying Shipper until released and are not subject to this limit.

17. Suspension and termination

You may close your account at any time once all your jobs are completed or cancelled and all sums due are settled. Ayoun may suspend or close an account, with notice stating the reason, for breach of these Terms, lapsed licences or insurance, an upheld fraud or safety complaint, sanctions or law-enforcement requirements, or twelve months of inactivity. Suspension does not cancel jobs already in progress, which are completed under supervision, and does not affect sums already due to either party.

18. Intellectual property and content

The Platform, its software, name and design belong to Ayoun. You keep ownership of the content you upload and grant Ayoun a licence to store, display and process it for the purposes of the service, including showing your public profile and publishing loads and truck availability you mark as public to the Platform's public feeds and social pages. You must not scrape the Platform, reverse-engineer it, probe its security, or upload malicious files; the Platform logs such attempts.

19. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Zambia. Any dispute between a member and Ayoun that cannot be settled by discussion within 30 days shall be referred to arbitration in Lusaka under the Arbitration Act by a single arbitrator, or, at either party's election for small claims, to the courts of Zambia. Disputes between members are governed by section 13 and by the contract of carriage.

20. General

We may update these Terms with 14 days' notice by email or in-app notice; continued use after that is acceptance. If any clause is unenforceable the rest stands. These Terms, the Privacy Policy and the job record form the entire agreement for Platform use. Notices to Ayoun: Ayoun Technologies Limited, Zimindo Plaza, Lusaka, Zambia, [email protected].

Questions about this document: [email protected] · Zimindo Plaza, Lusaka, Zambia