TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR THE ACTIVATION AND USE OF TILA (MICRO CREDIT) SERVICES

 The Contract

 This Contract sets out the complete Terms and Conditions (hereinafter called "These Terms and Conditions") which shall be applicable to Tila micro credit service.

These terms and conditions, as well as any related amendments or changes, will become effective once the credit customer has read and accepted them (by clicking on the option to Activate).

1. Definitions

In these Terms and Conditions, the following words and expressions bear the below meanings:

• "Awash Bank" means a regulated financial institution agreed to provide mobile financial services to telebirr customers in collaboration with Ethio telecom.
• "Bad debit" is a debt that has not been paid within 90 days after the due date.
• "Daily fee” means the fee paid by individual customers on daily basis for the number of days that the principal amount is not paid within the contract period.
• "Due date" is the last date in which the individual customer is expected to complete his credit repayment.
• “Electronic Money/E-Money” means the electronic monetary value depicted in customers telebirr Account representing an equal amount of cash in Ethiopia Birr and operated by Individual customers.
• "Ethio telecom" means a licensed payment instrument issuer agreed to provide Tila micro credit services to its telebirr customers in collaboration with Awash Bank.
• "Facilitation fee" means a fee paid by individual customers for accessing the credit service.
• “Individual customer” means a natural person who has telebirr account and agreed to use Tila micro credit service
• "National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE)" means the institution with the authority to license and supervise financial institutions in accordance with Proclamation No. 718/2011 (as amended by 1282/2023)
• “Penalty fee" means the fee which individual customers shall be charged if they fail to honor their commitments on time.
• "Tila Salary based micro credit service" means a credit service provided by the Awash Bank in collaboration with Ethio telecom via Ethio telecom's telebirr platform to employees of private and public institutions whose monthly salaries are paid through telebirr service.
• "telebirr" means trade name of Ethio telecom mobile money service used to access financial services.
• "telebirr Account" means account opened for telebirr user to store, send, and receive electronic money.
• The word “individual" shall include both the masculine and the feminine gender.
• "Tila micro credit Service" means credit service provided by Awash Bank in collaboration with Ethio telecom that enables individual customers to access credit service through telebirr channels in accordance with these terms and conditions set forth below.
• “We," "our," and "us," means Awash Bank and Ethio telecom.
• Words expressed feminine also applicable to masculine.
• “You" or "your" means the individual Customers and includes the individual's personal representatives.

2. Acceptance of the Terms and Conditions

• Awash Bank, in collaboration with Ethio telecom, offers this credit service, Awash Bank owns and controls the money used to provide credit services.
• To activate the Tila micro credit service, individual customers shall use USSD (*127#) or telebirr super App.
• Before applying to use Tila micro credit service you should carefully read and understand these Terms and Conditions which will govern the use and operation of Tila micro credit service.
• If you do not agree with these Terms and Conditions, please do not click the “Activate”
• You will be deemed to have read, understood, and accepted these Terms and Conditions Upon clicking on the " Activate " option on the Menu requesting you to confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to abide with these Terms and Conditions; and/or by using or continuing to use and operate Tila micro credit Service.
• You acknowledge and accept the Tila micro credit service and agree to conduct business with Ethio telecom using only electronic means via Telebirr to operate the Tila micro credit services.
• The terms and conditions can be modified or changed at any time by Ethio telecom and/or Awash Bank, upon these changes, notification will be sent to you through appropriate communication channels. The updated term and condition will be binding on the customer from the date they are published on the telebirr App, portal, or website.
• Once the Terms and Conditions are accepted electronically, they shall constitute a legally binding contract between you and us. You are not allowed to transfer any of your rights or obligations under this agreement to anyone else.
• You are not allowed to transfer any of your rights or obligations under this agreement to anyone else.
• The individual customer agrees to use the credit only for lawful purposes.

3. Activation for Tila Micro Credit Service

3.1. To activate Tila micro credit service with Ethio telecom and Awash Bank, you must be at least:

• Able to read, understand and accept these terms and conditions.
• Should be 18 years old and above.
• Have an Ethio telecom active SIM card.
• Active user of telebirr and Ethio telecom products such as Data/Voice/SMS.
• Stay on network for (3) three months and above after registered for SIM card and telebirr services.

4. Eligibility Criteria to Get Tila Service

4.1 An individual customer's borrowing capacity is determined by his or her 6-month telebirr transaction and telecom usage prior to the date of the Tila micro credit service request. The telebirr transactions listed below are used to determine a customer's credit worthiness:

• Purchase airtime or packages.
• Buy goods/service
• Bill Payment by self-service or at agent.
• Utility payment by self-service or at agent.
• Receive Bulk disbursement
• Receive Remittance
• Ticket purchase
• Fundraising payment
• Cash-in/Cash-out at agent
• Saving
• Send money
• Telecom usage like Voice, Data and SMS
• Credit Repayment History

4.2. However, to get Tila salary micro credit receiving salary via telebirr and a prior agreement with the institution where the individual customer working will be the requirement.

5. Credit Amount and Fees
   • Based on your transaction activity, you can borrow any amount between the minimum and maximum amount permitted.
   • Pursuant to Council of Ministers Regulation No. 576/2025, which establishes the Ethiopian Disaster Risk Response Fund, a mandatory contribution of 1% will be deducted from the total credit amount you have requested and transferred to the Ethiopian Disaster Risk Response Fund. The remaining amount of your approved credit will then be disbursed to your telebirr account.
   • You should repay your previous credit first to get another credit.
   • You can pay your credit partially or fully.
   • After the due date, you will be charged a penalty fee of 0.11% per day up on repayment.
   • Credit repayment deadline will be 15 days, 40 days and 75 days from the date of taking the loan, depending on the type of loan.
   • For 15 days with a credit limit of 5,000 birr, 40 days with a credit limit of 12,000 birr, 75 days with a credit limit of 16,000 birr, and 6 months’ salary with a credit limit of 1,000,000 birr; and for credit types, the minimum credit limit is 15 days 500 birr, 40 days 1,200 birr, 75 days 1,200 birr, and for 6 months 1,000 birr.
   • If you repay your 15-days credit within the due date, you will be charged a facilitation fee of 1.25% of the loan amount on day one. and you will be charged a daily fee ranging from 0.50% to 1.20% for the rest of repayment period depending on your credit limit-days with credit limit of 5,000 birr.
   • If you repay your 40-days credit within the due date, you will be charged a facilitation fee of 4.50% of the loan amount on day one. and you will be charged a daily fee ranging from 0.50% to 1.20% for the rest of repayment period depending on your credit limit.
   • If you repay your 75-days credit within the due date, you will be charged a facilitation fee of 6.50% of the loan amount on day one. and you will be charged a daily fee ranging from 0.5% to 1.20% for the rest of repayment period depending on your credit limit.
   • The facilitation fee for 6 months’ Salary based loan is 22% with 16 months repayment period (the repayment will be settled monthly).
   • For this 6 months’ salary credit early repayment charge will be 3% of the outstanding principal amount.
   • The bonus/incentive will not be applicable for telebirr Tila repayment.

6. Non-Performing loan collection

• After due date we will take the outstanding credit amount from your telebirr account and Tila saving account.
• If the loan is not repaid when it is overdue, Ethio Telecom and/or Awash Bank may, where necessary, collect the debt using any alternative means, including direct debit from individual customer Awash Bank or any other bank accounts.
• The individual customer agrees that Ethio Telecom and/or Awash Bank have the right to collect the debt by using alternative means, such as obtaining the individual customer's address, in order to assist in the collection of the debt outside of court.
• The individual customer agrees that if the debt is not paid when it is overdue, Ethio Telecom and/ or Awash Bank may transfer the individual customer's personal data to a third party (law firm or individual) involved in debt collection.
• If the debt is not paid through an out-of-court alternative, Ethio Telecom and/or Awash Bank have full right to take the case to a regular court by themselves or separately through another legal service providing firm or an attorney.

7. Governing Law

The laws of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the directives of the National Bank of Ethiopia, as well as the relevant working procedures of Awash Bank and/or Ethio telecom shall govern these Terms and Conditions.

8. Queries.

For any inquiries regarding the telebirr Services, Procedures, Terms and Conditions of the telebirr, can call the telebirr Customer Contact Center (127), send a short SMS to 126 or visit the telebirr social media Pages (https://telehub.ethiotelecom.et/) for more information.

9. Termination

We are entitled to suspend or terminate this agreement wholly or partially due to your abuse, misuse, or fraud of any of the micro credit saving and micro loan services with or without prior notice to you. Any termination of this contract completely or in part may not affect any accrued rights and obligations of either party.

10. Complaints and Disputes Resolution

Complaints may be made in person, in writing, by post, fax, email, or telephone. Ethio Telecom will take all measures within its means to resolve your complaints within a reasonable time. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may escalate the issue to Awash Bank and National Bank of Ethiopia, in that order. If the parties fail to reach an agreement within (30) thirty Calendars days from the date the complaint was first submitted to Ethio Telecom, they agree to submit their cases only to the competent Court in Ethiopia.

11. Lien

We shall have a general lien over all your property/assets in its possession in the event that you owe any money to us including but not limited to cash, goods, securities or valuables deposited for safe custody as security, cheques presented, bills and any other movable or immovable property. Where you are indebted to us in circumstances giving us the right off set off, all property held under lien shall be deemed to be held as security for the debt

12. Set-Off

We may, upon notice, combine/consolidate your telebirr Account with any other accounts you hold with us, whether current, loan, savings, deposit, term deposit, joint or any other type and thereafter set off any amount held to your credit against any indebtedness you owe to us.  

13. Disclaimer

Your PIN must be kept confidential and not accessible to anyone other than you. You will be solely responsible for any loss/damage you may incur if you disclose your PIN to a third party or fail to change it regularly, make unauthorized use of your phone, or fail to promptly notify the relevant party and immediate suspend if your mobile phone or SIM card is stolen or lost.