Terms of Service

This Terms of Service Agreement (the “Agreement”) is a binding contract between you (“you” or “User”) and STRETTCH CLOUD Limited (“Strettch Cloud,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). This Agreement governs your access to and use of the Strettch Cloud services (the “Services”).

By accessing or using our Services, you agree that you have read, understood, and accepted this Agreement, our Privacy Notice, and our Acceptable Use Policy, which is incorporated by reference into this Agreement.

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS, YOU MAY NOT ACCESS OR USE THE SERVICES.

1. Account Eligibility and Registration

1.1. Eligibility

To use the Services, you must be at least eighteen (18) years of age and have the legal capacity to enter into a binding contract. By creating an account, you represent and warrant that you meet these requirements.

1.2. Account Creation

You must create an account to access the Services, using either Google or GitHub for authentication. You are responsible for all activities that occur under your account and within any teams you own or are a member of.

1.3. Account Security

You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials. Strettch Cloud is not responsible for any loss or damage arising from your failure to protect your account.

1.4. Team Accounts

All Services on the Strettch Cloud platform are provisioned and billed on a "Team" basis. Even an individual user operates within a team of one. The user who creates a team is the owner and is responsible for all activity, billing, and user management associated with that team.**

2. Fees, Billing, and Payment

2.1. Payment Method Verification

As a prerequisite for your team to create its first resource (such as a virtual machine), you must add a valid payment method to your account. We require an active and verifiable credit or debit card on file before you can provision any Services. To validate your card, a small, temporary authorization hold may be placed on it, which is not a charge and will be released automatically.

2.2. Accepted Payment Methods

We accept payments through the following methods:

1. Credit and Debit Cards: We accept major cards, including Visa and Mastercard. All card payments are securely processed through our partner, IremboPay.
2. Mobile Money: Payments can be made via MTN Mobile Money and Airtel Money. You are responsible for maintaining an active payment method on file for your team and ensuring sufficient funds are available to cover your invoices.

2.3. Billing and Invoicing

1. Billing Cycle: Our billing period (the "Billing Cycle") begins on the first day of each month and ends on the last day of the same month.
2. Invoicing: An invoice detailing your team's usage and the total amount due for that Billing Cycle will be generated after the last day of each month (the "Invoice Date").
3. Payment Status: On the 1st of each month, your team's payment status is updated based on your account balance. There are three possible statuses:
   • Good Standing: Your account balance is positive or zero, and you have full access to all services
   • Past Due: Your account balance is negative, meaning you have unpaid charges
   • Suspended: Your account has remained in Past Due status and is subject to service restrictions
4. Payment Enforcement: While billing occurs monthly, payment enforcement follows a predictable 28-day cycle. This ensures consistent enforcement timelines that work the same way every month, regardless of varying month lengths.
5. Taxes: All prices for the Services are inclusive of Value Added Tax (VAT).

2.4. Pricing Changes

We may change our prices by giving you at least one (1) month's notice before the new prices become effective. Notice will be provided via email or through the Strettch Cloud platform.

2.5. Refund Policy

If you close your account and delete all associated teams, you may request a refund of your remaining balance. At the end of the final Billing Cycle, we will calculate your total consumption, deduct it from your balance, and refund the remaining amount to a payment method you specify. Any fees or charges incurred in processing the refund shall be covered by you.

3. Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)

Your use of the Services is subject to this AUP. You agree not to perform, nor allow any members of your team to perform, any of the following prohibited activities:

1. Illegal Activities: Engaging in any activity that is illegal under the laws of Rwanda or other international jurisdictions applicable to your use of the Services.
2. Malicious Content: Hosting or transmitting malware, viruses, phishing sites, or other harmful code or content.
3. Spam: Sending or facilitating unsolicited bulk email or other messages.
4. Denial of Service (DoS): Launching DoS attacks or being the target of such attacks.
5. Intellectual Property Infringement: Hosting or distributing copyrighted material without the necessary permissions or rights.
6. Cryptocurrency Mining: Using the Services for cryptocurrency mining.
7. High-Risk Activities: Using the Services in connection with any high-risk systems where failure could lead to serious harm, such as in the operation of life-support systems or aviation. A violation of this AUP may lead to the suspension or termination of your team's account.

4. Payment Enforcement and Account Actions

4.1. Payment Enforcement Timeline

When your team's account has a negative balance (Past Due status), we follow a consistent 28-day enforcement cycle:

Past Due Status (Days 1-14 of enforcement cycle):

• Your team cannot create new resources (VMs, storage, etc.)
• All existing resources continue to run normally
• You retain full access to the platform and can manage your existing resources
• We will send email reminders every 4 days about the outstanding balance
• You can restore Good Standing status at any time by bringing your account balance to zero or positive

Suspended Status (Days 15-28 of enforcement cycle):

• All your team's resources (VMs, databases, etc.) are powered down and become inaccessible
• Your team loses access to the Strettch Cloud platform and web console
• Login attempts will redirect you to a payment page
• We continue sending email reminders every 4 days
• Your data remains preserved during this period
• You can restore access at any time by bringing your account balance to zero or positive

4.2. Account Suspension for Policy Violations

We may also suspend your team's account for violations of our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), regardless of payment status.

1. Investigation Process: For suspected AUP violations, we will investigate the matter and may temporarily suspend access during the investigation.
2. Reactivation: If we determine, in our sole discretion, that the issue has been resolved or the suspicion was unfounded, we will reactivate your account.

4.3. Account Termination and Data Deletion

1. Trigger for Termination: We reserve the right to permanently terminate your team's account if it remains in Suspended status beyond 28 days of the enforcement cycle (Day 29 and beyond).
2. Final Notice: Before termination, we will send a final email notification warning of impending data deletion.
3. Effect of Termination: Upon termination, all resources and associated data (VMs, snapshots, volumes, backups, etc.) for your team will be permanently and irreversibly destroyed in a manner that prevents reconstruction.
4. Irreversible Process: This data deletion process is final. Once resources are destroyed, they cannot be recovered by you or by Strettch Cloud staff under any circumstances.

5. Service Level Agreement (SLA)

We guarantee a 98% uptime for our virtual machine and network services during any given monthly billing cycle. If we fall below this guarantee, you may request a service credit equal to 100% of the lost usage time, billed at the regular hourly rate for the affected resource(s), up to the total amount you were charged for those resources during that billing period. Service credit requests must be filed within three (3) months of the relevant billing cycle and will be applied to a future invoice upon validation.

6. User Content and Responsibilities

6.1. Ownership of Content

You and your team members retain all rights and ownership of the content and data you upload to or create on the Services ("User Content"). We do not claim any ownership rights to your User Content.

6.2. User Responsibilities

You are solely responsible for your User Content and for securing it. This includes making regular backups, using strong credentials, and applying necessary security patches to your VMs. Our paid backup service will be available for this purpose. While we implement security measures to protect our infrastructure, we are not responsible for data loss caused by your actions. This does not apply in cases of force majeure.

7. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

7.1. Governing Law

This Agreement and any dispute arising from it will be governed by the laws of the Republic of Rwanda.

7.2. Dispute Resolution

The parties agree to resolve any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of this Agreement through the following process:

1. Informal Negotiation: The parties will first attempt to resolve the dispute informally by contacting each other.
2. Formal Mediation: If the dispute is not resolved through negotiation, the parties agree to enter into formal mediation.
3. Litigation: If mediation fails, the dispute shall be resolved through litigation in the competent commercial courts of Kigali, Rwanda.

8. General Provisions

8.1. Changes to Terms

We reserve the right to modify this Agreement at any time. We will provide notice of material changes by sending an email to the address associated with your account or by posting a notice on our platform, as described in our Privacy Notice. Your continued use of the Services after such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Agreement.

8.2. Entire Agreement

This Agreement, along with the Privacy Notice and Acceptable Use Policy, constitutes the entire agreement between you and Strettch Cloud and supersedes all prior agreements.