Terms & Conditions

Introduction and Legal Terms

By accessing or using our website, [instantproconnect.co.za], or any related platform or application (collectively, (“the Platform”), or any of our services, you agree that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound to the terms and conditions contained herein (“Terms”). All rights in and to the content of the Platform always remain expressly reserved by Instant Proconnect (Pty) Limited (“Instant Proconnect”).

These Terms explain the terms and conditions applicable to how you will use the Platform. Please read these Terms carefully before using the Platform. We will assume you have read and understood these Terms if you continue to access or make use of our Platform.

Please pay specific attention to the BOLD paragraphs of these Terms. These paragraphs limit our risk or liability, constitute an assumption of risk or liability by you, impose an obligation on you to indemnify us or is an acknowledgement of any fact by you.

The terms “user”, “you" and “your” are used interchangeably in these Terms and accordingly refer to anyone using the Platform for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, the terms “us”, “our” or “we” refers to Instant Proconnect or our possession.

Our Services

What Our Platform Offers

Instant Proconnect is a centralised platform that bridges the gap between businesses/service providers and potential customers through our various services on the platform including:

• A platform service for customers to post jobs and/or details of services they require (including title, description, type and category of job, skill required, location, applicable budget and fees, deadline/time frame and other details and any special requirements);
• Offering businesses the opportunity to visually display their resume, skills and service offerings to market themselves to customers;
• Providing businesses the opportunity to bid on customer jobs;
• Providing businesses and customers with a Platform to communicate and discuss bids and potential service offerings. Upon submission of a bid, both the business as well as the customer will be informed on the Platform and by email and the Platform will allow such users to send direct messages (text and image) to one another on the Platform;
• Allowing customers to view the bids on their jobs by relevant businesses as well as details about the relevant businesses;
• Allowing businesses to view the status of the jobs for which they have submitted bids;
• After any business provides a service to a customer pursuant to a successful bid, allowing the customer to review the service provided by the relevant business and allowing all users to view such reviews; and
• Any other services available on the Platform, collectively, (“Services”).

Registering a Profile with the Platform

Creating a Profile: To join the Platform and/or make use of certain Services, we require you to create a profile with us. We ask you to provide us with all the requested information in the on-boarding process.

Vetting of Information: To be eligible to join the Platform, we may request you to provide us with copies of certain documents. We use these documents to verify the information provided during registration to ensure you are not offering fraudulent services.

Accurate Information: When signing up to and/or making use of our Platform you agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information and to update this information as and when it changes. To protect your privacy and security, we take reasonable steps to verify your identity by requiring your password together with your email address to grant you access to your profile and information. Please update your information yourself through your profile or contact us to view or change your personal information provided.

Warranty: By sharing your personal information with us, you warrant that the person using the Platform is you or you have the authority to act on behalf of a juristic entity. You are responsible for the information you provide, and all the actions taken on the Platform. Please see our Privacy Policy for more details on how we use and process personal information.

Unlawful Access: Please let us know if you have reason to believe that your profile is no longer secure (for example, in the event of a loss, theft or unauthorised disclosure or use of your username, password, or any payment card information) to avoid possible liability for any unauthorised charges to your account.

Payment Terms

• Free Use: You are welcome to browse our Platform for free without needing to create a profile. Free access means that you will have limited access to features and functions of the Platform. Users who wish to post jobs may do so for free provided that they have registered a profile.
• Credits: In order to bid on any jobs, a user must purchase credits on our Platform using our approved payment gateway. The number of credits required to bid on a particular job will be displayed on the Platform at the relevant time. The packages available for purchase indicating the number of credits and the total price at the relevant time will be displayed on the Platform. Prices are subject to change at any time. The number of credits required to bid on any particular job is subject to change at any time. Upon submitting the relevant bid, the indicated number of credits shall be used and deducted from your account. All purchases of credits are non-refundable. The price for any credits for sale indicated on the Platform is inclusive of VAT where applicable.
• Invoices and Statements: You will receive an invoice for any payments made which will also be available in your profile.
• Limitation of Use: Your right to use our Platform is subject to any limits we or your credit card issuer may establish. If payment cannot be charged to your payment card or a charge is returned for any reason, including charge-back, we reserve the right to either suspend or terminate your account and access to the Platform.

Responsibilities and Warranties

• Platform Warranties: by using the Platform and/or the Services, you warrant that -
  • you have read and agreed to these Terms and will use the Platform and Services in accordance with them;
  • you have not made any misrepresentations and the information provided in the registration process and/or during the use of the Platform about you, your company and/or your status is true, accurate and complete in every aspect;
  • you are above the age of 18 (eighteen) years old and have the legal capacity to understand, agree with and be bound with these Terms;
  • you lawfully possess and submit all information to Instant Proconnect for the use of the Platform and the Services and hereby indemnify Instant Proconnect against any third-party claims that may arise due to the processing of the information shared by you with Instant Proconnect;
  • where you use our Services on behalf of your company or organisation, you warrant that you have the authority and consent to sign-up to our Platform and share personal information with us and indemnify Instant Proconnect against any third-party claims that may arise in respect the sharing of personal information;
  • you will not post, upload, replicate or transmit any abusive content on the Platform that is or could reasonably be considered to be threatening, harassing, defamatory, abusive, racist, sexist, discriminatory, in breach of confidence, in breach of privacy or restrict any user in any way from properly using the Platform;
  • you will not share any confidential information on the Platform including employment or other personal information of a user not made publicly available in any profile;
  • you will not send any unsolicited electronic messages or use any software, routine or device to interfere or attempt to interfere electronically or manually with the operation or functionality of the Platform including but not limited to uploading or making available files containing corrupt data or viruses via whatever means or deface, alter or interfere with the front end ‘look and feel’ of the Platform or the underlying software code;
  • you will not infringe the intellectual property or other rights of any third party or the Platform or transmit content that you do not own or do not have the right to publish or distribute;
  • you will not use the Platform for any commercial purpose other than as expressly provided for by Instant Proconnect herein;
  • you will not use the Platform to breach any applicable law or regulation or perform or encourage any illegal activity including (without limitation) promoting or facilitating money laundering or financial crimes; and/or
  • you will not facilitate or assist any third party to do any of the above,

Data Processing

We will store and process all data you provide to us when signing up to our Services and through your account when using the Services, in accordance with applicable data protection legislation (including the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”)) and our Privacy Policy.

You hereby grant us the right to use and process your data as a responsible party and/or an operator (as defined under POPIA) for the purpose of providing our Services to you. We will process, store and maintain your data for such period of time necessary to provide our Services to you as our customer.

Please see our Privacy Policy for more information on how we process personal data.

Messages and Advertising

Data Messages between You and Instant Proconnect

Data messages, including email messages, you send to us will be considered as received only when we acknowledge or responded to these messages.

Data messages we send to you will be regarded as received when the data message enters your email sever inbox and is capable of being retrieved and processed by you.

We reserve the right not to respond to any email or other data message that contains obscene, threatening, defamatory or otherwise illegal, unlawful, or inappropriate content, and to take appropriate action against the sender of such email or data message if necessary.

Messages sent over the internet cannot be guaranteed to be completely secure as they can be intercepted, lost, or corrupted. We are therefore not responsible for the accuracy or safety of any message sent by email or over the internet.

Hyperlinks, Deep Links, Framing

The Platform may include links to other websites (“other sites”). We do not own or endorse these other sites and are not responsible for the information, material, products, or services contained on or accessible through these other sites. Any hyperlinks do not imply any endorsement, agreement on or support of the content or products of these other sites.

We do not own the content on any other site which may be shown on the Platform. Should the owner of any content showcased on the Platform want the content to be removed, please contact us to request the removal of such content.

Your access and use of the other sites remain solely at your own risk and on the terms set by the operator of any other site.

Intellectual Property

Platform IP: All website layout, website content, material, illustrations, information, data, software, icons, text, graphics, layouts, images, sound clips, advertisements, video clips, user interface design and layout, trade names, logos, trademarks, designs, copyright and/or service marks, together with the underlying software code, (“the intellectual property”) are owned (or co-owned or licensed, as the case may be) by Instant Proconnect, our shareholders, associates and/or partners, whether directly or indirectly, and as such, are protected from infringement by domestic and international legislation and treaties.

User submitted IP: All rights to any intellectual property you provide to us will remain with you, but for which you have provided us with a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use such intellectual property to provide you with our Services including the use of our Platform.

No Modification of IP: Subject to the rights afforded to you in these Terms, all other rights to all intellectual property on the Platform are expressly reserved. You may not copy, download, print, modify, alter, publish, broadcast, distribute, sell, or transfer any intellectual property, editorial content, graphics or other material or the underlying software code whether in whole or in part, without our written consent first being granted, which consent may be refused at our discretion. No modification of any intellectual property or graphics is permitted. Should you breach these provisions, we and/or the rightful intellectual property rights owner may launch legal proceedings against you for a breach of contract, resulting in a claim of damages against you.

Updates: We reserve the right to make improvements or changes to the intellectual property, information, videos, graphics, and other materials on the Platform/Services, or to suspend or terminate the Platform, at any time without notice; provided that any transactions or functions already concluded, will not be affected by such suspension or termination (as the case may be).

Third Party IP: Where any intellectual property has been licensed to us or belongs to any third party, all rights of use will also be subject to any terms and conditions which that licensor or third party imposes from time to time, and you agree to comply with such third-party terms and conditions.

User License: Subject to adherence to the Terms, we grant to you a personal, non-exclusive, non-assignable and non-transferable license to use and display all content and information on any machine of which you are the primary user. However, nothing contained on the Platform or in these Terms should be construed as granting any licence or right to use any intellectual property without our prior written permission.

Indemnities and Disclaimers

Disclaimers

The Platform and Services, including intellectual property appearing therein, are provided "as is" and "as available". We make no representations or warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties as to the accuracy, correctness, or suitability of either the Platform or the Services.

All content, information, and/or opinions of users made available on the Platform in relation to any of the Services are those of the authors and not Instant Proconnect. While we make every reasonable effort to present such information accurately and reliably on the Platform we do not endorse, approve, or certify such information, nor guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information on the Platform.

Instant Proconnect, its shareholders, directors, employees, and partners, accept no liability whatsoever for any loss, whether direct or indirect, consequential, or arising from information made available on (or by means of) the Platform and/or transactions or actions resulting therefrom or from the Services offered or from any interaction or transactions between users.

Instant Proconnect, its shareholders, directors, employees, partners, and affiliates, accept no liability whatsoever for any costs, expenses, fines, or damages, including but not limited to direct or indirect loss or damages, including any economic loss, consequential loss, loss of profits or any form of punitive damages, resulting from the facilitation and offering of the Services, and access to, or use of, the Platform in any manner or from any interaction or transactions between users.

We take reasonable security measures to ensure the safety and integrity of the Platform and to exclude viruses, unlawful monitoring and/or access from the Platform offline. However, we do not warrant or represent that your access to the Platform will be uninterrupted or error-free or that any information, data, content, software, or other material accessible through the Platform will be free of bugs, viruses, worms, Trojan horses or other harmful components. Your access to and use of the Platform remains solely at your own risk, and you should take your own precautions accordingly.

Indemnities

You indemnify and hold harmless Instant Proconnect, its shareholders, employees, and partners from any demand, action or application or other proceedings, including for attorneys’ fees and related costs such as tracing fees, made by any third party, and arising out of or in connection with your use of the Platform and/or Services offered or transactions concluded through the Platform in any way.

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold Instant Proconnect, its shareholders, employees and partners harmless from any direct or indirect liability, loss, claim and expense (including reasonable legal fees) related to the user’s breach of these Terms.

This clause will survive termination of these Terms.

Dispute Resolution

Disputes between you and Instant Proconnect

Negotiation - Should any dispute, disagreement or claim arise between you and Instant Proconnect concerning the use of the Platform or the Services, the parties shall endeavour to resolve the dispute amicably, by negotiation, and with the best interests of both parties in mind.

Mediation - Should these parties fail to resolve such dispute in the aforesaid manner or within such further period as the parties may agree to in their negotiation, the parties will approach an independent industry expert who shall mediate the discussions between them to find a mutually beneficial solution.

Arbitration - If the dispute is still not resolved after such mediation, the parties will commence and be party to binding and confidential arbitration in terms of the expedited rules of the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (“AFSA”), with an arbitrator selected by Instant Proconnect.

Jurisdiction - Notwithstanding the above, both parties' consent to the jurisdiction of an appropriate South African court. Either party may also always use the dispute resolution services of any applicable legislative tribunal or ombud, as provided for in applicable legislation.

No publication - The parties both agree that in no circumstance will either party publicise the dispute on any social media or other public platforms. The parties understand that any publicity of this nature can cause serious damage to the other party, which damage may result in a financial claim against the infringing party.

Disputes between Users

Private Dispute: Should a dispute arise between users and their private transaction, said dispute is between these parties exclusively. Instant Proconnect is not responsible for fulfilling any function in any way or engaging in the dispute in any way.

Beneficial Resolution: The users agree that they will resolve their dispute in a manner that is mutually agreeable and/or as prescribed by any relevant agreement concluded between them, and for the attempted benefit of both parties.

Notification: Notwithstanding the above, these parties must inform Instant Proconnect of the dispute for Instant Pro Connect to log the issues experienced, and to try assist both parties in whatever way it deems fit but is under no obligation to do so.

Termination of Use

IN ADDITION TO OUR OTHER RIGHTS HEREIN, WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO RESTRICT AND/OR TERMINATE YOUR USE OF OUR PLATFORM IF YOU BREACH ANY OF THESE TERMS, OR FOR ANY OTHER REASON IN OUR SOLE DISCRETION PROVIDED THAT WE GIVE REASONABLE NOTICE TO YOU.

If you wish to terminate your agreement with us and these Terms, you may do so by closing your account and ending use of our Platform. Such termination will however not have any effect on the continued and comprehensive functioning or legitimacy of any lawful rights which we may have at the time of said termination.

In the event of termination of your agreement with these Terms we will remove you from the Platform and delete your profile.

Notices and Service Address

Each of the parties chooses their service address for the purposes of the giving of any notice, the serving of any process and for any other purposes arising from these Terms as being:

• in the case of Instant Proconnect, at [insert email address]; or
• in the case of the user, at the e-mail address, cell phone number, and/or physical address provided when registering with us.

Company Information

• Site owner: Instant Proconnect (Pty) Limited
• Legal status: Private Company
• Registration number: 2022/822614/06
• Description of business: online lead generation marketplace connecting customers with service providers
• Platform address: instantproconnect.co.za
• Email address: admin@instantproconnect.co.za
• Telephone number: +27 (10) 143-1648
• Registered address: Atrium on 5th, 9th Floor, 5th Street, Sandton, Gauteng 2196, South Africa
• Postal address:  Atrium on 5th, 9th Floor, 5th Street, Sandton, Gauteng 2196, South Africa

General

Relationship Between the Parties - The relationship of the parties, inter se, shall be governed by these Terms and nothing contained herein shall be deemed to constitute a partnership, joint venture, employer/employee agreement, agency agreement, or the like between them. No party shall by the reasons of the actions of the other party incur any personal liability as co-partner to any third party. Instant Proconnect only provides software as a service, any formal engagement between users facilitated by the Platform is between them privately, and for which Instant Proconnect holds no responsibility.

Force Majeure - If either party is prevented, whether in whole or in part, or delayed from performing any of its duties, functions or obligations under these Terms, whether timeously or at all, due to an event out of their control (which for the purposes hereof shall mean war, political riots, civil commotions, electrical load-shedding or surges, legal prohibitions or restrictions, epidemics, pandemics, governmental lock downs, fire, floods or other similar natural disasters), then such failure shall not constitute a breach under these Terms, and the obligation to perform shall be suspended to the extent and during the continuance of such prevention provided that the parties shall use their reasonable commercial endeavours to minimise any delay occasioned.

Change Without Notice - The Platform and these Terms are subject to change by us without notice. These Terms are updated or amended from time to time and will be effective once we upload the amended Terms to the Platform. Your continued access or use of the Platform constitutes your acceptance to be bound by these Terms, as amended. It is your responsibility to read these Terms periodically to ensure you are aware of any changes.

Entire Agreement - This document contains the entire agreement between the parties in relation to the subject matter hereof. Save as contemplated above (“Change Without Notice”), no alteration, cancellation, variation of, or addition hereto will be of any force or effect unless reduced to writing and signed by all the parties to these Terms or their duly authorised representatives.

No Indulgence - No indulgence, leniency or extension of time granted by Instant Proconnect shall constitute a waiver of any of Instant Proconnect’s rights under these Terms and, accordingly, Instant Proconnect shall not be precluded as a consequence of having granted such indulgence, from exercising any rights against any user which may have arisen in the past or which might arise in the future.

Importation of Words - Words importing the singular will include the plural and vice versa. Words importing one gender will include the other genders, and words importing persons will include partnerships, trusts, and bodies corporate, and vice versa.

Headings as Reference - The headings to the paragraphs in these Terms are inserted for reference purposes only and will not affect the interpretation of any of the provisions to which they relate.

Governing Law - Your access and/or use of the Platform and/or the Services, any downloaded material from it and the operation of these Terms (including any transaction concluded pursuant thereto) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa.

Failure to Pay - In the event of a user failing to pay any amount timeously or breaching these Terms, the user shall be liable for all legal costs (on the scale as between attorney and client) (including collection commission) which may be incurred by Instant Proconnect in relation to the payment failure or breach.

Severability - Each sentence, paragraph, term, clause and provision of these Terms and any portion thereof shall be considered severable and if for any reason, any such sentence, paragraph, term, clause or provision is held to be invalid, contrary to, or in conflict with any applicable present or future law or regulation or in terms of a final, binding judgement issued by any court, it shall to that extent be deemed not to form part hereof and shall not impair the operation of, or have any effect upon such other sentence, paragraph, term, clause or provision hereof as may otherwise remain valid or intelligible, which shall continue to be given full force and effect and bind the parties hereto.

Prohibited Provision - No term or condition of these Terms is intended to breach any peremptory provisions of any consumer protection legislation and any regulations thereto “Prohibited Provision”. Any breach of any such Prohibited Provision shall be governed by the “Severability” provisions above.

Third Party Benefits - Third parties may accept and enforce the benefits of these Terms to the extent expressly provided, but only with the written consent of Instant Proconnect. Nothing in these Terms grants any other rights to third parties beyond those explicitly stated.