Terms of use

1. The service

vChat allows adults to get to know each other through voice and video calls. The service is published by La Pieuvre Technologique, a limited liability company (SARL) with a share capital of 30,000,000 FCFA, registered with the Abidjan Trade and Personal Property Register (RCCM) under number CI-ABJ-03-2024-B12-00789 (IDU CI-2024-0071029 E), whose registered office is in Abidjan, Cocody Angré Château, Résidence Pierre Gabrielle, Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, and offered in Benin, Togo and Côte d’Ivoire.

2. Who can sign up

• You must be 18 years of age or older.
• You must have a phone number from one of the four countries, which you use personally.
• A person may hold only one account, and an account may not be lent or transferred.
• You may not sign up again if your account has been suspended.

3. Your profile

Your username, your photos and your description must represent you, yourself, and remain appropriate. Photos and descriptions are reviewed by our team before they become visible; we may reject them, stating the reason.

The verifications (identity: name, date of birth, national ID card or passport and a selfie; then address) are optional. They tell others that checks have been carried out; they guarantee neither a person’s behaviour nor their intentions.

4. What is prohibited

• Harassing, threatening, insulting or making hateful remarks.
• Showing or requesting sexual content, and any form of prostitution or paid offer.
• Soliciting money, offering investments, or any attempted fraud.
• Impersonating someone else or using another person’s photos.
• Recording a call, or sharing images or excerpts of it, without the other person’s consent.
• Using the service for commercial or advertising purposes, or collecting data about other users on it.
• Attempting to circumvent the service’s technical protections.

5. Reporting, blocking and suspension

You can block a person or report them to our team from the app at any time. The person concerned is not informed.

We review every report. In the event of a breach of these terms, we may reject content or suspend an account, without notice where the safety of other users requires it. A suspended account loses access to the service, including to its remaining credit.

6. Plans and call credit

• A plan provides call credit and a validity period. As long as it is active, you can make calls. Making yourself visible and receiving calls do not require any plan.
• Only the person making the call is charged, per second, from the moment the other person answers.
• Credit unused at the end of the validity period is lost. It is neither carried over nor refunded.
• A call is automatically cut off when the caller’s credit runs out.
• A welcome pack is offered only once per phone number.

7. Boost

A boost places your profile in the featured section at the top of the list for the country of your choice for the duration purchased. The number of spots is limited; the purchase is refused when they are all taken. If the spots fill up before your payment is confirmed, the amount paid is credited to your wallet (section 8). The boost keeps running if you go offline: it is neither paused nor refunded.

8. Payment and refunds

Prices are displayed in CFA francs, all taxes included. Payment is made by Mobile Money or card, through PayPlus. Your purchase is activated as soon as payment is confirmed.

Plans and boosts are digital services activated immediately: they are not refundable once activated, except in the event of an error on our part or a legal provision to the contrary. Plans and boosts are digital services supplied as soon as payment is made: by buying them, you ask for them to start immediately and you waive your right of withdrawal once they are activated. If you are charged but your plan or boost is not credited, write to us: we will credit it or refund you. The mandatory consumer protection rules of your country remain applicable.

Wallet. Your account has a wallet in CFA francs. You can top it up by Mobile Money or card; it also receives the amount of a boost that could not be activated because no spot was available. Wallet funds are non-refundable: they are not refunded, withdrawn or transferred to another account. They must be used to buy call plans or boosts in the app. You accept these terms before each top-up.

If you have a payment problem, write to vchat@lapieuvre.tech stating your number and the date of the purchase.

9. Meeting in person

vChat puts people in contact with each other; we do not check users’ backgrounds and we are not a party to your meetings. If you decide to meet someone:

• choose a busy public place;
• let someone close to you know the place and time;
• stay in control of your own transport;
• never send money to a person you met on the app.

10. Service availability

We do our best to keep vChat running continuously, but cannot guarantee it. The quality of a call also depends on your network and that of the person you are talking to. The service may be interrupted for maintenance.

11. Liability

You are responsible for what you publish and for your behaviour towards others. We are not responsible for the actions of users, whether in the app or outside it. To the extent permitted by law, the liability of La Pieuvre Technologique is limited to direct and foreseeable damage resulting from a breach of these terms, and may not exceed the amount you paid to vChat during the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to it. This limit does not apply in the event of gross negligence or wilful misconduct on our part, or where the law prohibits it.

12. Closing your account

You can delete your account at any time, in the app or on the Delete my account page. Deletion is immediate and cannot be undone: your account is deleted, and your remaining call credit and your wallet balance are lost. Your number is released: you can sign up again with it on a new account, without a new welcome pack. Your former username remains unavailable.

13. Your data

The processing of your data is described in our privacy policy.

14. Changes to these terms

If these terms change significantly, we will inform you in the app before the changes take effect. Continuing to use vChat after that date constitutes acceptance.

15. Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of Côte d’Ivoire. In the event of a dispute, please first write to us at vchat@lapieuvre.tech to seek an amicable solution. Failing agreement within 30 days, the dispute will be brought before the competent courts of Abidjan, subject to any mandatory rules allowing you to bring proceedings before the courts of your country of residence.

16. Contact us

By e-mail: vchat@lapieuvre.tech. By post: La Pieuvre Technologique, Cocody Angré Château, Résidence Pierre Gabrielle, Abidjan, Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. You can also use the Contact us page.

17. Referral

When referral is open, a user whose identity is verified and who is authorised by the vChat team may invite other people with their referral link or code. The code must be entered at sign-up; it cannot be added afterwards.

• The referrer receives a percentage of the first purchases of each of their referees paid by Mobile Money or by card, according to the percentage and number of purchases indicated in the app. Wallet top-ups and purchases paid with the wallet do not generate earnings.
• Earnings appear in the Referral menu. The referrer chooses the transactions for which they request payment; these are then paid into their “My referral earnings” account and cannot be paid a second time.
• Creating fictitious accounts, self-referral and any scheme aimed at generating artificial earnings result in cancellation of the earnings and suspension of the accounts concerned.

18. Referral earnings and withdrawals

The “My referral earnings” account is separate from the wallet. Unlike the wallet, its funds can be withdrawn to a Mobile Money number.

• Earnings become withdrawable after a safety period indicated in the app.
• A withdrawal requires a verified identity and, where applicable, is subject to a minimum amount indicated in the app. Each request is checked by the vChat team before the transfer; the team may refuse it, stating the reason, in which case the amount becomes available again.
• vChat may suspend a withdrawal in the event of a report, a dispute or suspected fraud.

A withdrawal fee, covering the cost of the Mobile Money transfer, is charged by vChat on each withdrawal: its rate is shown in the app, together with the amount you will receive, before you confirm the request. Once approved by the vChat team, the withdrawal, less this fee, is paid to your Mobile Money number within 72 hours.