Terms of Use

Courtmate is a padel platform for Malawi. Players record and join matches, pay their share, enter tournaments, follow the rankings, message each other, post to a feed, and buy kit from sellers in the shop.

Courtmate does not own or run padel courts. Clubs are independent, and a club's courts, prices and rules are its own.

You must give an accurate phone number, name, email address and date of birth. You are responsible for keeping your password private and for activity on your account. One person may hold one account: your phone number, email address and username each identify exactly one account.

Most players book and pay for a court directly with the club, then record the match on Courtmate. That booking is your own arrangement with the club. Courtmate has not made it and has not checked it.

The host of a match can share a link so the other players pay their share. Courtmate adds a charge to each share, and the total is shown before you pay. The host is paid the shares from two hours after the match ends, or from two hours after a share is paid if that is later.

A link accepts a player or a payment until 24 hours after the match ends. After that, a match that never filled and has no score is removed, unless someone has paid into it.

If you joined a match that did not happen, you can report it. The host is not paid while we review the report.

A match cannot be cancelled once a player has paid. A host can delete a match only while nobody has paid or is paying, no score has been entered and it has not been reported. A court booked through Courtmate cannot be deleted.

Payments on Courtmate are by mobile money only, through Airtel Money or TNM Mpamba, and are processed by PayChangu. Courtmate does not take card payments and never sees your mobile money PIN. All amounts are in Malawi kwacha (MWK).

You can book a court through Courtmate only at clubs that offer it. Every other club page is a listing: contact the club to book.

A club that takes payment for its own courts through its own system may offer other ways to pay, including cards. That payment is made to the club, not to Courtmate.

Any verified player can organise a tournament. A creation fee is charged before it opens for entries. Players pay the entry fee plus a payment charge, and the total is shown before you pay. Courtmate's fee comes out of the entry fee, and the organiser is paid as entries come in.

You can ask to withdraw and be refunded before the draw is made. The organiser decides, and a request that is not settled within 48 hours lapses. After the draw there are no refunds.

If a tournament is cancelled, entry money Courtmate still holds is refunded straight away. Money already paid to the organiser is theirs to return, through Courtmate, within 48 hours, and is refunded to you when they do.

A refund goes back to the mobile money number that paid. Courtmate's fee and the payment processing charge are not refunded. This applies to every refund, including a withdrawal, a cancelled tournament and a cancelled order.

If Courtmate receives a payment it cannot honour, for example for a place that was taken a moment earlier, the payment is refunded automatically.

Goods in the shop are sold by independent sellers, not by Courtmate. You can cancel an order within one hour of paying, unless it has already been handed over. A seller who cannot supply an order can cancel it, and you are refunded. After the hour, questions about the goods are for the seller. If a seller does not deliver, contact Courtmate.

Rankings use an Elo rating, and everyone starts at 1000. A result counts when the other side confirms it. A result only one side has entered counts once 24 hours have passed since the match ended, if nobody disputes it. Courtmate may void results that look manipulated.

The first 100 people to complete registration are recognised as Founding Users and receive a permanent founding number and a founding badge shown on their profile. Founding places are allocated automatically in the order registrations complete, and cannot be bought, transferred or changed.

Founding numbers are listed publicly, alongside the holder's name, on a page that anyone can view without a Courtmate account. Nothing else about the holder is published there.

A referral counts once the person you invited completes registration and verifies their phone number. Incomplete signups, repeat signups by the same person, and referring yourself do not count. Giveaway prizes, draw dates and rules will be published before any draw takes place. Courtmate may disqualify entries obtained through fake or automated accounts.

Players post text and pictures, comment, and message each other. You are responsible for what you post and send.

Courtmate has no tolerance for objectionable content or abusive users. You must not post or send anything abusive, hateful, sexual, harassing, fraudulent or illegal, and you must not pretend to be someone else.

You can report a post, a comment or a message, and you can block another player. Reports are reviewed. Courtmate removes content that breaks these rules and suspends or bans the accounts responsible.

Do not attempt to create accounts you are not entitled to, interfere with the service, or attempt to gain access to parts of Courtmate that are not open to you. Copying or collecting information from Courtmate, by any means, is forbidden, as is using it to build or supply another product or service. Accounts found doing so will be closed, and Courtmate may take legal action.

Courtmate may suspend or ban an account that breaks these terms. A suspended or banned account cannot use the app.

You can delete your account at any time in the app, under Profile, then Delete my account, or by following the steps on how to delete your account. Deletion is immediate and cannot be undone.

Deleting your account removes your posts, comments, likes, follows, messages, notifications, saved payment numbers and the personal details on your profile. Your match, booking and payment records are kept under the name "Deleted player", with no personal details, so that other players' match history and ratings stay correct and the payment records we are required to keep are not lost.

We may update these terms as Courtmate develops. If a change materially affects you, we will tell you.

Questions about these terms can be sent to courtmate.mw@gmail.com.