Terms of Service

Arkila is campus-only by design. To use it, you must:

• Be a currently enrolled student at a school where Arkila is live, and verify a valid student email address and student ID.
• Be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority where you live. If you are a minor with parental or guardian consent, your parent or guardian accepts these Terms on your behalf and is responsible for your activity.
• Provide accurate information and keep it current. One person may hold one account; accounts are personal and may not be transferred or shared.

Account security

You are responsible for what happens under your account. Keep your password and any one-time codes private, and tell us promptly at [email protected] if you suspect unauthorized use. We may require re-verification of your student status at any time, and we may suspend access while we verify.

Roles

A single account can act as both a lender (listing items to rent out) and a borrower (renting items from others). The responsibilities in these Terms apply to you in whichever role you are acting at the time.

Lenders publish listings describing an item, its daily rate, the campus safe zone where it is handed over, and any refundable deposit. Borrowers send a request for specific dates. When a lender approves, the borrower pays, our team verifies the payment, and the two of you meet at the safe zone to hand the item over, and again to return it.

Arkila provides the tools around that exchange: identity verification, messaging, scheduling, holding deposits, processing payments and payouts, and helping resolve disputes. We do not inspect items in person, take possession of them, or guarantee that any listing is accurate or that any user will follow through.

When you list an item, you confirm that:

• You own the item or otherwise have the right to lend it, and lending it does not break any other agreement, warranty, or campus rule.
• Your photos, title, description, condition, and availability are accurate and not misleading.
• The item is safe to use as described, is not recalled, and is not on the prohibited items list.

Pricing and deposits you set

You choose the daily rate, and whether to ask for a refundable deposit and how much. Arkila holds the deposit for the duration of the rental and refunds it to the borrower after you confirm the return. You may not collect payment or deposits off the Platform, or ask a borrower to pay you directly to avoid fees.

Listing fee

Each listing carries a listing fee (currently ₱50), paid through the Platform. A listing goes live once our team has verified that payment.

Your responsibilities

Respond to requests in good time, hand off and accept returns at the agreed place and time, and report any damage promptly and honestly. Approving a request forms a rental agreement with that borrower for the listed item and dates.

When you borrow, you agree to:

• Use the item only as intended, take reasonable care of it, and keep it in the same condition you received it, allowing for normal wear.
• Pick it up and return it at the agreed time and place. If you keep the item past the end date, the rental is marked overdue and both of you are notified. The lender may then open a dispute, which can lead to a deduction from your deposit.
• Not sub-lend, sell, alter, or take the item off campus in a way the listing does not allow.

Condition at handoff

We encourage both parties to photograph the item together at pickup and return. These records help resolve any later dispute. If you receive an item that is unsafe or materially different from its listing, do not accept it and tell us before the rental starts.

All amounts on Arkila are in Philippine pesos (₱). A borrower pays by GCash transfer and uploads proof of it, and our team verifies the payment before the handover. Lender earnings are paid out by our team when the lender requests a payout. Here is how the money breaks down:

Rental rate

Set by the lender, charged to the borrower

Service fee

Currently ₱50 per rental, paid by the borrower

Listing fee

Currently ₱50 per listing, paid by the lender

Commission

Currently 10% of the rental amount, deducted from the lender’s earnings; never charged on a deposit

Refundable deposit

Optional and set by the lender; held by Arkila and refunded to the borrower after the return

Lender payouts

Whenever you request one, with no minimum, to the payout method you choose

By making a payment, you authorize the charges shown before you pay; those amounts are the ones that apply. You are responsible for any taxes that apply to your own activity. Fees and the fee structure may change, but we will not change the terms of a booking that is already confirmed.

Plans change. Either the borrower or the lender can cancel a rental from its page while it is still a request, or after approval up until the borrower submits payment:

Before payment is submitted

Either of you can cancel in the app. Nothing has been charged.

After payment is submitted

The rental can no longer be cancelled in the app. Contact us and our team resolves it case by case.

After the handover

No cancellation. Problems with the item or its return go through the dispute process.

If a lender cannot hand an item over after the payment is verified, tell us at [email protected]. We may take repeated cancellations or no-shows into account for that account.

If an item is returned damaged, returned late, or not returned, either party can open a dispute from the rental page, any time from when the payment is verified until the rental is completed. Our team reviews the listing, the handover and return records, the messages between you, and any photos either of you adds, and makes a decision.

What a dispute can decide

• Where a dispute finds the borrower responsible for damage, loss, or a late return, we may award part or all of the held deposit to the lender and refund the rest to the borrower.
• While a dispute is open, payouts for that rental are on hold.
• The deposit is the only money a dispute can move, and a deposit that has already been refunded cannot be taken back, so open a dispute before the refund is paid.
• Arkila does not provide damage coverage or insurance. A deposit is a limited remedy and may not cover every loss, and holding it does not make Arkila a party to the rental or an insurer of it.

Our decisions

We aim to be fair and fast, but we are not a court. Our decisions on deposit deductions are made in good faith and are final on the Platform. Attempting to reverse a verified payment through your bank or GCash, rather than using our dispute process, is a breach of these Terms and may lead to suspension.

Items you may not list

• Weapons, ammunition, or anything designed to cause harm.
• Vehicles or equipment you are not licensed to lend, or that require a license the borrower does not hold.
• Food, drink, perishables, medication, and anything ingested or applied to the body.
• Illegal, stolen, counterfeit, recalled, or unsafe items.
• Anything that violates your school’s rules or applicable law.

Conduct you agree to avoid

• Harassing, threatening, discriminating against, or endangering another user.
• Posting false, deceptive, or infringing content, or impersonating someone else.
• Arranging payment off-platform, evading fees, or moving a verified user relationship off Arkila to avoid these Terms.
• Scraping, reverse engineering, overloading, probing, or interfering with the Platform or its security.

You keep ownership of the photos, descriptions, reviews, and messages you submit (“Your Content”). You grant Arkila a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, display, and use Your Content for the purpose of operating, promoting, and improving the Platform. You confirm you have the rights to grant this license.

The Arkila name, logo, and the Platform’s design and software belong to Arkila. These Terms do not give you any right to use them except as needed to use the Platform normally. If you send us ideas or feedback, we may use them without obligation to you.

Arkila relies on third parties, including GCash for transfers and external providers for hosting and sign-in. Your use of those services is governed by their own terms and privacy policies. We are not responsible for the acts, content, or availability of third parties, and links from Arkila to other sites are provided for convenience only.

The Platform is provided “as is” and “as available”. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Arkila disclaims all warranties, whether express or implied, including any warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement.

Arkila does not own, control, or guarantee any listed item, and is not a party to the rental agreement between a lender and a borrower. We do not warrant that the Platform will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free, or that any user is who they claim to be. You use Arkila, and lend and borrow, at your own risk.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Arkila and its officers, employees, and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, data, goodwill, or the loss, theft, or damage of any item, arising from your use of the Platform or any rental.

Where liability cannot be excluded, our total liability for any claim is limited to the greater of the fees Arkila earned on the transaction giving rise to the claim or ₱5,000. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited under Philippine law, including the Consumer Act of the Philippines (RA 7394).

You agree to indemnify and hold Arkila harmless from any claim, loss, or expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your use of the Platform, the items you list or borrow, your breach of these Terms, or your violation of any law or of another person’s rights.

You may close your account at any time from your settings, subject to completing any active rentals and settling any amounts owed. We may suspend or end your access, with or without notice, if you breach these Terms, lose eligibility (for example, you are no longer a verified student), or create risk for other users or for Arkila.

Sections that by their nature should survive termination will do so, including payments owed, content licenses, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnification, and the governing-law section.

We may update the Platform and these Terms as Arkila grows. When we make material changes, we will post the new version here with a new effective date and, where appropriate, notify you in the app or by email. Changes take effect when posted. Continuing to use Arkila after that means you accept the updated Terms; if you do not, please stop using the Platform and close your account.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. You and Arkila agree to first try to resolve any dispute informally by contacting [email protected].

If we cannot resolve it within 30 days, the dispute will be brought before the competent courts of Metro Manila, Philippines, and you consent to their jurisdiction. Nothing here prevents either party from seeking urgent relief where the law allows, or limits any right you have under mandatory consumer protection law.

• Entire agreement. These Terms and the documents they reference are the whole agreement between you and Arkila about the Platform.
• Severability. If any part is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect.
• No waiver. If we do not enforce a right, that is not a waiver of it.
• Assignment. You may not transfer these Terms; we may assign them to an affiliate or successor.
• Force majeure. Neither party is liable for delays caused by events beyond reasonable control.
• Notices. We may give notice through the Platform or by email; you reach us at the addresses below.