Terms and Conditions governing the use of ePurse

 

1          DEFINITIONS

1.1       The following expressions shall have the meanings set out opposite them:

            “Bank Muscat”          means Bank Muscat (S.A.O.G.), P O Box 134, Ruwi, Postal Code 112, Sultanate of Oman and its permitted transferees and assigns.

            “ePurse”                      A stored value facility contained in the Oman national ID Card owned by the Royal Oman Police and issued to each citizen and resident of the Sultanate of Oman operated and managed by Bank Muscat for payment of ePurse Services in the Sultanate of Oman only.

            “ePurse Services”       Goods or services provided by the Service Providers through or via the ePurse, including but not limited to the transfer of funds between the ePurse and a User’s bank account.

            “ePurse System”         The computerised system operated and managed by Bank Muscat whereby, inter alia, payment for or a transaction of ePurse Services may be effected by a User using his ePurse.

            “ID Card”                   an ID card issued by the Royal Oman Police to each citizen or resident of the Sultanate of Oman containing within it the ePurse.

            “OMR”                       Omani Rials or the official currency of the Sultanate of Oman.

            “Service Providers”   Such service providers which accept payment for goods and services by ePurse.

            “Stored Value”           The monetary value paid in advance for and stored in an ePurse or the residual value remaining therein from time to time, if any, which may be used by a User for the payment for or a transaction of ePurse Services.

            “Terms”                      These Terms and Conditions as varied or amended from time to time by Bank Muscat.

            “Terminals”                The terminals designated by Bank Muscat for ePurse transactions and provision of other services as may from time to time be determined by Bank Muscat in its sole discretion.

            “User”                         a user of the ePurse facility.

            “User Service Points” The points designated by Bank Muscat for top-up or refund of an ePurse and provision of other services as may from time to time be determined by Bank Muscat in its sole discretion.

 

1.2       Words importing the singular include the plural and vice versa and, words importing a gender include every gender. References herein to Clauses shall mean the clauses of these Terms.

2          RELATIONSHIP

2.1       The ePurse is administered solely by Bank Muscat and subject to these Terms which shall bind every User.

2.2       Bank Muscat is the approved holder of the Stored Value, which may be paid in advance for any ePurse, upon these Terms, and subject to these Terms, is accordingly liable to each User in respect of the Stored Value.

3          LIABILITY OF BANK MUSCAT

3.1       Subject to the provisions of these Terms, Bank Muscat, as the approved holder of the Stored Value is only liable to a User in respect of the refund of the Stored Value, if any, without any interest accruing.

4          PAYMENTS INTO EPURSE

4.1       A User may pay cash or make a transfer from a bank account to deposit an initial amount or top up his ePurse by making OMR cash and OMR transfer payments at any of the at any User Service Point. Each time a User pays an amount into his ePurse he shall be issued a confirmation receipt and the User shall be solely responsible for ensuring that the Stored Value is accurate and corresponds to the amount paid or topped up on the ePurse.  Bank Muscat and its respective officers, employees and agents shall not be liable for any error or omission not drawn to its attention upon top-up of an ePurse.

4.2       Bank Muscat shall accept ePurse Payments from Users in OMR in any amount but subject to an aggregate maximum amount of OMR 1000.

4.3       The use of the ePurse by a User shall be deemed to be acceptance by a User of:

            (a)    these Terms and any variation or amendment thereto which may be made from time to time by Bank Muscat in accordance with Clause 11.1 below without reference or notice to a User; and

            (b)    such notices, guidelines, rules and directions in respect of the use of the ePurse as prescribed/published by Bank Muscat from time to time.

5          EPURSE TRANSACTIONS

5.1       All Transactions shall be made in Omani Rials.

 

5.2       The ePurse shall be used as a means of payment for or a transaction of ePurse Services. During such payments or transactions, the Stored Value in the ePurse shall be reduced by the payment or transaction amount. The Stored Value shall also be reduced by deductions made hereunder.

5.3       Notwithstanding the aforesaid, Bank Muscat or any Service Provider may reject the use of the ePurse for effecting payment for, or a transaction, of ePurse Services if:

            (a)    the ID Card is suspected to have been fraudulently issued, stolen or tampered with;

            (b)    the ID Card has expired;

            (c)    the Stored Value of the ePurse is insufficient or has been exhausted;

            (d)   there is any breakdown in the ePurse System or part thereof which disables a Service Provider from accepting or processing the ePurse as a means of effecting payment or a transaction; or

            (e)    Bank Muscat determines that the use of ePurse poses a risk to the ePurse System

            and neither Bank Muscat nor the Service Providers shall be liable for any loss, cost or damage suffered, if any, by a User as a result thereof.

5.4       Neither Bank Muscat nor any of its officers, employees or agents shall be liable in any way for the goods and services sold or provided by the Service Providers including any defect, damage, quality, failure or unavailability of or relating to the goods purchased from or services provided by Service Providers or for any other disputes concerning the said goods or services.

5.5       Upon the use of the ePurse as a means of payment for, or a transaction of, ePurse Services, the Service Provider is entitled to deduct payment for the goods or services sold or provided by it from the Stored Value, in such manner as may be determined by Bank Muscat and the Service Provider.

6          LOSS OR THEFT OF ID CARDS

6.1       If a User’s ID Card is wilfully damaged, lost or stolen, the User shall not be entitled to any refund whatsoever if Bank Muscat makes deductions from the Stored Value for transactions effected using ePurse through the damaged, lost or stolen ID Card.  Bank Muscat is not liable for any financial losses incurred from the loss or theft of an ID Card and has no obligation whatsoever to prevent the use of a lost or stolen ID Card by any person other than a User.

6.2       Bank Muscat reserves the right to deal with and to take such courses of action as it may deem appropriate with respect to the ePurse on any damaged, defective, tampered, lost, stolen or counterfeit ID Cards.

6.3       Notwithstanding anything in these Terms, the onus is on the User at all times to safeguard his ID Card and ensure that it is not lost or stolen or used by any unauthorized person.  Neither Bank Muscat nor any of the Service Providers is under any obligation to determine whether any ID Card or ePurse is stolen or is used by an unauthorized person.  Each of Bank Muscat and the Service Providers shall be entitled to treat any person for the time being in physical possession and control of any ID Card as the rightful holder of the ePurse and entitled to all rights and privileges granted to a User in respect of the ePurse including all rights to refund of the Stored Value thereof, and shall not in any way be liable for any loss, costs, damages or prejudice suffered by any person including the rightful holder of the ePurse with respect to any transaction effected through the stolen or lost ID Card.

 

7.        EPURSE FEES AND CHARGES

7.1       The following fees are payable by a User in connection with use of an ePurse:

            a. Initial ePurse issuance fee: OMR 1/-

            b. Top up fee: BZS 100

            c. ePurse replacement fee for lost and stolen ID Cards: OMR 2/-

            d. ePurse cancellation fee: OMR 2/-

            e. statement fee (issued on request by a User): BZS 50.

            f. retrieval fee (for disputes): OMR 2/-

7.2       All fees shall be payable by the User to Bank Muscat by way of cash and account transfer payments through any Service Point terminal and Bank Muscat may debit such fees directly from the Stored Value.

7.3     The fees and charges payable by the User are exclusive of any taxes, duties, fees or government levies which may be imposed now or hereafter in respect of  any transactions that may be effected using an ePurse. Such taxes, duties, fees or governmental levies shall be for the User’s account.

7.4      All fees and charges paid by the User shall not be refundable.

 

8          REFUNDS OF STORED VALUE

8.1       Subject to these Terms, Bank Muscat shall be fully liable to the User for the refund of the Stored Value, if any, of the ePurse and the User shall, subject to these Terms, have recourse to Bank Muscat for the refund of the Stored Value (if any).

8.2       Subject to these Terms, the User shall be entitled to a refund of the Stored Value of the ePurse effected pursuant to Clause 8.5 PROVIDED THAT the ID Card remains valid or (if an ID Card is lost, stolen, damaged or has expired) or the User has obtained a replacement ID Card from the Royal Oman Police.

8.3       A User shall not be entitled to a refund of the Stored Value after the expiry of the ID Card if the User has not obtained a new ID Card from the Royal Oman Police, in which case a User shall have no claim whatsoever against Bank Muscat.

8.4       The refund of the Stored Value, if any, shall be made in accordance with such procedural or operational requirements as Bank Muscat may from time to time prescribe and failure by a User to observe or comply with such procedural or operational requirements may result in delay in processing any refund.

8.5       Subject to the provisions of this Clause 8, a User may effect the refund of the Stored Value, if any, at any User Service Point.

8.6       Notwithstanding anything herein contained, Bank Muscat shall not be liable to make a refund of the Stored Value, if any, if:

            (a)    the ID Card is not presented by a User at the time of a request for a refund;

            (b)    the encoded data in the ePurse or any part thereof is erased, altered or tampered with as determined by Bank Muscat

            (c)    the encoded data in the ePurse is not readable for any reason as determined by Bank Muscat;

            (d)   the ePurse has been damaged or tampered with whether intentionally or otherwise as determined by Bank Muscat in its sole discretion.

8.7       In the event an ePurse is defective (not through any fault or act of the User) during its first use for payment for, or a transaction of, ePurse Services, Bank Muscat shall be under no obligation to replace the defective ePurse.

8.8       A User shall notify BankMuscat of any alleged error within 60 days from the transaction date. After such period, all transaction entries shall be conclusively considered as correct between BankMuscat and the User.

9          DETERMINATION OF STORED VALUE

9.1       For the purpose of determining the Stored Value of the ePurse in the event of a refund from Bank Muscat, the value as determined by Bank Muscat from either the value recorded in the Bank Muscat ePurse or the central records of Bank Muscat shall, save for manifest error, be deemed conclusive and binding against the User.

9.2       A User shall, upon receipt of the refund, be deemed to have accepted the amount thereof as entirely correct and conclusive, and shall discharge each of Bank Muscat’s and its officers, employees and agents from any loss, damage, expense and/or liability whatsoever.

10        DISCLAIMERS AND EXEMPTIONS

10.1     Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, Bank Muscat and its respective officers, employees, contractors or agents shall not be liable in any way to a User for any losses (including any indirect, special or consequential losses), damages, expenses, claims, liabilities and costs (including cost on a full indemnity basis) that the User may incur or suffer in connection with or arising from:

            (a)    the issue or use of the ePurse;

            (b)    any delay, suspension, discontinuance or failure in the issuance of an ID Card;

            (c)    any delay or suspension in the refund of the Stored Value, if any, of the ePurse;

            (d)   any period when the processing of the use of the ePurse for payment is unavailable due to any disruption, defect, damage, breakdown in or failure (collectively “Malfunction”) of the ePurse, the Terminals and/or the ePurse System (including any data processing system or the network system) whether or not due to anything beyond the control of any of the foregoing persons;

            (e)    any delay or any inability to use the ePurse for any reason whatsoever, including but not limited to the unavailability due to the malfunction of the Terminals and/or ePurse System or damage to or defect in the ePurse;

            (f)    the ePurse being rejected by the Terminals and/or ePurse System for whatever reason;

            (g)    any inability to retrieve any data or information on the ePurse; or

            (h)    any delay or inability to perform any of its obligations due directly or indirectly to the Malfunction of any machine or communication system, industrial dispute, war, Act of God, or anything outside the control of Bank Muscat.

            Provided that the same is not caused by the gross negligence or wilful default Bank Muscat.

10.2     Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the maximum liability of Bank Muscat to a User shall not exceed in aggregate the sum of Omani Rials one hundred (RO 100) per ePurse or an amount equivalent to the aggregate sum of Stored Value (if any) of the User’s ePurse as at the date the User’s claim arises, whichever is the lesser.

11        VARIATION

11.1     Bank Muscat reserves the right to add to, delete from, vary or otherwise amend all or any of these Terms at any time by publication thereof at appropriate locations at the User Service Points, Terminals, Service Providers’ premises or such other premises as may be determined by Bank Muscat.  The User’s continued use of the ePurse after the date of such notification shall be deemed to be the Use’s acceptance of such revised Terms.

12        GOVERNING LAW

12.1     These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Sultanate of Oman.  The User hereby irrevocably and unconditionally submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of the Sultanate of Oman for all purposes in relation to these Terms.

12.2     These Terms may be translated into other languages but in the event of any inconsistency or uncertainty arising therefrom, the  English version shall prevail over any other version.

13        DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

            Each User shall be deemed to have authorized Bank Muscat to disclose information concerning the ePurse or the User as Bank Muscat deems appropriate, necessary or desirable in connection with the use of the ePurse by a User for any of the ePurse Services but subject to Bank Muscat’s obligations to keep a User’s details confidential in accordance with the Banking Law and associated regulations.