Terms of Service

01. The agreement

These Terms of Service are a binding agreement between you and Near-U Ltd., a private company limited by shares registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria (RC 9620980), with its registered office at Shop 22/23, Block P, Robinson Plaza, Deco Road, Warri, Delta State, Nigeria.

By creating an account, booking a service, offering services, or simply using the Near-U website or mobile app, you accept these terms and our Privacy Policy. If you don't agree with something here, the honest answer is: please don't use Near-U.

You must be at least 18 years old to use Near-U. By using the platform you confirm that you are.

02. A few definitions

• "Near-U", "we", "us" — Near-U Ltd., the company operating the platform.
• "Platform" — the Near-U website (near-u.ng), the Near-U mobile app, and related services.
• "Client" — a user who books or requests services through the platform.
• "Provider" — an independent professional or business offering services through the platform.
• "Booking" — a request by a client for a provider's service, whether accepted or not.
• "Escrow" — money a client has paid for a booking that Near-U holds until the job is completed and confirmed.
• "Wallet credit" — promotional credit in your Near-U account, spendable only on the platform.

03. Our role — a marketplace

Near-U is a marketplace. We connect clients who need real-world services — plumbing, electrical work, cleaning, tailoring, repairs and more — with independent providers who offer them. We verify provider identities, hold booking payments in escrow, and give both sides tools to communicate, track jobs, and resolve problems.

What we are not:

• We are not the employer of any provider. Providers are independent contractors (or independent businesses) who decide which jobs to accept, how to do the work, and what to charge.
• We are not a party to the service contract. When a client books a provider, the contract for the actual work is between the client and the provider. Near-U facilitates it — payment, messaging, records — but the work itself is the provider's responsibility.
• We are not a bank or a wallet service. Payments are processed by licensed payment processors (currently Paystack). Escrow and wallet credit are booking-settlement mechanics, not deposit accounts.

"Verified" means a provider has passed our identity checks (documents and/or a selfie review by our team). It is a meaningful signal — but it is not a guarantee of the quality, safety, or legality of their work, and you should still exercise normal judgement.

04. Your account

• Accuracy. Register with your real name, a phone number you control, and accurate details. Your name is locked after signup so it always matches the person behind the reviews — contact support to correct a genuine mistake.
• Security. You're responsible for what happens under your account. Keep your password and sign-in codes to yourself. We send an email alert on new sign-ins — if one wasn't you, change your password immediately and tell us.
• One person, one account. Don't create accounts for other people, share accounts, or create duplicate accounts to dodge limits, reviews, or bans.
• Deletion. You can delete your account anytime from Settings in the app, from your web profile, or via our account deletion page. Bookings mid-flight need to finish or be cancelled first.

05. Bookings, pricing and payment

How a paid booking works

• You book a provider and pay through our payment processor. Your money goes into escrow — the provider sees the job only after the money is secured, and cannot touch it yet.
• The provider accepts, does the work, and marks it complete.
• You confirm completion, and the payment (minus Near-U's service fee) is released to the provider. Confirming is your statement that the work was done — so check the work before you confirm.

Pricing

Providers set their own prices — fixed, per hour, per day, per room, per square metre, per unit, "from" prices, or quote-on-request. The total shown at checkout is what you pay. Where a service is priced per unit, the total reflects the quantity you chose; final quantities used on site should be agreed with the provider before extra work happens.

Cash bookings

Some bookings can be paid in cash directly to the provider where we offer that option. Cash payments are settled between you and the provider — escrow protection does not apply to them, and Near-U collects its service fee from the provider separately.

Fees

Using Near-U as a client is free — you pay the price of the service. Providers pay a service fee (commission) on completed bookings at the rate shown for their plan, plus optional subscription plans. Payment processing is handled by our processor; their charges are built into how we settle, not added on top of your total.

06. Cancellations, refunds and disputes

• Before a provider accepts, you can cancel a booking in the app and any escrowed payment is refunded.
• After acceptance, cancel as early as you can — repeated late cancellations (by clients or providers) hurt the other side and can lead to account limits.
• If the work wasn't done or wasn't right, don't confirm completion. Raise it with the provider in chat first; if you can't resolve it, open a dispute with our support team at hello@near-u.ng. While a dispute is open, the escrowed money stays held. We'll review the evidence from both sides — messages, photos, the booking record — and release or refund accordingly. Our decision on escrow release is final within the platform, and doesn't limit any rights you have under Nigerian law.
• Refunds of escrowed payments go back the way they came, via our payment processor. Bank timelines apply.

07. Wallet credit and referrals

• Wallet credit (like signup bonuses and refer-and-earn rewards) is promotional. It's applied automatically against eligible paid bookings at checkout.
• It is not money: it can't be withdrawn, transferred to another person, or exchanged for cash, and it never leaves Near-U.
• Credit doesn't apply to cash bookings or direct-payment bookings (there's no checkout for it to reduce).
• We may change, expire, or withdraw promotional programmes at any time; abuse (fake referrals, duplicate accounts) forfeits the credit.

08. Additional terms for providers

If you offer services on Near-U, these apply on top of everything else:

• Independence. You are an independent contractor or business — not an employee, agent, or partner of Near-U. You're responsible for your own taxes, tools, permits, and any licences your trade requires.
• Verification. You must complete identity verification before clients can find or book you. Keep your profile truthful — your trade, service areas, photos, and prices must reflect what you actually offer.
• Doing the work. Accept only jobs you can do, show up when you agreed to, and do the work with reasonable skill and care. You are responsible for the quality and safety of your work and for any damage you cause on a job.
• Getting paid. Escrowed payments are released to your Near-U balance when the client confirms completion, minus the commission for your plan. You withdraw your balance to your own Nigerian bank account. Commission on cash bookings is collected from your deposit balance.
• Plans and subscriptions. Provider plans and client subscription tiers are billed on the Near-U website. Plan benefits (commission rates, job-board reach, featured placement) are as described on the plans page at the time you subscribe.
• No circumvention. Don't take clients you met through Near-U off the platform to avoid fees. It breaks the escrow protection your clients rely on, and it's grounds for removal.

09. Job posts and quotes

• Clients can post jobs describing work they need. Free accounts include a monthly allowance of job posts; paid tiers include more. Posts expire automatically after a set period.
• Providers respond with quotes. A quote is an offer — the contract forms when the client accepts it and (for paid jobs) pays into escrow.
• Post real jobs and send real quotes. Fake posts, spam quotes, and bait pricing waste everyone's time and are grounds for account limits.

10. Reviews and your content

• After a completed job, clients can review providers. Reviews must reflect your genuine experience of that job. You can edit a review within 24 hours of posting; after that it locks.
• Don't offer or accept anything in exchange for reviews, and don't review your own business or your competitors.
• You keep ownership of content you post (photos, descriptions, reviews, messages), but you give Near-U a licence to host and display it on the platform so the marketplace can function.
• We may remove content that breaks these terms, the law, or basic decency. In-app chat includes reporting and blocking tools; reports are reviewed by our team.

11. What you must not do

Do not:

• break the law, or use Near-U for anything illegal, fraudulent, or deceptive;
• harass, threaten, or abuse other users — in chat, on jobs, or anywhere else;
• circumvent escrow or platform fees by moving Near-U-originated work off the platform;
• post false information — fake profiles, fake jobs, fake quotes, fake reviews;
• misuse promotions, referral rewards, or wallet credit (including with duplicate accounts);
• scrape, copy, reverse-engineer, or interfere with the platform, or access it by any means other than the interfaces we provide;
• upload malware or content that infringes someone else's rights.

12. Disclaimers and liability

We work hard to keep Near-U safe, accurate, and available, but the platform is provided "as is". We can't promise it will always be uninterrupted or error-free, and we can't guarantee the conduct or workmanship of independent providers or the behaviour of clients.

To the fullest extent Nigerian law allows: Near-U's total liability to you for any claim arising out of the platform is limited to the greater of (a) the fees Near-U earned from the booking that gave rise to the claim, and (b) ₦50,000. We are not liable for indirect or consequential losses — lost profits, lost opportunities, or damage arising from the acts or omissions of other users.

Nothing in these terms excludes liability that cannot be excluded under Nigerian law, including liability for fraud, or your statutory rights as a consumer under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act.

13. Suspension and termination

• You can stop using Near-U and delete your account at any time.
• We can suspend or terminate accounts that break these terms, harm other users, or expose the platform to legal or security risk — with notice where practical, immediately where necessary.
• If your account is closed with money legitimately owed to you (an escrow release or provider balance), we'll settle it through the normal process unless the law or an ongoing dispute prevents it.
• Sections that by their nature should survive termination (payments owed, content licences, disclaimers, governing law) survive it.

14. Changes to these terms

Near-U is actively developed, and these terms will evolve with the product. When we make material changes we'll update the effective date at the top and, for significant changes, tell you in the app or by email. Continuing to use Near-U after a change takes effect means you accept the updated terms.

15. Governing law and contact

These terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Disputes that can't be resolved through our support process belong to the courts of competent jurisdiction in Nigeria.

Questions, complaints, or notices:

• Email: hello@near-u.ng
• Post: Near-U Ltd., Shop 22/23, Block P, Robinson Plaza, Deco Road, Warri, Delta State, Nigeria

Thanks for reading this far. Use Near-U well — book good work, do good work, and treat the person on the other side the way you'd want to be treated.