Terms of Use

1. Accepting these Terms

By creating an account or using SMSHub in any way, you agree to these Terms, the Acceptable Use Policy and the Privacy Policy. If you don't agree, please don't use SMSHub.

If you use SMSHub for a business or organisation, you confirm that you are allowed to accept these Terms for it. “You” then means both you and that organisation.

2. Who can use SMSHub

You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into a binding agreement under Ethiopian law.

SMSHub sends SMS to Ethiopian mobile numbers on Ethio Telecom (09…) and Safaricom Ethiopia (07…). Accounts are registered with an Ethiopian mobile number.

You may not open a new account to get around a suspension, or use SMSHub if we closed an earlier account of yours for a serious violation.

3. Your account and its security

• Give accurate information when you register and keep it up to date.
• We confirm your phone number with a code by SMS when you sign up.
• Keep your password, API keys and backup codes secret. Everything done with your account or keys counts as done by you.
• Two-step verification (an authenticator app or SMS codes) is available in Account → Security, and we recommend it.
• If you invite team members, they sign in with their own accounts and get only the access their role allows. As the workspace owner, you are responsible for what they send with your credits and signature.

Tell us straight away if you think someone else has used your account or a key. We may ask you to change your password, sign out everywhere or replace a key to protect you.

4. E-mail confirmation and identity verification (KYC)

Before you can submit identity verification, you must confirm your e-mail address by opening the link (or typing the code) we send you. There is no deadline: an account with an unconfirmed address keeps working, but a KYC application can't be submitted until the address is confirmed.

To send messages or use the API, your identity must be verified. We accept your Fayda National ID: you give your legal name, the ID number and photos of both sides of the card (or the photo page of a passport). An administrator reviews every submission, usually within one business day.

We may approve a submission, reject it with a reason, or ask you to submit again. We may withdraw an approval if the information turns out to be false or the documents don't belong to you.

SMSHub doesn't ask for a business licence: we verify the person who controls the account. If you send on behalf of a business, you must be authorised to do so. Optional business details (company name, address, TIN) appear on your receipts.

After approval you receive the free SMS credits advertised at that time (currently 10).

5. Credits, prices and payments

• SMSHub is prepaid. You buy credit packages at the prices shown in Billing and on the Pricing page when you pay. Price changes don't affect credits you already bought.
• One message to an Ethio Telecom number uses 1 credit; one message to a Safaricom number uses 2 credits. Each message is one SMS segment: up to 160 standard characters, or 70 when it contains Amharic or other Unicode characters, including your signature.
• Credits don't expire, can't be moved to another account and have no cash value except through a refund described in section 6.
• A credit is used when the network gateway accepts the message. If the send fails or the gateway rejects it, the credit goes back to your balance automatically.
• Payments are processed by Chapa (telebirr, CBE Birr, M-Pesa, bank cards and other methods Chapa offers). SMSHub never sees your card number or mobile-money PIN. Credits are added only after our server has confirmed the payment with Chapa.
• You receive a PDF receipt by e-mail for every payment and can download receipts and monthly statements in Billing. Receipts confirm your payment; they are not tax invoices unless they say so.

6. Refunds and disputed payments

You can ask for a refund of a completed payment in Billing (choose Refund next to the payment). Our team reviews every request and replies by e-mail, usually within 1–2 working days. Approved refunds are sent through Chapa — back to the account you paid with, or to the telebirr, CBE Birr, M-Pesa or bank account you give us — and you receive a PDF refund receipt.

Credits bought with a refunded payment are removed from your balance. Credits already used and messages already sent can't be refunded. Refunding a custom signature fee turns that signature off.

If money left your account but no credits arrived, contact support with the payment reference. We check the payment with Chapa and either add the credits or refund the payment.

Remaining credits are not refunded after you delete your account. Credits on an account closed for a serious violation may be forfeited.

7. The API, keys and technical limits

• API keys are secret passwords for your account. You can create several keys, lock each one to your servers' IP addresses and revoke any key at any time. Never put a key in a website, mobile app or public code.
• The API accepts up to 60 requests per minute per account. We may slow down or block traffic that looks automated against our systems, threatens stability or breaks these Terms.
• Webhooks are sent only to HTTPS addresses you control and are signed so you can check they came from us.
• Don't test, probe or overload our systems, get around limits or security controls, or copy or resell SMSHub without our written permission.

We keep improving the API. Where practical, we announce changes that could break your integration before we make them.

8. Sender signature and sender names

Every message ends with your SMS signature so recipients know who sent it. It is your ID-verified legal name, or a custom signature of up to 11 characters that SMSHub approved and you paid for (a one-time fee of 200 ETB per approved request). The signature can't be switched off.

A custom signature must be your own name or a business you represent. We may refuse or reset a signature that is misleading, for example the name of a bank or company you don't represent.

The sender name shown at the top of the message on the phone is set by the networks. SMSHub doesn't currently offer customer-specific sender names.

9. What you may not send

The Acceptable Use Policy is part of these Terms. In short, you may not use SMSHub for:

• spam or messages to people who didn't agree to hear from you;
• phishing, scams or fraud — including asking for PINs, passwords or verification codes, fake prizes or false requests for money;
• impersonating a person, bank, telecom operator, government office or any other organisation;
• threats, harassment, sexual content sent to people who didn't ask for it, or hate speech;
• anything involving the sexual exploitation of children;
• any other unlawful purpose.

Messages are checked automatically before they are sent. We may block a message, add a policy strike, suspend sending or close an account as the Acceptable Use Policy describes.

10. Your responsibilities towards recipients

• Send messages only to people who agreed to receive them, or who need them for something they asked for (such as a verification code or an order update).
• Make clear who you are, and respect people who ask you to stop. Contacts you mark as opted out are skipped in bulk campaigns.
• Keep records of how you obtained your recipients' numbers and permission, and never use bought or scraped number lists.
• You are responsible for the content of your messages and for following the laws that apply to it, including consumer protection, advertising and data protection rules.

For the phone numbers and contact details you upload, you decide what is sent and to whom. We process that information to deliver your messages for you, as explained in the Privacy Policy.

11. Laws and cooperation with authorities

You must follow the laws of Ethiopia that apply to your messages, including telecommunications rules set by the Ethiopian Communications Authority, the Computer Crime Proclamation, the Hate Speech and Disinformation Prevention and Suppression Proclamation and the Personal Data Protection Proclamation.

Where the law requires it, or where it is necessary to address serious harm, we may share account information and message content with the competent authorities, including the Ethiopian Federal Police and the Information Network Security Administration (INSA), as described in the Acceptable Use Policy.

12. Suspension, closing your account and appeals

We may restrict or suspend an account to protect recipients, the networks or SMSHub, because of policy strikes, or when the law requires it. While an account is suspended, sending, API access and purchases are disabled; you can still sign in to view your history unless the suspension is for a serious violation.

If you think a decision was wrong, contact support. A person reviews every appeal; automated checks can make mistakes and every flag can be reviewed by a human.

You can close your account at any time — see “Delete your account” on our website. We confirm deletion within 7 days.

13. Delivery, other providers and availability

Messages travel through our SMS gateway, our delivery partners and the Ethio Telecom and Safaricom networks. We pass on messages promptly, but we don't control those networks, so we can't guarantee that every message is delivered, or delivered within a particular time.

“Sent” in your history means the network gateway accepted the message. The networks don't yet send us reports from each handset, so we can't confirm that a phone displayed it.

SMSHub may be unavailable at times for maintenance or because of problems outside our control. You can follow the current state at smshub.et/status.

Payments (Chapa), Telegram, Google reCAPTCHA and app stores are provided by other companies whose own terms also apply when you use them.

14. Intellectual property

SMSHub's software, design, documentation and brand belong to Hizcore. You may use them only to use SMSHub as these Terms allow.

You keep ownership of your messages, contacts and other content. You allow us to store and process them as needed to provide SMSHub, keep it secure and meet our legal duties.

If you send us ideas or feedback, we may use them without owing you anything.

15. Disclaimers

We work hard to keep SMSHub reliable and accurate, but as far as the law allows, SMSHub is provided “as is”, without promises that it will be uninterrupted, error-free or suitable for a particular purpose.

16. Limitation of liability

As far as the law allows, Hizcore is not liable for indirect or consequential losses, such as lost profits, lost business or lost data, and our total liability for any claim is limited to the amount you paid us in the three months before the claim. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that the law does not allow us to limit.

17. Your responsibility for claims

If someone makes a claim against Hizcore because of the messages you sent, the recipients you chose or your breach of these Terms or the law, you will cover the reasonable losses and costs that result, as far as the law allows.

18. Changes to SMSHub and to these Terms

We may change, add or remove features. We may also update these Terms; the date at the top shows the latest version. Material changes are announced on your dashboard or by e-mail before they take effect. If you keep using SMSHub after that, the new Terms apply.

19. Questions, complaints and disputes

Most questions are solved quickly by support: Telegram @hizkiel_23, e-mail support@smshub.et or phone 0941907682 (Mon–Sat, 8:00–20:00 EAT). You can also open a ticket in Dashboard → Support.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. If a complaint can't be solved through support, it will be decided by the competent courts of Ethiopia.