Terms of Use

These terms govern your use of the Makhdoom platform through the website and the mobile app. Please read them in full before you create an account or complete a booking. They set out what the platform provides and what it does not, and what falls on you and on the recruitment office.

1. Introduction and acceptance

1.1 Operator of the platform: Makhdoom, referred to in these terms as "the platform", "Makhdoom" or "we".

1.2 By creating an account, or by ticking the acceptance box at sign-up or at booking, you confirm that you have read, understood and accepted these terms and the Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the platform.

1.3 The Privacy Policy (lien) and the Cancellation and Refund Policy (lien) form an integral part of these terms.

1.4 The platform records your acceptance electronically, with the version number you accepted, the date and time, the channel used (website or app), the network address and the browser or device type. These records are evidence of your acceptance.

2. Definitions

2.1 "Platform": the Makhdoom website, the mobile app and the technology services connected to them.

2.2 "Customer" or "you": the natural person who creates an account on the platform to search for and book a domestic worker.

2.3 "Office": the domestic-worker recruitment office that lists its workers on the platform through its own account. It is independent of the platform.

2.4 "Worker": the domestic worker listed by the office on the platform.

2.5 "Listing" or "worker profile": the information, photos and documents the office publishes about a worker, including the recruitment fee.

2.6 "Recruitment contract": the contract made between the customer and the office for recruiting the worker. The platform is not a party to it.

2.7 "Recruitment fee": the amount set by the office for the recruitment and paid by the customer to the office directly.

2.8 "Platform fee": the amount the platform charges the customer for the technology intermediary and booking service, shown in the booking summary before payment.

2.9 "Hold": the temporary reservation of the worker in the customer's name for a fixed time until payment is completed.

2.10 "Booking": the request created after the platform fee is paid successfully and sent to the office to accept or decline.

2.11 "Escrow ledger": the accounting record in which the platform keeps the platform fee and tracks it in stages until the worker arrives, as described in clause 9.

3. Who may use the platform

3.1 The customer must be a natural person who has reached the age of majority and has full capacity to contract under the laws in force in the State of Kuwait, and must be a Kuwaiti citizen or a lawful resident of Kuwait whose residency allows them to recruit a domestic worker.

3.2 Each person has one account, linked to their phone number and Civil ID. You may not create an account in another person's name or transfer your account to anyone else.

3.3 You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you enter and for keeping it up to date, and for everything done from your account using your phone number and the verification code sent to it.

3.4 Meeting the conditions set by the authorities for recruiting a domestic worker (such as sponsorship, residency, income and other conditions) is your responsibility alone. The platform does not check them.

4. The platform's role: a technology intermediary only

4.1 The platform provides a technology service for introduction and intermediation, limited to the following:

• Displaying the worker listings published by offices, with search, compare and save tools.
• Letting you book a listed worker and pay the platform fee electronically.
• Passing the booking request to the office and telling you whether it accepted or declined.
• Showing the booking progress steps recorded by the office until the worker arrives, and sending the related notifications.
• Receiving support requests about using the platform, your account and payment.

4.2 The platform is not a recruitment office and does not carry on the business of recruiting or supplying domestic workers. It is not the agent, representative or partner of any office, customer or worker.

4.3 The platform is not a party to the recruitment contract and does not sign or endorse it. The platform may keep details of the contract, or a copy uploaded by the office, for follow-up and record purposes only. This does not make it a party.

4.4 The platform's role in a booking ends when you confirm the worker's arrival, or when the booking is cancelled or cannot be completed, whichever comes first.

5. What the platform does not do

5.1 The platform does not recruit, employ or select workers, and does not train them, medically examine them, test their skills or supervise them.

5.2 The platform gives no undertaking or warranty, express or implied, about any of the following:

• The worker's skills, experience, language, health, conduct or honesty.
• The worker's suitability for your needs or your household.
• The worker continuing in the job or completing the contract term.
• The issue of a visa, residency or any official approval, or how long it takes.
• The worker arriving on a particular date.

5.3 The platform does not verify the truth of listing content beyond the review described in clause 6, and is not responsible for any error or omission in it.

5.4 The platform does not receive or hold the recruitment fee and takes no part in setting, collecting or refunding it.

5.5 The platform does not give legal, immigration or employment advice.

6. Offices, their licences and listing content

6.1 Every office that offers its services on the platform declares to the platform that it is licensed to carry on domestic-worker recruitment in the State of Kuwait and that its licence is valid. That declaration remains the office's sole responsibility.

6.2 Before activating an office account, the platform looks at the documents the office submits (such as the licence and the commercial registration), and it reviews listings before they are published. This is a review of the documents and information as given to us. It is not an independent check of their accuracy with the authorities, and it is not a statement by the platform that the licence is valid or that the listing is accurate.

6.3 The verification status and badges shown on an office or a listing reflect what was given to the platform at the time of review. Circumstances may change afterwards. We advise you to check the office's licence yourself before you contract with it.

6.4 All information, photos, documents, prices and availability in a listing come from the office, which is responsible for them. The time availability was last updated is shown on the listing as a guide.

6.5 The platform may refuse or remove any listing, or suspend any office account, without this creating any obligation toward the customer.

7. The customer's obligations

The customer undertakes to:

7.1 Provide true and complete information, including name, phone number and Civil ID, and complete identity verification when asked.

7.2 Use the platform for a lawful personal purpose, namely recruiting a domestic worker for your own household, and not on behalf of others or for commercial purposes.

7.3 Read the worker profile, the office's conditions and the recruitment contract carefully before contracting, and put your questions to the office directly.

7.4 Pay the recruitment fee to the office directly under the recruitment contract, and keep the receipts. Any amount you pay to the office is subject to the contract between you and the office.

7.5 Complete the sponsorship, residency, medical and any other official procedures that fall on the employer under the laws and regulations in force in the State of Kuwait.

7.6 Treat the worker humanely and with dignity, and honour all of the worker's rights under the laws and regulations governing domestic labour in the State of Kuwait and under the employment contract.

7.7 Confirm the worker's arrival on the platform when the worker has actually arrived, and not before.

7.8 Not try to go around the platform by completing, outside it, a booking that began on it in order to avoid the platform fee.

8. Bookings, holds and time limits

8.1 When you start a booking, the worker is held in your name for 30 minutes so you can complete payment. If the time runs out without a successful payment, the hold is cancelled automatically and the worker becomes available to others again, with no obligation on any party.

8.2 A limited number of payment attempts is allowed during the hold (currently 3).

8.3 After a successful payment the booking is sent to the office. The office may accept or decline it, and its expected response time is 24 hours. That time is a commitment of the office, not an undertaking by the platform. If the office is late the platform follows up with it, and you keep the right to cancel and receive a full refund of the platform fee as long as the office has not accepted.

8.4 The office accepting the booking does not mean the recruitment contract has been made. The contract is made between you and the office on the conditions you agree.

8.5 The booking steps you see after acceptance (such as visa issued and ready to arrive) are recorded by the office. The platform shows them as recorded.

8.6 When the worker arrives, you confirm the arrival on the platform. If you do not confirm within 7 days of the office recording that the worker is ready to arrive, the platform team may contact you as a reminder. Arrival is never recorded without your confirmation.

8.7 A booking may fail to complete for reasons outside the platform's control, such as the worker becoming unavailable, a refusal by an authority, or a default by either party. The refund rule in clause 10 applies in those cases.

9. Fees and how the platform fee is held

9.1 The platform fee is currently 3 KD per booking. The amount in force is shown in the booking summary before payment, and the amount shown to you at the time of payment is the one that binds that booking.

9.2 The platform fee is for the technology intermediary and booking service. It is entirely separate from the recruitment fee. It is not part of it and not an advance on it.

9.3 The recruitment fee is set by the office and shown on the worker profile. You pay it to the office directly under the recruitment contract. It does not pass through the platform.

9.4 Once paid, the platform fee is entered in the escrow ledger and goes through these stages:

• Stage 1, booking: when payment succeeds, the full fee is held.
• Stage 2, visa issued: half of the fee is released to the platform and the other half stays held.
• Stage 3, arrival: after you confirm the worker's arrival, the held half is released.
• Stage 4, closing: the ledger is closed and the booking is complete.

9.5 The escrow ledger is an internal accounting record kept by the platform for the platform fee only. It does not cover the recruitment fee. It is not a trust account or a deposit with a bank or a third party, and it is not an undertaking by the platform that the office or the worker will perform.

9.6 The stages show when the fee is finally earned by the platform. They do not change the refund rule in clause 10.

10. Cancellation and refunds

10.1 The platform fee is refunded in full in two cases only:

• If you cancel the booking before the office accepts it.
• If the office declines the booking.

10.2 Once the office has accepted the booking, the platform fee is not refundable, whatever the reason for the cancellation or failure and whichever party caused it, without prejudice to any right that cannot be waived by agreement under the law.

10.3 A refund goes back to the same payment method within 5 business days of the refund being approved. The payment gateway or the bank may take additional time that is outside the platform's control.

10.4 You may cancel the booking after the office has accepted it, but the platform fee is not refunded.

10.5 A refund of the recruitment fee, or of any amount you paid to the office, is a matter between you and the office under the recruitment contract and the laws in force. The platform has no obligation in it.

11. Payment and payment gateways

11.1 The platform fee is paid electronically through the payment methods shown on the payment page (KNET, bank card or Tabby, as available).

11.2 Payment is processed by the payment gateway. The platform does not store your bank card details. It keeps only the transaction details it needs (amount, status, reference number and payment method).

11.3 Use of any payment method is subject to its provider's terms. Instalment or pay-later services are provided by their provider under its own terms, and any obligation arising from them is between you and that provider.

11.4 A booking exists only after the payment gateway confirms to the platform that the payment succeeded. The platform is not responsible for outages or delays of the payment gateway or the bank.

11.5 An electronic receipt for the platform fee is issued to you after a successful payment.

12. Identity verification

12.1 Because the recruitment contract is made in the name of the person who places the request, the platform asks you to verify your identity through the approved government apps. Where that is not possible, it may ask you to upload proof of verification for our team to review.

12.2 The platform processes verification data in line with the Privacy Policy. The platform does not store your full Civil ID number. It stores an irreversible hashed form and the last four digits.

12.3 The platform may decline to complete a booking, or put it on hold, if verification is not completed or the information does not match.

13. After the worker arrives

13.1 When you confirm the worker's arrival, the booking is complete and the platform's role as intermediary ends.

13.2 Everything concerning the worker after arrival, including performance, health, conduct, continuing in the job, wages and residency, and every obligation that the law or the recruitment contract places on the office toward you or toward the worker, is between you and the office directly, under the contract between you and the laws and regulations in force in the State of Kuwait.

13.3 The platform does not intervene in the relationship between you and the office or between you and the worker, does not decide matters between you, and bears no obligation arising from that relationship.

14. Communications and notifications

14.1 By creating an account you agree that the platform may contact you by SMS, app notifications, email and in-platform notifications about your account, bookings, payments and support requests, including the verification code. These are service messages needed to provide the service.

14.2 Marketing messages and offers are sent to you only with your consent. You can stop them at any time from your account settings or through the unsubscribe link in the message.

14.3 Electronic communications and the records kept by the platform are accepted as evidence between the parties, to the extent allowed by the laws in force on electronic transactions.

14.4 You are responsible for keeping your phone number correct and in your possession.

15. Content and intellectual property

15.1 The Makhdoom name and logo, and the platform's design, software and text, are owned by or licensed to the operator and may not be copied or used without written permission.

15.2 Listing content is owned by or licensed to the offices that published it, and the platform displays it with their permission.

15.3 You are granted a limited, personal, non-exclusive and non-transferable right to use the platform for its purpose.

15.4 Workers' photos and information are shown for the purpose of choosing and booking only. Copying, saving, publishing or circulating them outside the platform is prohibited.

16. Prohibited use

16.1 You must not:

• Give false information, impersonate anyone or create more than one account.
• Make bookings that are not genuine, or repeated bookings meant to keep workers from other customers.
• Collect platform data by automated means, or try to breach, disrupt or bypass the platform's protections.
• Use the platform for any unlawful purpose, including trafficking in persons or employing workers in breach of the law.
• Publish or send content that is abusive, discriminatory or degrading toward workers, offices or the platform team.
• Misuse payment methods or claim a refund you are not entitled to.

17. Suspension and closure of the account

17.1 The platform may suspend or close your account, or decline to carry out a booking, if you breach these terms or the law, give incorrect information, or there is a reasonable suspicion of fraud or misuse. The customer is told wherever possible.

17.2 You may ask to close your account at any time through a support request. On closure, your identifying data is removed as described in the Privacy Policy, and the platform keeps the financial and booking records it has to keep.

17.3 Suspension or closure of the account does not cancel obligations that arose before it and does not affect a recruitment contract in place between you and the office.

18. Disclaimers

18.1 The platform and its services are provided "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent the law allows, the platform makes no undertaking or representation, express or implied, that the service will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that listings are accurate, complete or up to date.

18.2 The decision to choose a worker and an office, and to contract with that office, is yours alone and at your own responsibility. Search results, ordering, suggestions and verification badges shown by the platform are aids. They are not a recommendation or an endorsement.

18.3 The platform is not responsible for the acts or omissions of offices, workers, other customers or any third party, or for the decisions, procedures or delays of the authorities.

18.4 The platform is not responsible for delay or failure caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control, such as telecommunications outages, technical failures of third parties, government decisions or force majeure.

19. Limitation of liability

19.1 To the fullest extent the law allows, the platform, the operator and their staff are not liable for any indirect, consequential or incidental loss, including loss of profit or opportunity and non-material harm, arising from the use of the platform or the inability to use it, or from the recruitment contract, the worker or the office.

19.2 In all cases, the platform's total liability to you for any claim relating to a particular booking will not exceed the platform fee you actually paid for that booking.

19.3 Nothing in these terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot be excluded or limited under the laws in force in the State of Kuwait, including liability for fraud or gross negligence and the consumer rights that cannot be waived by agreement.

19.4 You acknowledge that the platform fee was set on the basis of the allocation of responsibility in these terms, and that this allocation is an essential basis of the agreement.

20. Indemnity

20.1 You undertake to indemnify the platform, the operator and their staff against any claim, loss or reasonable expense arising from your breach of these terms, your misuse of the platform, the inaccuracy of information you provided, or your breach of the law or of the rights of the worker, the office or any third party.

21. Support and complaints

21.1 You can open a support request from your account on the platform, or write to us at support@makhdoom.io, about anything concerning the use of the platform, your account, or the platform fee and its payment and refund.

21.2 Support requests are a way to reach the platform team about its own services. The platform does not decide disagreements between you and the office or the worker. It may pass your comment to the office, with no commitment as to the outcome.

21.3 This clause does not affect your right to go to the competent authorities.

22. Changes to these terms

22.1 The platform may change these terms. Every change is published as a new version with a number and a date, and earlier versions are kept.

22.2 If the change is material, we ask you to accept the new version before you continue to use your account or complete a new booking. If you do not agree, you may stop using the platform and ask to close your account.

22.3 Each booking is governed by the version you accepted when you paid its fee.

23. Governing law and jurisdiction

23.1 These terms are governed by and interpreted under the laws and regulations in force in the State of Kuwait.

23.2 The courts of the State of Kuwait have jurisdiction over any disagreement or claim arising from these terms or from the use of the platform, after an attempt to settle it amicably through the support channels.

24. Language and general provisions

24.1 These terms are written in Arabic. The English translation is for convenience. If the two texts differ, the Arabic text prevails.

24.2 If a clause of these terms is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining clauses stay in force and the invalid clause is applied to the fullest extent the law allows.

24.3 The platform not exercising one of its rights is not a waiver of that right.

24.4 You may not assign your rights or obligations under these terms to anyone else. The operator may assign them to its successor in operating the platform, with notice to you.

24.5 These terms, together with the Privacy Policy and the Cancellation and Refund Policy, are the entire agreement between you and the platform about its use. They create no agency, partnership or employment relationship between you and the platform.

25. Contact us

25.1 For questions about these terms: support@makhdoom.io, or through a support request from your account.

25.2 Operator: Makhdoom.