1. About this policy
1.1 Lyonga is a payment platform operated by Smart Edge Tech Limited in partnership with Lipila, a licensed payment service provider in Zambia. Businesses (“merchants”) use Lyonga to collect payments from their customers.
1.2 This policy explains how refunds and payment disputes work. It applies to customers who pay a merchant through Lyonga, and to merchants, for whom it forms part of the Merchant Agreement.
1.3 When you pay through Lyonga, you are buying from the merchant, not from us. The merchant is responsible for the goods or services, for its own refund policy and for resolving problems with your order. Nothing in this policy affects your rights under the Competition and Consumer Protection Act No. 24 of 2010 or other law.
2. How refunds work
2.1 Refunds are started by the merchant. If you want a refund, ask the merchant you paid. The merchant decides whether to give a refund under its own refund policy and the law.
2.2 Where the merchant agrees, it can refund all or part of a payment from its Lyonga dashboard or through the API, as long as the payment method you used supports refunds. The refund goes back to the same payment method or account you paid from, unless the payment method requires otherwise.
2.3 Some payment methods do not support refunds through the platform. In that case the merchant must arrange the refund with you directly and must not ask you to pay any extra charge to receive it.
3. How long refunds take
3.1 Once the merchant has issued a refund, we send it to the relevant payment provider promptly. How long it takes to reach you depends on the payment method and the provider, such as your mobile money operator or bank. Some refunds arrive within minutes; others can take several business days.
3.2 Each refund has a reference number. If a refund has not arrived within the time the merchant told you, contact the merchant with that reference first. If the merchant cannot help, contact us as described in section 4.
4. How customers can dispute a payment
Step 1: contact the merchant
4.1 Most problems are resolved fastest by the merchant. Contact the merchant using the details on your receipt or its website, explain the problem and give the payment reference and date.
Step 2: contact Lyonga
4.2 Contact us if:
- the merchant does not respond within a reasonable time, or you cannot reach it;
- you do not recognise a payment, or believe it was not authorised by you;
- you were charged twice, or charged the wrong amount; or
- you paid but the merchant says it did not receive the payment.
4.3 You can raise this through our complaints procedure or by emailing complaints@lyonga.com. If you believe your account or phone has been used without your permission, also contact your bank or mobile money provider straight away.
What to include
- your name and contact details;
- the merchant's name;
- the payment reference, date, amount and payment method;
- what went wrong and what you would like to happen; and
- copies of receipts, messages with the merchant or other evidence you have.
4.4 Do not send us your PIN, password or full card number. We will never ask for them.
5. What we do when a dispute is raised
5.1 When we receive a dispute, we will:
- acknowledge it and give you a reference number;
- check the payment records on our platform;
- notify the merchant and ask for its response and evidence;
- where a payment provider's dispute or chargeback process applies, pass the dispute to the provider and follow its rules and timelines; and
- tell you the outcome and the reasons for it.
5.2 We may also need to involve Lipila. Where a dispute suggests fraud, we may suspend the related payment or the merchant's settlement while we investigate.
6. Merchant responsibilities
6.1 Merchants must:
- publish a clear refund and cancellation policy before customers pay, and follow it;
- respond to customer complaints promptly and fairly;
- respond to disputes we send them within the deadline we give, with the evidence we ask for;
- not ask customers to withdraw a dispute in exchange for a refund they are already entitled to;
- not refund a payment made through Lyonga in cash or another way if a refund has already been issued, or a dispute is open, without telling us; and
- keep records of orders, deliveries and customer communications for at least the period required by applicable law.
7. Evidence
7.1 Useful evidence for a merchant responding to a dispute includes:
- the order or invoice, showing what the customer bought and the price;
- proof of delivery or of the service being provided, such as a signed delivery note, tracking record or access log;
- the terms of sale and refund policy shown to the customer before payment;
- messages between the merchant and the customer; and
- records of any refund, replacement or credit already given.
7.2 Evidence must be genuine and must not include more personal data than is needed. We may share evidence with the customer, Lipila and the payment provider for the purpose of resolving the dispute.
8. Outcomes
8.1 A dispute can end in one of these ways:
- Resolved by the merchant: the merchant gives a refund, replacement or other remedy that the customer accepts.
- Decided in the customer's favour: the payment is refunded or reversed and the amount, with any applicable fees, is recovered from the merchant under the Merchant Agreement.
- Decided in the merchant's favour: the payment stands, and we explain why to the customer.
- Corrected as an error: where our records show a duplicate payment or processing error, we correct it.
8.2 Where a payment provider's rules apply, the provider's decision is usually final within that process. This does not affect any right the customer or merchant has to pursue the matter with the other party, a regulator or a court.
8.3 If you are not satisfied with how we handled your dispute, you can escalate it under our Complaints Procedure, which also explains how to contact the relevant regulator.