Terms of Service

Last updated: May 2026. Bantu Plaza is operated from the Republic of Botswana.

1. Who we are

Bantu Plaza (“we”, “us”, “the Platform”) is an online marketplace that connects students with independent language tutors. We do not employ tutors — they are independent providers who use the Platform to find students and accept bookings.

2. Acceptance of these terms

By creating an account or booking a lesson you confirm you have read and accept these Terms of Service. These terms form a legally binding contract between you and Bantu Plaza under the laws of Botswana, including the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2014 and the Consumer Protection Act, 2018.

3. Eligibility

Account holders on Bantu Plaza must be 18 or over. Tutors must be 18 or over; tutors who teach learners under 18 (“Kids welcome” tutors) must be 21 or over and must opt in explicitly to teaching minors.

Learners aged 8–17 may take lessons on Bantu Plaza only through a parent or legal guardian’s account. The parent or legal guardian must:

• register on Bantu Plaza using their own email address;
• indicate at sign-up that the account is for a child in their care;
• provide the child’s first name and date of birth, and confirm consent on the child’s behalf at the time of registration;
• remain the account holder and the contact point for everything to do with the child’s lessons (bookings, refunds, communication with the tutor, payment).

The parent / guardian is the data controller for the child’s information; Bantu Plaza processes that information on the parent / guardian’s instruction in order to deliver the booked lessons. Lessons for a minor learner can be booked only with tutors who carry the “Kids welcome” badge.

Lesson recordings for minor learners. When the booked tutor opens the lesson through Bantu Plaza’s lesson page (a Bantu Plaza-hosted page at bantuplaza.com/lesson/<id>/) the platform captures the lesson view automatically — the recording is initiated by Bantu Plaza in the tutor’s browser, uploaded in real time to Bantu Plaza’s secured storage (the directory is protected from direct web access and individual files are only served to the parent / guardian, the tutor, and Bantu Plaza staff after authentication and capability checks), and retained for 30 days before automatic deletion. Recordings are not shared with any other party, are not used for advertising, and are not used to train AI models. The parent / guardian may request earlier deletion at any time by writing to info@bantuplaza.com. If the lesson is held on a non-Jitsi platform (e.g. Zoom, Google Meet) the in-platform recording cannot be captured automatically; in that case the booking is flagged for admin review and recording is provided on a best-effort basis. Adult-to-adult lessons are not recorded by Bantu Plaza.

4. Bookings & payment

Booking a lesson creates a binding agreement between you (the student) and the tutor. Bantu Plaza facilitates payment, matching, and dispute resolution but is not a party to the lesson itself. Prices are set by the tutor and displayed on the Platform in the store currency shown at checkout (currently US dollars); your card may be charged in your local currency at your card issuer’s prevailing rate, and any foreign-exchange or interchange fees are between you and your card issuer.

4a. Tutor earnings & commission

If you offer lessons as a tutor on the Platform, Bantu Plaza retains a commission on each completed lesson to operate the service. The rest is your take-home. Commission rates depend on lesson type and tutor tier, and are published transparently:

• Trial lessons — 40% commission. (Trial lessons are typically discounted to help students sample your teaching.)
• Community-tier standard lessons — 35% commission.
• Professional-tier standard lessons — 25% commission.
• Loyalty rate — 18% commission after you have delivered 200+ paid hours at Professional tier.

Rates may be revised; any change applies only to future bookings, and we will notify active tutors by email at least 7 days before a rate change takes effect. Payouts are released after the lesson is marked complete, subject to the first-lesson refund window in our Refund Policy.

Payout cadence, method & currency. Tutor payouts run on a bi-weekly cycle: every payout cycle closes on the 14th and on the last day of each calendar month, and the corresponding payouts are released on or shortly after the 15th and the 1st respectively. Payouts are paid only via PayPal for now — we are not currently able to pay out via bank transfer or mobile money, and we will update this paragraph + your tutor dashboard if and when those rails are added. You must save a verified PayPal email on the Payouts tab of your tutor dashboard before your first payout cycle. Payments are processed manually by Bantu Plaza’s finance team and sent off-platform via PayPal; the platform tracks each payout’s status (queued / paid / failed) and surfaces the PayPal transaction reference on your dashboard once the transfer is sent. Payouts are denominated in the store currency (US dollars); PayPal applies its own published conversion rate and per-transaction fees when converting USD to your local currency, and those costs are deducted from your payout. Bantu Plaza does not subsidise PayPal’s FX spread or fees — please choose a PayPal account whose costs you understand.

5. Cancellations & refunds

See our Refund Policy. In summary: free cancellation up to 12 hours before the lesson; cancellations inside the 12-hour window release 50% of the fee to the tutor.

6. Acceptable use

You agree to use the Platform lawfully and in accordance with our Code of Conduct. Conduct that may amount to an offence under the Cybercrime and Computer Related Crimes Act, 2018 — including unauthorised access, harassment, or distribution of harmful content — will result in account termination and may be reported to the Botswana Police Service.

7. Intellectual property

Lesson materials remain the property of the tutor or licensor. Recording or redistributing a lesson without the express consent of all participants is prohibited. Bantu Plaza does not operate an in-platform recording service and does not retain copies of any lesson.

8. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by Botswana law, Bantu Plaza is not liable for indirect or consequential losses arising from your use of the Platform. Nothing in these terms excludes liability that cannot be excluded under the Consumer Protection Act, 2018.

9. Termination

Either party may close an account at any time. We may suspend or terminate accounts that breach these terms or the Code of Conduct, with notice where reasonable.

10. Governing law & disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of Botswana. Disputes that cannot be resolved through our support channels may be referred to the Consumer Protection Office of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, or to the courts of Botswana, which shall have exclusive jurisdiction.

11. Changes

We may update these terms. Material changes will be notified by email at least 7 days before they take effect.