Terms and Conditions

The Kochi website and dashboards (together, the “Platform”) are operated by Kochi Assistive Technologies (“Kochi”, “we”, “us”), P.O. Box 53187-00200, Nairobi, Kenya.

By creating an account, ticking the agreement box at sign-up, or otherwise using the Platform, you agree to these terms and to our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Platform.

Nothing in these terms limits any right you have under the Consumer Protection Act, 2012 or other Kenyan law that cannot be excluded by agreement.

Each account has one role. In these terms:

• Clients are people seeking assistive technology, or a parent or legal guardian acting for a client under 18.
• Assessors are licensed practitioners who carry out functional assessments and recommend products.
• Technicians install, fit, maintain and repair assistive devices.
• Merchants list and supply assistive products.
• Donors are individuals and organisations who fund assessments and devices for clients.
• Administrators are Kochi staff who verify accounts, approve prices, funding and payouts, and keep the Platform safe.

• You must be at least 18 years old to create an account.
• A parent or legal guardian may create and manage a client account for a child under 18. By doing so you confirm you have the legal authority to act for the child and to consent to the processing of their information.
• You must give accurate, current information and keep it up to date. Assessors, technicians and merchants must provide valid licence, certification or business permit details, which we verify before granting full access. We may refuse or revoke verification at our discretion.
• You may sign in with an email address and password or with your Google account. You are responsible for keeping your credentials secure and for activity under your account. Tell us immediately at the address below if you suspect unauthorised access.
• Accounts are personal. Do not share, sell or transfer your account or impersonate anyone else.

Assessors and technicians are independent professionals. They are not employees, agents or partners of Kochi, and they are solely responsible for the professional services they provide. If you offer services as an assessor or technician, you agree to:

• hold, and keep current, every licence, registration and qualification your work requires in the places you work;
• follow the professional and ethical standards of your profession, including obtaining a client's informed consent before an assessment or fitting;
• use client information only to deliver the service the client booked, and keep it confidential;
• charge only the assessment price approved on the Platform, and not ask clients to pay you outside the Platform for bookings made through it;
• keep your payout details accurate. Payout requests are reviewed and approved by an administrator and paid to the bank account or M-Pesa number you provide. We are not responsible for losses caused by incorrect payout details you supply.

If you list products on the Platform, you agree to:

• describe products, prices and availability accurately and keep listings up to date;
• only list products you are legally entitled to sell and that meet applicable Kenyan safety and standards requirements;
• fulfil orders promptly and handle warranties, returns and faulty goods in line with Kenyan consumer law;
• treat any client information you receive, including answers to assessment forms you own, as confidential and use it only to serve that client.

Merchants are the sellers of the products they list. Kochi provides the Platform that connects clients with merchants. How merchants are settled for orders is covered by a separate agreement between Kochi and each merchant.

Assessments and product recommendations on the Platform support decisions about assistive technology. They are not a diagnosis, are not a substitute for medical treatment, and are not an emergency service. If you need urgent medical help, contact your nearest health facility or emergency services.

Information in our resource library is general guidance and may not suit your circumstances. Talk to a qualified professional before acting on it.

Clients can book assessments at a clinic, a mobile clinic or, where offered, at home. A booking is confirmed once the assessment fee has been paid, or once funding has been approved where a donor pays.

• If you cannot attend, cancel as early as possible, and at least 24 hours before the appointment.
• If an assessor or technician cannot attend, they must tell you and us as early as possible. We will help you rebook or arrange a refund.
• Repeated no-shows by any party may lead to restrictions on the account.

• All charges are made in Kenya Shillings (KES). Amounts shown in other currencies are estimates for convenience only and may differ from what your bank or mobile money provider charges.
• Payments are processed by our payment provider, Paystack. We never see or store your full card details. Paystack's own terms also apply to your payment.
• Assessment prices are set by assessors and approved by an administrator before they are shown to clients.
• Any fee you are asked to pay is shown before you confirm the payment. You will not be charged anything you have not seen and approved.
• An order or booking is created only after the payment provider confirms your payment.

Refunds are handled case by case by our support team. To ask for one, email support@kochi.africa with your payment reference as soon as possible, and ideally within 14 days of the charge. As a guide:

• Duplicate charges, and payments taken where no order or booking was created, are refunded in full.
• Assessment fees are refunded if you cancel at least 24 hours before the appointment, or if the assessor cancels or does not attend.
• Products that arrive faulty, are not as described, or are not delivered are repaired, replaced or refunded in line with Kenyan consumer law.
• Donations are not refundable, except where a payment was made in error (for example a duplicate or a wrong amount) and is reported promptly.

Approved refunds are returned to the original payment method through Paystack. How long the money takes to reach you depends on your bank or mobile money provider.

• Donations are paid into a shared pool used to fund assessments and assistive devices for clients who need financial support.
• Assessors request funding for a specific client's needs, and an administrator reviews and approves each request before money is allocated. Your impact preferences guide how we report on and prioritise funds, but we do not guarantee a donation will fund a particular person or product.
• Choosing a "recurring" option records your intention to give regularly. We do not take automatic repeat payments; each donation is a separate payment that you make.
• Impact reports we share with donors do not identify clients unless the client has agreed.

You must not:

• break any law, or use the Platform to defraud, harass, discriminate against or exploit anyone;
• upload false documents, or information about another person without the right to do so;
• access accounts, data or parts of the Platform you are not authorised to access, or probe, scan or test its security without our written permission;
• interfere with the Platform, including by introducing malware or overloading it;
• copy, scrape or resell Platform content or data, except as these terms allow;
• use the Platform to send spam or unsolicited marketing.

You keep ownership of the information, documents and images you upload. You give Kochi a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to store, process and display that content only as needed to run the Platform and provide the services you use, as described in our Privacy Policy. You confirm you have the right to share it.

The Platform, its design, software, text, resource articles and the Kochi name and logo belong to Kochi Assistive Technologies or its licensors. You may use them only to use the Platform as intended. Product names and images remain the property of their owners.

The Platform relies on third-party services, including Paystack for payments and Google for optional sign-in, and may link to other websites. Those services have their own terms and privacy policies, and we are not responsible for their content or practices.

We design the Platform to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at level AA, and it includes built-in high-contrast and text-to-speech tools. If something on the Platform is hard for you to use, tell us at support@kochi.africa and we will help you complete the task another way while we fix it.

We work to keep the Platform available and accurate, but we provide it “as is” and “as available”. We may change, suspend or withdraw features, for example for maintenance or security, and we will give notice of significant changes where we reasonably can.

To the extent the law allows:

• Kochi is not liable for the professional services of assessors and technicians, or for products supplied by merchants, beyond our own obligations as the operator of the Platform;
• Kochi is not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of profit, revenue or data;
• Kochi's total liability to you for any claim relating to the Platform is limited to the amount you paid through the Platform in the 12 months before the claim arose.

None of this limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot be limited under Kenyan law.

If you provide services or products through the Platform, you agree to compensate Kochi for claims, losses and reasonable costs arising from your breach of these terms, your professional services or products, or your breach of the law.

You can ask us to close your account at any time by emailing support@kochi.africa. We may suspend or close an account, or withdraw verification, if we reasonably believe it breaks these terms or the law, or puts other users at risk. Where appropriate we will tell you why and give you a chance to respond.

Closing an account does not cancel payments already made, bookings already completed, or records we must keep by law, as explained in our Privacy Policy.

We may update these terms as the Platform and the law change. The date at the top of this page shows when they last changed. For significant changes we will notify account holders by email or in the dashboard before the changes take effect. If you keep using the Platform after that, you accept the updated terms.

These terms are governed by the laws of Kenya. If a dispute arises:

1. contact us first at support@kochi.africa, and we will try to resolve it with you informally within 30 days;
2. if that fails, either of us may refer it to mediation in Nairobi;
3. if mediation does not resolve it, the courts of Kenya have jurisdiction.

Kochi Assistive Technologies
P.O. Box 53187-00200, Nairobi, Kenya
Email: support@kochi.africa

Other ways to reach us

You can also use the form on our Contact Us page.