
The User’s
(Your) usage of the online information services contained on the Website, and
the bulk sms gateway services “Services,” the provision of which is facilitated
by the Website, constitutes Your acceptance of the Terms and Conditions of
Usage contained below and Your arising obligations towards SMS Portal. This Website
Legal Notice is binding and enforceable on You in terms of sections 11(1) to
11(3) of the Electronic Communications and Transactions (“ECT”)
Act 25 of 2002. The Website Terms and Conditions of Usage agreement
contained in this section was last revised on 12 April 2010. You are advised to
regularly check these terms and conditions for any amendments or updates.
Enquiries: info@smsportal.co.za

1.1
Limited Liability of SMS Portal: The User understands, acknowledges and
agrees that usage of the Website and Services is at the sole discretion and
risk of the User. SMS Portal reserves the right at any time to change or
discontinue any aspect or feature of the Website or Services, including, but not
limited to, content, hours of availability, products, Services offered and
equipment needed for access or use the Website. Notwithstanding the effort
placed on maintaining the availability and accessibility of the Website and
Services, SMS Portal takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for
the Website or Services being temporarily unavailable or inaccessible for
whatsoever reason.
1.2
No Warranty: The information contained on the
Website and the Services provided via the Website is provided by SMS Portal
and/or its partners, members, suppliers or agents without warranty of any kind,
express or implied, including (but not limited to) any implied warranties of
reliability, fitness for any particular purpose, timeliness, sequence,
completeness, non-infringement of third party rights and/or freedom from errors
or inaccuracies.
1.3
Indemnification of SMS Portal: You agree to defend, indemnify and hold
SMS Portal, its officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors and
suppliers, harmless from and against any claims, damages, actions and
liabilities including without limitation, your loss of profits, direct,
indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages arising out of
the use of or inability to use the Website or the Services; and any reasonable
legal and accounting fees, resulting from, or alleged to result from Your use
of this Website or the Services.
1.4
Account at SMS Portal: SMS Portal Website allows you to create
an Account to use the SMS Portal Services. You accept and agree that SMS Portal
may cease provision of the Services, and/or terminate Your Account, delete Your
User content, cancel orders and/or prohibit Your further use of the Website and/or
Services at its sole discretion, with or without notice.
1.5
Usernames & Passwords: To activate an Account with SMS Portal,
Users will be required to provide a username and password. This username and
password will serve as Your identification with regard to the Services provided
by SMS Portal. Should your username and/or password’s confidentiality have been
compromised, You are to notify SMS Portal immediately so that a new username and
password may be issued to You. SMS Portal accepts no liability for any
transactions performed by third parties who come into the possession of Your
username and password.
1.6
Unauthorised use of the Website and
Services: The
User is permitted to use the Website and Services for lawful purposes only.
Unauthorised use of the Services and Website includes posting or transmission
of data which violates or infringes in any way this Legal Notice or the rights
of SMS Portal or third parties, for the purposes of distribution of defamatory,
unsolicited, or otherwise objectionable, or offensive in the discretion of SMS
Portal. Unauthorised use of this Website may result in termination of your
Account, and/or You may be found guilty of a statutory and/or criminal offence
and/or be liable for civil damages. The Services provided by SMS Portal are not
available to minors and minors may under no circumstances create Accounts. By
using the Services provided by SMS Portal, You confirm that you are capable of
entering into a binding agreement, and You warrant that the information
submitted by You in creating Your Account is true and accurate.
1.7
Website Links: From time to time this Website may
include links to other websites. These links are provided for Your convenience
for the purposes of providing further information. Such links do not signify
that SMS Portal endorses the website(s) linked to. You agree that SMS Portal
shall have no responsibility or bear no liability in relation to the content of
the linked website(s).You may not create a link to this Website from another
website or document without SMS Portal’s prior consent in Writing, in which
case the terms of Your linking to the Website shall be governed by the terms of
a “Linking Agreement” with SMS Portal.
1.8 Applicable
Law and Jurisdiction: This Agreement, the Services and the
electronic communications and transactions conducted via the Website shall be
governed by and be interpreted in accordance with the law of South Africa and
the User consents to the jurisdiction of the Grahams town High Court in the
event of any dispute. Any dispute regarding this Agreement or the Services that
cannot be resolved between the Parties, shall however, first be referred to
confidential arbitration in terms of the rules of the Arbitration Foundation of
South Africa prior to proceeding to Court and such arbitration shall be
conducted in English. Access to the Website and use of the Services in
territories or countries where this Website or the Services contained on it is
illegal is strictly prohibited. The User may not use this Website in violation
of South African export laws and regulations. Further and in addition to the
compliance with the laws of South Africa, the User shall procure that any
communications sent by the User through the Services of SMS Portal shall in all
instances (i) comply with the local laws of the recipient of such
communications and (ii) not constitute a violation of such recipient’s rights.
Users operating in the European Union shall comply with all relevant laws,
directives and Codes of Conduct in force including without limitation, the EU
Directive 2002/58/EC, Directive 2000/31/EC, Directive 95/46/EC, Directive
93/13/EC and all national member state laws promulgated in terms thereof as
well as the Mobile Marketing Association Code of Conduct available at http://www.mmaglobal.com. Users of the Services shall further comply
with any relevant code of conduct for the wireless industry to which SMS Portal
is subject, including the Wireless Applications Service Provider (WASPA) Code
of Conduct located at http://www.waspa.org.za/code/codeconduct.shtml.
1.8
Severability: If any provision of this Website Legal
Notice is found to be invalid by any court having competent jurisdiction, the
invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining
provisions of the Website Legal Notice, which shall remain in full force and
effect.
1.9
Website Intellectual Property: This Website constitutes software,
services and content (such as text, animation, photos, video, graphics, music,
sound and voice) that is the intellectual property of SMS Portal and/or various
third parties and subject to the intellectual property laws of South Africa.
Further, and to the extent that SMS Portal does not own specific content or
such content falls within the public domain, SMS Portal may hold copyright in the selection,
coordination, arrangement and enhancement of such information on the Website.
No license to SMS Portal’s intellectual property or the intellectual property
of third parties has been granted to You unless otherwise indicated. The software,
Services and content may not be used in violation of the intellectual property
rights of SMS Portal and/or such third parties as applicable. Without
limitation on the prohibitions placed on the User, the User expressly agrees
not to:
1.9.1
commercially exploit, reproduce, distribute, transmit, display,
publish or broadcast any Website content without the prior written of SMS
Portal or in the case of third party content, the owner of that content;
1.9.2
the User agrees not to claim or convey ownership of Website
content either in its entirety or otherwise;
1.9.3
modify the Website content for the purposes of reposting to other
websites;
1.9.4
alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from the
Website content;
1.9.5
copy or otherwise incorporate Website content into or store in any
other web site, electronic retrieval system, publication or other work in any
form; and/or
1.9.6
frame the Website or any part of
the Website.

The following table contains further
information on SMS Portal and represents the information that must be provided
by SMS Portal to You in compliance with Section 43 of the Electronic
Communications and Transactions Act. This section of the Website Legal Notice
was last revised on 25 March 2010. You are advised to regularly check this
section of the Website Legal Notice for any amendments or updates.
Enquiries: info@smsportal.co.za
|
NO. |
QUESTION |
ANSWER |
|
|
The full name of SMS Portal; |
SMS Portal (Pty) Ltd, a limited
liability company incorporated in terms of the Companies Act of South Africa. |
|
|
SMS Portal’s physical address and
telephone number |
311 Cape Road Newton Park Port Elizabeth 6001 Tel: 0860 1112021 |
|
|
SMS Portal’s web site address and
email contact address: |
|
|
|
Membership of any self-regulatory or
accreditation bodies to which SMS Portal belongs or subscribes |
Wireless Applicators Service
Providers Association (WASPA) |
|
|
The registration number of SMS Portal |
Registration Number: |
|
|
The place of registration |
South Africa |
|
|
The names of Directors |
Mr. C. P Stretch & Mr. J.E Pearce |
|
|
The physical address where SMS Portal
will receive legal service of documents |
311 Cape Road Newton Park Port Elizabeth 6001 |
|
|
Description of the main
characteristics of the products or services offered by SMS Portal |
Bulk sms gateway |
|
|
Alternative Dispute Resolution Code |
You agree that in the event of a dispute or alleged breach of the
terms hereof You will work together with SMS Portal in good faith to resolve
the matter by escalating it to higher levels of management prior to resorting
to arbitration. |

3.1
Privacy and Personal Information: SMS Portal endeavours to comply with
all laws and regulations including the 1996 South African Constitution and
other legislation providing for privacy. As such, SMS Portal seeks to ensure
the quality and accuracy of personal
information in its possession and under its control, and also, to ensure that all existing and new
personal information is collected and processed in compliance with South
African law.
3.2 Personal Information Collected, Principle of Minimalism &
Purpose of Collection:
Please be assured that the privacy of SMS Portal customers and Users of our Website
is of the utmost importance to SMS Portal. The SMS Portal Website collects,
processes and stores personal information of its customers and Users of the
Website subject to the following principles:
3.2.1
Relevant and minimal personal information of customers is collected
for the purpose of managing Customer’s affairs with SMS Portal. For the
avoidance of doubt, Customers referred to herein constitute persons with valid
Accounts with SMS Portal and accessing or using the Services, as such Customers
shall also constitute Users of the Website. Not all Users however will have
valid Accounts with SMS Portal and therefore not all Users shall be Customers.
3.2.2
Relevant and minimal personal information of Users is collected
automatically by SMS Portal and its authorised technology agents as a result of
User’s visits to the SMS Portal Website. This information is used to make Your visit
to the Website site more efficient, and analysis thereof facilitates
improvements made to Your experience of the Website. Our agents and service
providers may also automatically log Your “IP address” which is a unique
identifier for Your computer or other access device. Further and to the extent
necessary, SMS Portal may utilise Your contact information. Where applicable,
personal information submitted by You may be used for communications with You
such as marketing or rendering services requested by You from SMS Portal. This
information may include, without limitation, Your name, email address, mobile
phone and landline phone details. SMS Portal will not edit, disclose or sell
any personal information to third parties other than required for the provision
of the Services and in the ordinary course of business. You agree that Your
submission of Your personal information indicates Your willingness for such
information to be used as discussed above.
3.3
Handling of Personal Information: Users acknowledge that records relating
to the provision of services and personal Information may be required to be
retained in terms of law, operational purposes and for evidential reasons by
SMS Portal and Users expressly agree to such retention and necessary access to
such records by authorised SMS Portal persons.
Users
acknowledge further that it is customary and in the normal course of business,
for certain communications to be intercepted and monitored while travelling
over telecommunication networks (for system health and forensic reasons). Subject
to the provisions of the Regulation of
Interception of Communications (RIC) Act 70 of 2002, the Customer consents to SMS Portal’s
interception, and monitoring of all communications sent by the Customer to SMS
Portal. The Customer agrees and acknowledges such consent meets the
"writing" requirement as detailed in the ECT Act and the RIC Act.
Further, and to the extent necessary, SMS Portal may utilise Your
contact information to provide You with information requested by You in
relation to events or new services offered by SMS Portal.
Your contact information and the contact information of third
parties submitted by You may be used for communications such as marketing and
distribution of newsletters with You and/or such third parties This contact
information includes without limitation, names, email addresses and/or the name
of the respective person’s company. In providing information relating to third
parties You, the User warrant that You have the right to provide such
information. You agree that your submission of your information indicates Your
willingness for Your information to be used as discussed above.
3.4 Disclosure of personal information: SMS Portal may disclose personal
information:
3.4.1
to comply with the law or with legal process;
3.4.2
protect and defend SMS Portal’s rights, equipment, facilities, and
other property;
3.4.3
protect SMS Portal against misuse or unauthorised use of the Web
site; and/ or
3.4.4
protect other Website Users or third parties affected negatively
by Your use of the Website.
SMSPortal
shall not be obliged to ascertain or provide the identity of the sender of any
messages or content.

4.1 Agreements of Sale by Electronic
Transaction: The
provision of the Service (bulk sms gateway) through the Website constitutes a
legally valid transaction between You and SMS Portal subject to the terms and
conditions specified herein.
4.2 Cancellations of Transactions: SMS
Portal reserves the right, to refuse to accept, process or honour payment on
any order and to cancel any transaction at their discretion including an order
for which payment has been received. The reasons may include, without
limitation, causes beyond the control of SMS Portal, where the “stock” held by
SMS Portal is insufficient, or not of an adequate quality in the discretion of
SMS Portal. Should SMS Portal cancel the order, as abovementioned, the User
shall be entitled to receive a full refund of any monies actually received by
SMS Portal. Any order cancellations by You will be subject to a deduction of
10% of the total purchase price as an administration fee.
4.3 Quality and Functionality of Services: Any complaints regarding the quality and/or
functionality of the Services should be directed to info@smsportal.co.za.
4.4 Anti-Spam: SMSPortal subscribes to an “Anti-Spam”
policy in respect of the Services provided. In accordance, the Services shall
not be used for the sending of unsolicited messages, notifications, alerts,
messages or communications.
SMSPortal automatically monitors all incoming messages for keywords such as
"stop", "remove", "delete" and
"unsubscribe". If SMS Portal detects such a keyword in the contents
of communications SMS Portal shall delete the relevant number from the Customer’s
contacts and place the relevant number in a "deleted" inbox. Should
the Customer re-import the number; such number will be filtered out from the
import process. In this regard, all Customers of the Service warrant possession
of the necessary authority, consent or permissions to enter into communications
with the Customer’s contacts when using the Service and indemnify SMS Portal
from any claims against SMS Portal by any of the Customer’s contacts in respect
of unsolicited messages, notifications, alerts, messages or communications.
4.5 Limitation of Liability: Neither SMSPortal,
nor any service provider appointed by SMSPortal shall be held responsible for
any injury, loss or damage of any kind whatsoever suffered or incurred as a
result of use of the Services including, without limitation, any injury, loss
or damage suffered as a result of:
-
data security, privacy, availability and reliability
of message processing and transmission;
-
Errors or discrepancies in the information provided;
-
Any unauthorised access of the Services by third
parties;
-
Any breakdown` or failure of any equipment or medium
of access to the Services;
-
Any failure or unavailability of any of SMSPortal's or
any third parties' facilities or systems resulting in the inability to process
any transaction;
-
The destruction or accessing of Your or any third
parties data or equipment.
-
Any alteration, modification, upgrade or update of the
Services or any technology, hardware or software modification that may form
part of the Services.
4.6 Unauthorised Use of Services: Unauthorised
use of the Services include reproduction, duplication, copying, adaptation,
sale, resell or exploit for any commercial purposes, any portion of the
Services, use of the Services, or access to the Services and without
limitation, use of the Services:
-
that impersonates or harasses any other person;
-
to send any information, the disclosure of which would
be abusive, threatening, false, fraudulent, misleading or obscene, that
misappropriates or infringes any person's proprietary right;
-
that violates any persons right of privacy or publicity;
-
to send communications that contain any sexual,
racist, or discriminatory content constituting harassment of any individual or
organisation;
-
that constitutes unauthorised interception of
communications;
-
to release, post, distribute or execute any viruses or
other harmful computer code;
-
to transmit any content that infringes any patent,
trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other proprietary rights of any part;
-
to engage in transmission of unsolicited mass
distribution of messages or any similar conduct.
4.7 E-Commerce
& Credit Card Payments: The Customer
authorises SMS Portal charge the credit card submitted by the Customer as the
manner/ mode of payment for the Services described herein. The Customer
warrants that the Customer is an authorised user of such credit card. SMS
Portal takes reasonable precautions to secure the processing of the Customer’s credit
card but shall no t be liable for any security breaches attributable to the
Customer including without limitation, the failure of the Customer to ensure
that the Customer’s electronic devices used to access the Services are secure.