1. Parties and Agreement
These Terms & Conditions ("Terms") constitute a binding agreement between Mirembe Muse Pty Ltd ("we", "us", "VarsityOS") and you ("User", "you"), a person accessing or using the VarsityOS platform.
By creating an account or using the platform you confirm that you:
- Are at least 18 years old and legally capable of entering a binding agreement
- Are a university student or prospective student in South Africa
- Have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy
2. Description of Service
VarsityOS is a digital student support platform providing tools including academic planning, budget tracking, AI-powered assistance (Nova), meal planning, group assignment management, and part-time work management.
The platform is offered on a freemium basis:
- Free tier: Core features with 10 Nova AI messages per month
- Scholar (R39/month): 75 Nova messages per month plus AI Recipe Generator and priority support
- Premium (R79/month): 200 Nova messages per month, all Scholar features, CSV data export, and early access to new features
3. User Obligations
You agree to:
- Provide accurate, truthful information when creating your account and profile
- Keep your login credentials confidential and notify us immediately of any unauthorised access
- Use the platform only for lawful purposes consistent with South African law
- Not attempt to bypass, hack, reverse-engineer, or exploit any part of the platform
- Not use the AI (Nova) to generate harmful, illegal, or abusive content
- Not share your account with others or create multiple accounts
- Not use automated scripts, bots, or tools to interact with the platform
4. AI Disclaimer (Nova) — Important
Nova is an AI companion, not a licensed professional. Specifically:
- Nova is not a licensed therapist, psychologist, financial advisor, or legal advisor
- Nothing Nova says constitutes professional mental health advice, financial advice, or legal advice
- In a mental health emergency, call SADAG (0800 21 4446) or your university counselling centre — do not rely solely on Nova
- Financial information provided by Nova is for general guidance only — consult a qualified financial advisor for important decisions
- AI responses may contain errors. Always verify important information from official sources
- Nova uses Anthropic's Claude AI — by using Nova you accept Anthropic's terms of service
5. Payments and Subscriptions
Premium subscriptions are processed by PayFast (DPO PayGate (Pty) Ltd), a registered payment service provider in South Africa.
- All prices are in South African Rand (ZAR) and are inclusive of VAT where applicable
- Subscriptions are billed monthly and renew automatically unless cancelled
- You may cancel at any time; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period
- Refund policy: Refunds are available within 7 days of initial purchase if the service is materially defective. Contact support to request a refund. No refunds for partial months of use.
- We reserve the right to change pricing with 30 days' written notice
- Your premium status will lapse if a recurring payment fails — you will be notified by email
6. Referral Program
- Referral credits are bonus Nova messages, not cash or real premium status
- Credits are awarded only when a referred user successfully creates and verifies an account
- Each user may only benefit from one referral credit (as a referred user)
- We reserve the right to reverse referral credits if abuse or fraud is detected
- Referral credits have no monetary value and cannot be transferred or redeemed for cash
- We may modify or discontinue the referral program at any time with reasonable notice
7. Intellectual Property
All content, design, code, and features of VarsityOS are the intellectual property of Mirembe Muse Pty Ltd, protected under South African copyright law. You may not reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works without our written consent.
You retain ownership of all content you create in the platform (tasks, notes, budget entries). By using the platform you grant us a limited licence to process and store this content to provide the service.
8. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by South African law:
- We are not liable for any loss of data, academic failure, financial loss, or other consequential damages arising from use of the platform
- The platform is provided "as is" without warranty of uninterrupted availability or error-free operation
- Our total liability to you in any 12-month period shall not exceed the amount you paid us in subscription fees during that period
- Nothing in these Terms excludes liability for gross negligence, fraud, or death/personal injury caused by our negligence, as these cannot be excluded under South African law
9. Service Availability
We aim for 99% uptime but do not guarantee uninterrupted service. Scheduled maintenance will be announced in advance where possible. We are not responsible for downtime caused by third-party providers (Supabase, Vercel, Anthropic, PayFast) or events outside our reasonable control (force majeure).
10. Account Termination
We may suspend or terminate your account immediately if you:
- Breach these Terms
- Engage in fraudulent activity (including payment fraud or referral abuse)
- Use the platform to harm others or engage in illegal activity
- Attempt to circumvent usage limits or security measures
You may delete your own account at any time. We will process deletion requests within 30 days. Financial records required by law will be retained for 5 years.
11. Electronic Communications Act Compliance
This agreement is concluded electronically and is binding under the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (ECTA). You agree that electronic communications constitute valid written notices for purposes of this agreement.
Our full company registration details and registered address are available on request from legal@varsityos.co.za.
12. Consumer Protection
Where you are a consumer as defined in the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (CPA), nothing in these Terms reduces or waives rights you have under the CPA. To lodge a CPA complaint contact the National Consumer Commission: www.thencc.gov.za.
13. Governing Law and Disputes
These Terms are governed by the laws of South Africa. Any dispute shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the South African courts. We encourage resolution of disputes through good-faith negotiation before legal proceedings.
For disputes under R200,000 you may approach the Small Claims Court. For larger disputes, the High Court of South Africa has jurisdiction.
14. Changes to Terms
We may update these Terms. We will provide at least 30 days' notice of material changes via email or prominent in-app notice. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance. If you do not agree to the changes, you must stop using the platform and may request account deletion.