These terms apply when you use jinjaconsolidated.com, including Jinja Consolidated Properties, Jinja Consolidated Hardware and the services offered through your account (together, the "Platform"). The Platform is run by Jinja Consolidated, PO Box 109, Lubas, 56, Jinja, Uganda ("we", "us"). By creating an account or using the Platform you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, do not use the Platform.
1. Your account
One account gives you access to everything on the Platform. You choose what you use it for — buying, listing property, renting, running a hardware store, bidding as a construction company or offering loans — and each of these is switched on only when you ask for it.
- Give your real name and correct contact details, and keep your password private. You are responsible for what is done through your account.
- An account is for one person. A business must be represented by someone authorised to act for it.
- You must be 18 or older.
2. Listing property
- You may list only property you own or are authorised in writing to market. We may ask for proof, such as a land title, search report or letter of authority, and remove listings we cannot verify.
- Listings must be accurate: price, size, tenure, location and photos of the actual property. Prices are in Uganda shillings; other currencies are shown for convenience at the day's exchange rate.
- New owners and agents get every feature free for the launch period shown on our Plans & pricing page. After it, a limited number of listings stays free and further listings or better placement need a paid plan. If a paid plan ends, listings above the free limit are paused, not deleted.
- We may edit a listing to correct obvious errors or remove contact details, and may decline or remove listings that are misleading, duplicated or unlawful.
3. Viewings, valuations and inspections
- Viewings are carried out with one of our officers. The fee — an inspection fee plus transport from the office you choose — is shown before you pay. Map pins on listings are approximate; the exact location is shared with confirmed bookings.
- If we cannot hold a viewing you paid for, we will rebook it or refund the fee. A fee for a viewing that took place, or that you missed without telling us at least 24 hours before, is not refunded.
- Valuations are carried out by our property specialists on the information and access available to them. A valuation is an opinion of value on the date given, not a guarantee of the price a property will sell for.
4. Messages and contact details
To protect buyers, sellers, tenants and businesses, conversations about anything found on the Platform happen in your account's Messages.
- Phone numbers, email addresses and links are removed from messages, proposals and listings. Repeated attempts to share them pause your messaging for seven days.
- Our staff can read conversations to prevent fraud, settle disputes and enforce these terms.
- If you choose to deal with someone outside the Platform, you do so at your own risk. We cannot help you recover money paid outside the Platform.
5. Agreements, escrow and payments
Deals made on the Platform can be put in writing and paid through us so that neither side has to trust a stranger with money.
- Agreements. An agreement is drafted in the conversation, signed by both parties by typing their names, and countersigned by us. The exact text signed is fingerprinted; it cannot be changed afterwards without a new agreement.
- Escrow. The paying party pays us, not the other party. We hold the money as escrow agent and release each payment only when the paying party approves it, or when we decide a dispute. We are not a party to your agreement and do not guarantee the other party's performance.
- Commission. Our commission on agreements is deducted from what the receiving party gets, and both parties see the amounts before signing. Current rates are on our Services page.
- Disputes. Either party can raise a dispute while money is held. Held money stays held while we review the agreement, the conversation and the evidence both parties provide. Our decision on releasing or refunding held money is final as between you and us, without affecting your right to go to court against the other party.
- Payouts go only to a mobile money or bank account in the receiving party's own name.
- Online payments are processed by PesaPal (mobile money and cards). A payment counts only when PesaPal confirms it to us. We never ask for your PIN or card details by message.
- Buying property. Never pay for land or a building on the strength of a listing alone. Carry out an official search at the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, visit the property and take independent legal advice.
6. Buying property listed elsewhere
If you ask us to act for you on a property listed outside the Platform, we act only on your written instructions: we contact the seller, check documents and handle payment through escrow as agreed with you. We will tell you what we find, but the decision to buy is yours.
7. Jinja Consolidated Hardware
- Each store on the hardware marketplace is the seller of its own goods and is responsible for their description, quality, price, stock, delivery and any warranty. Stores are verified before they can sell.
- Prices include VAT where the store is VAT-registered. Delivery charges are calculated from the store's location to your site and shown before you order.
- Problems with an order should first be raised with the store through Messages or the order page. If it is not resolved, contact us and we will help.
- We charge stores a commission on each completed order, shown in their dashboard.
8. Construction projects
- Clients post projects and choose how long bidding stays open and whether the lowest price or the best-qualified company wins. Bids stay sealed until bidding closes and cannot be changed after it.
- Only companies whose documents we have checked can bid. Verification confirms the documents we were shown; it is not a guarantee of workmanship.
- An award creates an agreement between the client and the company, paid stage by stage through escrow under section 5.
9. Moving and transport
- Drivers are accepted only after we check their National ID, driving licence and vehicle documents. A driver whose licence or insurance expires cannot take jobs until they upload the renewal.
- The fare is calculated by the Platform from the vehicle, the road distance and the helpers you choose, within a minimum and maximum set by us, and is locked when you book. Drivers may not change it, add charges or ask for payment in cash or outside the Platform. Report any such request.
- You pay before a driver is assigned. We hold the payment and pay the driver after you confirm delivery, or automatically after the review period shown on your move if you do not report a problem.
- Give your pickup code only when everything is loaded, and make sure the receiver gives the delivery code only when everything is offloaded and checked. The driver photographs the load at both ends.
- You must describe the goods truthfully and must not ask a driver to carry anything illegal or dangerous. Drivers may refuse such loads.
- If you cancel before a driver accepts, you get a full refund. After a driver accepts, the cancellation fee shown on your move goes to the driver and the rest is refunded. Once the driver has arrived, report a problem instead of cancelling.
- For the duration of a move, the customer and driver can see each other's phone number so they can find each other. Use it only for that move.
- Unless a separate insurance cover is shown on your move, goods are not insured by us. Problems with damaged or missing goods are decided on the photos, codes and location record, under section 5.
10. Property finance
We are not a lender and do not give financial advice. Loans shown on the Platform are offered by banks and lenders licensed by the Bank of Uganda or the Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority, who decide every application and set their own rates, fees and conditions. Calculator results are estimates. A genuine lender will never ask you to pay a fee to us or to an individual to get a loan approved.
11. Rental management and short stays
- Landlords who use rental management remain responsible for their leases, tenants and compliance with the Landlord and Tenant Act, 2022. Lease templates and calculations are tools; have important leases reviewed by an advocate.
- Short-stay bookings are subject to availability and the price and house rules shown when you book.
12. Taxes
Every user is responsible for their own taxes, including VAT on their sales, income tax on rent or profits, and stamp duty on property they buy. We add VAT only where the seller has told us they are VAT-registered, show each tax separately on receipts and statements, and do not pay tax on anyone's behalf. Where the law requires us to withhold tax, we pay it to URA in your TIN and give you the details.
13. What is not allowed
- Fake, stolen or misleading listings, documents, licences or identities.
- Asking for or making payments outside the Platform for a deal found on it, to avoid fees or escrow.
- Harassment, discrimination or abusive language.
- Copying the Platform's content in bulk, scraping, or trying to access accounts or data that are not yours.
- Anything unlawful under the laws of Uganda.
We may remove content, pause features, suspend or close accounts that break these terms, and report suspected fraud to the police.
14. Our responsibility to you
We take reasonable care to run the Platform well and to handle money held in escrow honestly and as described. We are not responsible for the acts of other users, for information they provide, or for losses from dealings outside the Platform. Our total liability to you for any claim is limited to the fees you paid us in the twelve months before the claim, except for money we hold for you in escrow, which we will always account for. Nothing in these terms limits rights you have under Ugandan law that cannot be limited.
15. Changes, law and disputes
We may update these terms; the date at the top shows the current version and we will tell account holders about important changes. These terms are governed by the laws of Uganda. If you have a complaint, contact us first so we can try to resolve it; if we cannot, the courts of Uganda have jurisdiction.
16. Contact
Send us a message from your account, email contact@jinjaconsolidated.com, call +256 701 673 401, or write to PO Box 109, Lubas, 56, Jinja, Uganda.