Terms & Conditions

Version 1.0 Effective: June 11, 2026

About These Terms

The Zola platform is operated by ZOLA CS DMCC, a company incorporated in the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre free zone, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with registered address Unit No. 278, DMCC Business Centre, Level No. 1, Jewellery & Gemplex 3, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In these Terms, "Zola", "we", "us" and "our" mean that company. "You" and "your" mean the person or business using the Platform.

You can reach us through the in-app support channels or the contact form at zolagroup.com/contact. Legal notices may be sent in writing to our registered address (see clause 36).

The document set. These Terms & Conditions are the agreement between you and Zola. They consist of:

• Parts A to E of this document. Part A applies to everyone who uses the Platform, including anonymous visitors who use the AI Assistant. Parts B, C and D apply in addition when you purchase Services. Part E applies to everyone.
• Schedule 1 (Refund & Cancellation Policy) and Schedule 2 (Service Descriptions & Submission Milestones), which form part of these Terms. Where Schedule 1 deals with cancellation, cooling-off or refunds, Schedule 1 controls (see clause 16).

Our Privacy Policy and our Cookie Policy are separate documents, available on the Platform (zolagroup.com/privacy and zolagroup.com/cookies). By using the Platform you acknowledge that you have been given access to them, but they are not part of this contract. Your data protection rights, and any consents you give us, exist under applicable law independently of these Terms and are not bundled into your acceptance of them.

By creating an account, ticking the acceptance box, placing an Order, or simply using the Platform, you agree to these Terms as described in clause 3. If you do not agree, please do not use the Platform.

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PART A — PLATFORM TERMS

In plain terms: This Part applies to everyone who uses Zola, even before buying anything. It explains the words we use, who Zola is (a service intermediary — the authorities, not Zola, make the final decisions), how this contract is formed, your account responsibilities, how our AI chat works and its limits, what you may not do on the Platform, who owns what, the third-party services we rely on, and what to expect about availability. (This summary is for convenience only and is not part of the agreement.)

1. Definitions & Interpretation

1.1 Definitions. In these Terms:

• "AI Assistant" means the artificial-intelligence chat features available on the Platform, including the public welcome chat, the chat widget that can be embedded on third-party websites, and the help assistant available while you complete our questionnaire.
• "Authority" means any freezone authority, government department, immigration authority, tax authority, bank, or other official or regulated body that receives, reviews, or decides on applications, registrations, or account openings connected with the Services.
• "Business Customer" means any customer who is not a Consumer, including any person acting in the course of a trade, business, craft, or profession, or on behalf of a company (including a company being formed).
• "Case" means the workspace we open in your dashboard when you begin payment for an Order. A Case becomes active when payment is confirmed; until then it is dormant (see clause 22). A Case tracks the documents you upload, the information we request, messages between you and our team, and the progress of each Case Service.
• "Case Service" means an individual Service within a Case — for example, one visa application within a Case that also includes a trade license.
• "Consumer" means a natural person who acquires Services for purposes outside their trade, business, craft, or profession, within the meaning of UAE Federal Law No. 15 of 2020 on Consumer Protection.
• "Deliverables" means the documents that result from completed Services — for example a trade license, certificate of incorporation, visa, lease or address confirmation, or tax registration certificate — made available to you through your Case.
• "Government Fees" means amounts charged by an Authority or fulfilment partner for an application, registration, or filing, which we collect from you and pass on. Government Fees are set by the relevant Authority, not by Zola.
• "Invoice" means the electronic invoice we issue for an Order, including any replacement invoice issued to correct an earlier one (see clause 12).
• "Order" means your instruction to purchase one or more Products, created when you confirm your selection at checkout.
• "Platform" means the Zola website and web application, the AI Assistant (wherever it appears, including embedded on third-party websites), the client dashboard, and the related tools and content we operate.
• "Product" means a specific service package listed on the Platform, with a title, price, included benefits, required documents, and required information. The Product description shown when you place your Order defines what is included.
• "Service Fees" means the fees we charge for our own work in providing the Services, as distinct from Government Fees.
• "Services" means the business-setup and related services we offer through the Platform — including trade license formation, visa application support, bank account opening assistance, registered office address, tax registration, and annual compliance support — each as described in the applicable Product.
• "Submission" means the moment we transmit an application or filing on your behalf to an Authority or fulfilment partner and receive acknowledgment of its receipt. Submission is a defined turning point in these Terms: it fixes the cut-off for the cooling-off right and moves a Case Service into a different refund stage under Schedule 1 (Refund & Cancellation Policy). "Submit" and "Submitted" are to be construed accordingly.

1.2 Case statuses. Your dashboard shows the status of each Case. Because later clauses attach rights and timings to these statuses, here is what each status means, together with the label your dashboard uses where it differs:

• Pending Payment — the Case has been created but payment has not yet been confirmed.
• Documents Requested (shown in your dashboard as "Action Required") — we have asked you to upload documents or provide required information, and we are waiting on you.
• Documents Under Review (shown in your dashboard as "Under Review") — we are reviewing what you provided.
• In Progress — we are actively preparing or have made a Submission to one or more Authorities. While a Case is In Progress, certain information is locked and uploaded documents may no longer be withdrawn (see clause 13).
• On Hold — work is paused, for example while we wait for you, for an Authority, or for a payment issue to be resolved.
• Completed — all Case Services have been delivered and your Deliverables are available.
• Inactive — the Case has been closed without completion, for example following cancellation or termination.

1.3 Interpretation. Headings are for convenience only. "Including" means "including without limitation". A "business day" is a working day in Dubai, UAE; "days" means calendar days unless we say business days. References to numbered clauses are to clauses of these Terms.

2. Who We Are; Our Role as an Intermediary

2.1 Zola is an intermediary. We are a service intermediary and facilitator. We help you choose, prepare, and submit applications for business setup and related services through freezone, government, and banking partners. All final decisions — including the approval of any license, the issuance of any visa, the opening of any bank account, and the acceptance of any tax registration — are made exclusively by the relevant Authority, not by Zola. We communicate the Authority's decisions to you; we do not make, influence, or override them.

2.2 We are not your lawyer, accountant, or tax adviser. Zola is not a law firm, an accounting firm, or a tax advisory firm. Nothing on the Platform — including content, proposals, questionnaire guidance, and AI Assistant responses — is legal, tax, accounting, or financial advice, and no advisor-client relationship is created between you and Zola. If you need professional advice, consult a qualified professional licensed to advise you.

2.3 Our own compliance duties remain ours. In providing the Services we perform regulated know-your-customer and customer due diligence functions under UAE anti-money-laundering law. We do not, and cannot, contract out of our own legal accountability for those functions. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot be excluded under UAE law, including liability for our fraud or gross negligence.

3. Acceptance, Formation & Capacity

3.1 How you accept. You accept these Terms by: (a) ticking the acceptance checkbox at registration, which links to the full text of these Terms and is never pre-ticked; (b) placing an Order, which confirms your acceptance of these Terms; or (c) for visitors without an account, by using the Platform, in which case Part A and Part E apply to your use. Parts B, C and D bind you when you place an Order.

3.2 Versions of these Terms. These Terms carry a version number and effective date, shown at the top of this document. The version in force when you accept is the version that applies to you (see clause 35 for how we make changes). You can save or print a copy of these Terms for your own records.

3.3 Capacity. You must be at least 18 years old and have the legal capacity to enter into a contract. If you accept these Terms on behalf of a company or other organization (including a company being formed), you confirm that you are authorized to bind it, and "you" includes that organization.

3.4 Consumer or Business Customer. Whether you buy as a Consumer or as a Business Customer matters:

• If you are a Consumer, you receive the protections of UAE Federal Law No. 15 of 2020, including the 14-day cooling-off right described in Schedule 1 (Refund & Cancellation Policy).
• If you are a Business Customer, the cooling-off right does not apply to your Orders.

If you are a natural person, we treat you as a Consumer unless you tell us, or the circumstances of your purchase make clear, that you are buying for trade or business purposes. If you accept these Terms on behalf of a company or other organization (see clause 3.3), you are a Business Customer. If we ask you at checkout to confirm whether you are buying as a Consumer or as a Business Customer, your selection is a separate, explicit step — never pre-selected — and forms part of your Order. Your status information must be accurate: if you are in fact buying for trade or business purposes, you must not present yourself as a Consumer.

4. Accounts & Registration

4.1 Accurate registration. You warrant that the information you provide at registration — including your email address, full name, and phone number — is accurate, and you agree to keep it up to date.

4.2 Your credentials. You are solely responsible for keeping your password and login credentials confidential. You must notify us immediately — through the in-app support channels or the contact form at zolagroup.com/contact — if you suspect any unauthorized access to your account. We may rely on any action taken through your account using valid credentials as having been taken by you.

4.3 Social sign-in. If you register or sign in with Google or LinkedIn, you accept that we rely on that provider's assertion of your identity and that the email address it supplies is treated as verified. Your use of those providers is subject to their own terms.

4.4 Verification. We may require you to verify your email address or phone number before your account can progress through certain steps of the Services.

4.5 One account; no impersonation. You may hold one account per person. You must not impersonate any person or misrepresent your identity or affiliation.

4.6 Security measures. To protect you and the Platform, we may end active sessions, require re-authentication, or temporarily restrict an account where we detect or reasonably suspect credential compromise or token misuse, without liability to you. Changing or resetting your password signs you out of other active sessions.

5. AI Assistant & Chat

5.1 You are talking to an AI. The chat on the Platform is provided by an artificial-intelligence system, not a human. It is labeled as an AI Assistant in the product. Our human team is available through the support channels shown on the Platform and within your Case.

5.2 No advice; verify before you act. AI Assistant outputs are generated automatically and may contain material inaccuracies, omissions, or outdated information. They are provided "as is", for general information only. They are not legal, tax, accounting, immigration, or financial advice, and you must not rely on them as such. Verify any important information with our team or a qualified professional before acting on it. Proposals generated from your questionnaire answers are price quotes built from your inputs (see clause 10); they are not advice or a recommendation.

5.3 What not to type into chat. Do not enter passport numbers, payment card details, passwords, health information, or personal data about other people into free-text chat. The Platform provides structured, secure upload flows for documents — use those instead.

5.4 Third-party AI processing. Chat messages and related questionnaire context are processed by Google's Gemini models under Google's API terms in order to generate responses. Details of this processing are in our Privacy Policy; questions can be raised through the contact channels listed in it.

5.5 Anonymous use. Where anonymous chat is available (for example through the chat widget embedded on third-party websites), visitors without an account can receive a limited number of responses, after which registration is required to continue. On some parts of the Platform, registration is required before chatting. Anonymous chat transcripts are stored and may be linked to your account if you later register, so the conversation can continue where it left off.

5.6 Embedded widget. The AI Assistant may appear as a chat widget embedded on third-party websites. These Terms govern your use of the chat wherever it appears. The host website is not operated by Zola, and we are not responsible for it; the host site's own terms govern everything on that site other than the chat.

5.7 Availability and variability. AI responses may be generated by different underlying models, may vary between sessions, may time out, and may occasionally be unavailable. We make no service-level commitment for the AI Assistant.

6. Acceptable Use

6.1 What you must not do. You must not, and must not attempt to:

• (a) use the Platform for any unlawful purpose, or in connection with any sanctioned person or jurisdiction;
• (b) provide false, incomplete, or misleading information to us or, through us, to any Authority;
• (c) upload content that is infringing, malicious, or unlawful — we validate uploaded file types and reject invalid files, but you remain responsible for what you upload;
• (d) scrape, harvest, or bulk-extract data from the Platform;
• (e) reverse engineer, decompile, or probe the Platform's software or security;
• (f) access the Platform by automated means, bots, or scripts, except through interfaces we expressly provide;
• (g) abuse the AI Assistant, including by prompt injection, attempting to extract system prompts or configuration, or using it for bulk content generation;
• (h) circumvent rate limits, message limits, or access controls — this applies equally to authenticated accounts, including where no automatic limit is enforced on you;
• (i) embed, frame, or re-present the chat widget or any part of the Platform in a way that misleads users about who operates it or who they are talking to.

6.2 Consequences. If you breach this clause 6, we may immediately suspend or restrict your access to the Platform or any feature of it without liability to you. Where the breach affects paid Services, the suspension and termination process in clause 31 applies.

7. Intellectual Property; Your Data; Feedback

7.1 Our property. Zola owns the Platform and everything in it that we created — the software, design, content, templates, document formats, questionnaires, prompts, workflows, and processes — together with all improvements and derivatives. These Terms give you a right to use the Platform; they transfer no ownership of any of it to you.

7.2 Your documents and data. You own the documents and data you upload. You grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, copy, and process them solely to provide the Services to you and to comply with our legal obligations.

7.3 Anonymized data. You also grant us a license to use data derived from your use of the Platform in anonymized, aggregated form — from which you cannot be identified — to improve our services. You may opt out of this use at any time through the contact channels listed in our Privacy Policy.

7.4 Feedback. If you give us suggestions or feedback, you grant us a perpetual, royalty-free license to use it without restriction or compensation.

7.5 Deliverables. Once issued by the relevant Authority, your Deliverables — such as your license, certificates, and visas — belong to you or your company. You may download them individually or as a bundle from your Case and use them freely. You may not, however, commercially redistribute Zola's proposal documents, templates, or other Platform materials.

8. Third-Party Services

8.1 What we rely on. The Platform and the Services depend on third-party providers, including: Stripe for card payments (your card details are entered on Stripe-hosted checkout pages and never touch Zola's systems); ShKeeper for processing cryptocurrency payments; Google for AI models (Gemini) and sign-in; LinkedIn for sign-in; AWS for document storage; email delivery providers; and our fulfilment partners — freezone authorities, government channels, and banks.

8.2 Their terms; our limits. Your use of a third-party service is subject to that party's own terms. We do not control third parties and do not guarantee their services, availability, or decisions.

8.3 What we stay responsible for. Where a third party processes personal data on our behalf, we remain responsible for that processor's data-protection compliance under the UAE Personal Data Protection Law. Clause 8.2 does not shift our own legal compliance duties onto our vendors or onto you.

8.4 Banks decide. Bank account opening is decided solely by the relevant bank (see clause 17).

9. Platform Availability & Changes

9.1 As is, as available. The Platform is provided "as is" and "as available". We do not promise uninterrupted or error-free operation, and we offer no uptime or service-level commitment.

9.2 Maintenance. We may suspend the Platform temporarily for maintenance, upgrades, or security work, and will aim to limit disruption.

9.3 Changes to features. We may modify, add, or withdraw Platform features. For material changes that affect Services you have paid for, we will give you reasonable advance notice.

9.4 Timing expectations. Notifications and in-Case chat are near-real-time but not instantaneous. Invoices and generated documents are produced asynchronously and may take a short time to appear; if a document or Invoice fails to generate or appears incorrect, you can request a re-issue through the in-app support channels.

9.5 Your remedy. Your sole remedy for prolonged unavailability of the Platform is termination in accordance with clause 31.

PART B — SERVICES TERMS

In plain terms: This Part applies when you buy a Service from us. It explains exactly what you are buying, why we cannot promise that a freezone, government body, or bank will say yes (and what we owe you if a rejection is our fault), how prices and invoices work, what we need from you and by when, how your Case runs day to day, which fees belong to the government rather than to us, and how cancellation and refunds work. It ends with specific rules for bank account assistance and for period-based services such as office address, tax registration, and annual compliance. (This summary is for convenience only and is not part of the agreement.)

10. Scope of Services; Ordering

10.1 What you are buying. The Services you purchase are the Products described to you at the time of purchase: the product title, price, listed benefits, required documents, and required information shown on the product page, together with the proposal generated for you and the Invoice for your Order. Those materials together define the full scope of what we will deliver. Nothing else is promised. Statements in marketing materials, blog content, chat conversations, or AI Assistant output do not add to the scope of any Order (see clause 5).

10.2 Proposals depend on your answers. Proposals are generated from your questionnaire answers and are only as good as those answers. If your answers are inaccurate or incomplete, the recommended Products may not suit your needs, and that risk is yours (see clause 13). If you edit your questionnaire answers, your cart is reset and a fresh recommendation is generated; the earlier proposal no longer applies.

10.3 Quantity and jurisdiction limits. Some Products carry quantity limits — for example, the number of visas you may order is limited by the visa quota of the company formation Product you have chosen. Some Services are only available in, or are automatically matched to, the jurisdiction of your company formation Product. We will apply these constraints at ordering, and an Order that exceeds them may be corrected or declined before payment.

10.4 Additional services. If you ask for additional work on an existing Case (including through the in-case "additional service request" feature), that request is exactly that — a request. It does not form a contract, and we are not obliged to perform it, until it has been priced, placed as a new Order, and paid for under these terms.

11. No Guarantee of Outcomes

This is the single most important clause in these terms. Please read it carefully.

11.1 We do not guarantee the approval of any trade license, visa, bank account, tax registration, or any other application or registration. Every final decision is made exclusively by the relevant Authority — the freezone, government body, immigration authority, tax authority, or bank — in its sole discretion. An Authority may approve, reject, delay, suspend, or impose conditions on any application, and may change its requirements at any time, and we have no control over that decision.

11.2 Any timeline we communicate is a good-faith estimate based on typical Authority processing and is not binding. Authority processing times vary and are outside our control.

11.3 When an Authority decides your application — whether the outcome is approval, rejection, or a request for more information — we pass that decision on to you as we receive it. We do not, and cannot, alter, override, or pre-empt an Authority's decision.

11.4 Our side of the bargain. This clause does not let us off the hook for our own work. We remain responsible for preparing and submitting applications that are complete, accurate, and in accordance with the Authority requirements disclosed to you. If an Authority rejects an application because of our own preparation error, we will put it right at no additional Service Fee: we will correct and re-submit the application free of charge; where re-submission is not possible, we will refund the Service Fee you paid for that service — regardless of how far the service had progressed. The detail of this remedy is set out in Schedule 1 (Refund & Cancellation Policy). Government Fees are dealt with under clause 15.

11.5 This clause does not apply where the rejection results from inaccurate or incomplete information or documents you provided (see clause 13), or from a change in Authority requirements after Submission.

11.6 Nothing in this clause, or anywhere else in these terms, excludes or limits our liability for our own fraud, gross negligence, or willful misconduct (see clause 29).

12. Pricing, Orders & Invoices

12.1 Prices are locked at order creation. The product prices, product fees, global fees, and payment-method fees that apply to your Order are fixed at the moment the Order is created, and are recorded on the Order and the Invoice. Later changes to our catalog or fees do not affect an Order already placed — your price will not go up. Equally, you cannot claim the benefit of a price reduction or promotion introduced after your Order was created.

12.2 Invoices. We issue Invoices electronically. Each Invoice is due 30 days after its issue date. If an Invoice remains unpaid past its due date, we may cancel the Order and close the related dormant Case without liability (see clause 22).

12.3 Corrected invoices. If an Invoice needs correcting (for example, to fix contact details that can no longer be edited, or a line-item error), we void it and issue a replacement carrying a suffixed invoice number (for example, ZOLA-0007-R). The most recently issued replacement is the binding Invoice, and payment is due in accordance with it. A voided Invoice has no further effect.

12.4 VAT. Unless an Invoice states otherwise, our fees are exclusive of VAT where applicable. VAT, where chargeable, is itemized on the Invoice.

12.5 Obvious errors. If a price shown to you is obviously wrong (for example, a manifest typing or system error), we may correct it at any time before you pay. If you do not wish to proceed at the corrected price, you may cancel the Order at no cost.

13. Customer Obligations & Information Accuracy

13.1 Accuracy warranty. You warrant that all information and documents you (or anyone acting for you) provide to us are accurate, complete, and not misleading, and that you will keep your contact details current. Applications are built from what you give us; the Authorities act on it, and so do we.

13.2 Responding on time. You must respond to our requests for documents or information within 10 business days. If you do not, the affected service may be placed On Hold; if you remain unresponsive after a written warning from us, we may cancel the affected service, with any refund determined by the stage that service has reached under Schedule 1 (Refund & Cancellation Policy) and Government Fees treated as set out in clause 15. Compliance-related requests are also governed by clause 24.

13.3 When you can still change things. So that you know exactly where the cut-off points are:

• Questionnaire answers can be revised freely before you place an Order. Editing them resets your cart (see clause 10.2).
• Required information answers can be corrected by you for as long as the relevant service is in Documents Requested or Documents Under Review. After the service moves beyond those stages, your answers lock; corrections can then only be made with our team's assistance and may involve re-work fees where work must be redone.
• Document submissions can be recalled by you only before our team begins its review — that is, before any document in the submission has been approved or rejected. Once review has begun, you can no longer recall the submission.

13.4 Rejected documents. If we reject a document you uploaded, we will tell you the reason, and you must upload a corrected version. Where several documents are reviewed together, the service returns to Documents Requested once the review of all submitted documents is finished. Earlier versions of your uploads are retained in the document's version history.

13.5 Your errors are your responsibility. Errors caused by inaccurate or incomplete input from you — for example, a wrong passport number, an omitted shareholder, or selection of the wrong business activity — are your responsibility. Re-submission made necessary by your error may incur additional Service Fees, and Government Fees already remitted are not recoverable (see clause 15).

13.6 Business activities. You are responsible for verifying that the business activities you select match the business you actually intend to carry on. If we make an error in mapping your chosen activities to the Authority's activity codes, we will correct it free of charge — that is our error, not yours (see clause 11.4).

14. Case Workflow, Communications & Notices

14.1 How your Case runs. When you place an Order and begin payment, a Case is opened for it. The Case begins in Pending Payment and becomes active when payment is confirmed, moving to Documents Requested. When you have uploaded and submitted the requested documents, it moves to Documents Under Review; once documents are approved, to In Progress while we execute; and when all services are finished and Deliverables issued, to Completed. A Case may be placed On Hold (work paused) or become Inactive (closed). Where a Case contains several services, the Case status reflects the status of its individual services — broadly, the service needing the most attention sets the Case status.

14.2 Contact person. You may designate a contact person for a Case who is different from the account owner. Case emails are sent to that contact, with the account owner copied. By designating a contact person you consent to this sharing, and you warrant that the contact has authority to act in connection with the Case and has been informed (see clause 36 on notices and the Privacy Policy).

14.3 Notifications. We deliver updates in-app and by email. You can disable email notifications in your settings, but disabling email notifications does not pause your Case or extend any deadline. You remain responsible for checking the platform regularly, and we are not liable for an update you missed because you disabled email notifications.

14.4 Combined notifications. Where several chat messages arrive in quick succession, we may combine them into a single notification rather than notifying you for each message.

14.5 Support channel. The in-case chat is the primary channel for questions about your Case. If you have not received a response within 2 business days, you may escalate through the contact form at zolagroup.com/contact.

15. Government & Third-Party Fees (Pass-Through)

15.1 Two kinds of fees. Your Invoice distinguishes our Service Fees from Government Fees — amounts charged by Authorities for licenses, visas, registrations, and similar items. Government Fees are itemized separately and are not our revenue.

15.2 We collect as agent. We collect Government Fees from you as your agent and remit them to the relevant Authority on your behalf.

15.3 Refundability. Once a Government Fee has been remitted to an Authority, we cannot refund it — any recovery is between you and that Authority, and we will reasonably assist you with the information you need to pursue it. Government Fees we have collected but not yet remitted are refundable if the related service is cancelled, in accordance with Schedule 1 (Refund & Cancellation Policy).

15.4 Authority fee changes. If an Authority changes a fee between your Order and the Submission of the related application, we will notify you. You may then either pay the difference or cancel the affected service with a refund of all unremitted amounts for it.

16. Cancellation & Refunds

16.1 The Policy governs. Cancellation and refunds are governed by Schedule 1 (Refund & Cancellation Policy), which is incorporated into these terms. If this clause and Schedule 1 conflict, Schedule 1 controls.

16.2 The headline rules, for convenience:

• If you are a Consumer, you have a 14-day cooling-off right from payment confirmation, except for services already Submitted to an Authority — for those, the staged rules below apply per service.
• Refunds are staged by reference to the Submission milestone for each service (the milestones for each service category are set out in Schedule 2): before work begins, Service Fees are refundable less actual documented costs; after Submission, the Service Fee for the submitted service is earned; after completion, no refund is due for that service.
• Government Fees are treated as set out in clause 15.
• The Zola-error remedy in clause 11.4 applies regardless of stage.
• Refunds are made to the original payment method. Payments made in cryptocurrency are refunded in fiat currency (AED) at the invoice value, not in crypto (see clause 20).

16.3 Timelines. We decide refund requests within 10 business days and execute approved refunds within 14 days of approval.

16.4 Effect of a refund. A full refund of an Order closes the related Case: the Case becomes Inactive and all services under it stop. Only payments we have actually received and confirmed are capable of refund.

17. Bank Account Assistance — Specific Terms

17.1 What this Service is. Bank account assistance is a preparation and introduction service. We help you prepare your application and supporting documents and introduce you to one or more banking partners. Banks underwrite independently: we do not guarantee that any account will be opened, that it will be opened within any timeframe, or that any particular bank will accept you. Clause 11 applies in full.

17.2 Bank requirements. Each bank applies its own KYC, compliance, and risk policies, which may exceed our own requirements (see clause 24). A bank may request information or documents from you directly, decline your application without giving reasons, or impose conditions — none of which is within our control.

17.3 When the fee is earned. The Service Fee for bank account assistance pays for our preparation and introduction effort and is earned when we submit your application to the bank or banks, in accordance with the stages in Schedule 1 (Refund & Cancellation Policy).

18. Office Address, Tax Registration & Annual Compliance — Specific Terms

18.1 Fixed-term services. Office address, tax registration support, and annual compliance services are purchased for a fixed period or for a specific filing cycle, as described in the relevant Product. Each period or cycle is a separate purchase.

18.2 No auto-renewal. We do not auto-renew any Service and we will never charge you automatically for a renewal. Before a period-based Service expires, we aim to send you renewal reminders, but you remain responsible for renewing on time whether or not a reminder reaches you. If you wish to continue, you must place and pay for a new Order in time.

18.3 Consequences of lapse. If you do not renew in time, the consequences imposed by Authorities — for example, license fines, invalidation of your registered address, or penalties for missed filings — are your responsibility, not ours.

18.4 Tax registration. The accuracy of any tax registration or filing we prepare depends on the figures and information you provide (see clause 13). We do not audit or verify your figures.

18.5 Scope of annual compliance. Annual compliance Services cover only the filings expressly listed in the Product description. Any additional filing or requirement is outside scope and requires a new Order (see clause 10.4).

PART C — PAYMENT TERMS

In plain terms: You can pay us by card, bank wire, or cryptocurrency. Card payments happen on Stripe's secure page — we never see your card details. Wire transfers need a proof of payment that we review by hand within 2 business days. Crypto payments are irreversible once sent, so read clause 20 carefully before choosing them — and any refund we ever owe you is paid in dirhams, never in crypto. Until your payment is confirmed, your Case sits dormant and no work begins. If anything goes wrong — a duplicate charge, a partial transfer, an overpayment — contact us first: we resolve these routinely, and starting a card chargeback on work we have already performed is a breach of this agreement. (This summary is for convenience only and is not part of the agreement.)

19. Payment Methods & Processing

19.1 Available methods. You may pay each Invoice by any one of three methods: (a) card, processed by Stripe; (b) wire transfer to the bank account shown on your Invoice; or (c) cryptocurrency, processed through a payment gateway under clause 20. Your Invoice states the total payable, the currency, and the due date.

19.2 Card payments. When you choose card, we redirect you to a secure checkout page hosted by Stripe. Your card details are entered on Stripe's page and processed in Stripe's systems; they never enter or pass through Zola's systems. Your payment is confirmed only when Stripe notifies us that the charge has succeeded. A card checkout link is valid for a limited time (typically about 24 hours); if it expires unused, that payment attempt is cancelled and you can simply start a new one from your account.

19.3 Wire transfers. When you choose wire transfer, you pay the bank account shown on your Invoice and then upload between one and five proof-of-payment files (for example, a transfer receipt or bank confirmation) through the platform. A wire payment is subject to manual review and confirmation by Zola under clause 21 — uploading proof does not by itself confirm payment. Every proof file you upload must be a genuine, unaltered record of a real transfer. Uploading a falsified, forged, or manipulated proof of payment is a material breach of this agreement and may also be reported to the relevant Authorities.

19.4 Cryptocurrency. Crypto payments are governed by clause 20, which contains important risk disclosures. By choosing crypto at checkout you confirm you have read and accepted clause 20.

19.5 One live payment attempt; duplicate charges. To protect you from being charged twice, choosing a new payment method for an Order automatically cancels any earlier payment attempt on that Order that is still pending (including expiring any earlier card checkout link). If, despite this, the same Order is ever captured twice — for example, a stale card payment completes after you have already paid by wire — we will review the duplicate and refund it. If you believe you have been charged twice, contact us through the in-app support channels.

19.6 Payment-method surcharges. Some payment methods carry a surcharge (for example, a card-processing or conversion fee). Any such surcharge is shown to you before you select the payment method, appears as a separate line item on your Invoice, and is calculated at the rates in force when your Order was created. Once your Invoice has been finalised, a later change to our surcharge rates will not alter your total.

20. Cryptocurrency Payments

20.1 How crypto payments work. When you choose crypto, our payment gateway quotes you a wallet address, a crypto amount in your chosen coin, and the applicable exchange rate. That quote is valid only for the validity window displayed at checkout. Settlement occurs on the relevant public blockchain and is then confirmed to us by the gateway.

20.2 Finality and irreversibility. Blockchain transactions are final. Once a crypto payment is broadcast and confirmed, it cannot be cancelled, recalled, or reversed — by you, by us, or by the gateway. You alone are responsible for sending the correct asset, on the correct network, to the exact address quoted. We cannot recover funds sent to a wrong address, on a wrong network, in a wrong coin, or lost through compromise or fraud affecting your own wallet, and we accept no liability for such losses.

20.3 Refunds are always in fiat. If we owe you a refund on a crypto-paid Order for any reason — under Schedule 1 (Refund & Cancellation Policy) or otherwise — the refund is paid in fiat currency (AED) at the Invoice value of the relevant payment or part of it. We never refund in cryptocurrency, and we do not compensate for (or benefit from) movements in crypto exchange rates after your payment. See also clause 16.

20.4 Quote expiry and network fees. If you do not complete payment within the validity window displayed at checkout, the quote expires and you must request a new quote at the then-current exchange rate. All blockchain network, gas, miner, and wallet-side fees are your responsibility: the amount that must arrive is the quoted crypto amount.

20.5 Underpayment. If the amount received at the quoted address is less than the quoted crypto amount, your payment does not confirm and your Order remains unpaid — partial crypto payments are not automatically applied or refunded. You must contact us — through the in-app support channels or the contact form at zolagroup.com/contact — and we will arrange either (a) for you to remit the balance so the payment can be confirmed, or (b) a refund of the partial amount received, paid in fiat (AED) at its Invoice-rate value, less reasonable processing and conversion costs.

20.6 Overpayment. If the amount received exceeds the quoted crypto amount, your payment confirms and your Order proceeds. The overpaid portion will be refunded in fiat (AED) on request through the in-app support channels; it is not automatically returned.

20.7 Compliance screening and holds. Crypto payments are screened under our obligations described in Part D. We may refuse, hold, or report any crypto payment that originates from, or is connected with, a sanctioned, high-risk, or unattributable wallet or address (see clauses 24 and 25). Funds held for compliance review accrue no interest and may be released, refunded in fiat, or surrendered to the competent authorities, as the law requires.

20.8 Public blockchain notice. Blockchain transactions are recorded on public, decentralised ledgers that anyone can inspect and that cannot be altered or deleted by Zola or anyone else. Your wallet address and transaction details will be permanently and publicly visible. Our privacy obligations (including any deletion rights) cannot apply to data recorded on a blockchain. Do not include personal information in any transaction memo or reference field.

20.9 Payment gateway; no warranty. Crypto payments are processed through specialist payment-gateway software; settlement occurs on the relevant public blockchain. We give no warranty regarding your wallet or exchange, blockchain network availability, congestion, confirmation times, or conversion rates. We may replace the payment gateway on notice to you; the terms of this clause 20 continue to apply.

21. Wire Transfers, Proof Review & Partial Payments

21.1 Paying by wire. Pay the full Invoice amount to the bank account stated on your Invoice. All bank, intermediary, and correspondent charges are yours: what counts toward your Invoice is the amount we actually receive, net of all charges. Instruct your bank accordingly (typically by selecting "OUR" charges) so the full amount arrives.

21.2 Proof review. After you upload proof of payment, your payment shows as "Awaiting Confirmation" and we will review it within 2 business days. On review we will do one of three things: (a) confirm the payment, which shows as "Confirmed"; (b) reject it, with the reason given, which shows as "Rejected" — you may then upload corrected proof, which reopens the review; or (c) record a partial receipt under clause 21.3, which shows as "Incomplete".

21.3 Partial payments. If the amount we receive is less than the Invoice total, we record the amount actually received as a partial receipt. Partial receipts are cumulative: every confirmed amount and recorded partial receipt across your payment attempts counts toward the Invoice total. Your Order is settled, and your Case progresses, only once the amounts received together cover the full Invoice total. Until then you must remit the balance, and clause 22 applies to the unpaid remainder.

21.4 Managing proof files. You may add or remove proof files (within the five-file limit) while your payment is shown as "Pending", "Awaiting Confirmation", "Incomplete", or "Rejected". Removing all proof files withdraws the payment from review and reverts it to "Pending" until you upload proof again. Once a payment is "Confirmed", its proof files are locked and form part of our payment records.

22. Non-Payment; Order Expiry; Pending Cases

22.1 Dormant Cases before payment. When you place an Order and choose a payment method, a Case record is created in your account with the status "Pending Payment". That Case is dormant: until your payment is confirmed, no work begins, no documents are requested from you, no submission is made to any Authority, and no service timeline or estimate starts to run. Nothing in a dormant Case creates any obligation on us to perform.

22.2 Due date. Each Invoice is due 30 days from its issue date, unless it states otherwise.

22.3 Reminders, cancellation, and closure. We may send you payment reminders before the due date. If an Invoice remains unpaid (or only partially paid under clause 21.3) after its due date, we may cancel the Invoice and close the dormant Case, without liability to you. Any partial amount already received on a cancelled Invoice is dealt with under Schedule 1 (Refund & Cancellation Policy). If you wish to proceed after cancellation, you may place a new Order at our then-current prices.

23. Chargebacks & Payment Disputes

23.1 Contact us first. If you dispute a charge, are unhappy with a Service, or believe a payment error has occurred, you agree to contact us (through the in-app support channels or the contact form at zolagroup.com/contact) and give us a reasonable opportunity to resolve the issue — including under Schedule 1 (Refund & Cancellation Policy) — before initiating a chargeback or payment dispute with your card issuer or bank.

23.2 Chargebacks on performed work. Initiating a chargeback in respect of Services that have already been performed, or that have already been submitted to an Authority on your behalf, is a material breach of this agreement.

23.3 Our remedies. While a chargeback or payment dispute is open, we may suspend the affected Case(s) and withhold related deliverables. If a chargeback is resolved in our favour, or was raised in breach of clause 23.2, we may recover from you the disputed amount, the chargeback and processing fees charged to us, and our reasonable costs, and we may require payment by wire transfer before resuming work.

23.4 Your statutory rights. Nothing in this clause 23 limits or excludes any right you have under applicable UAE consumer protection law that cannot be limited or excluded by agreement.

PART D — COMPLIANCE (KYC, ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING & SANCTIONS)

In plain terms: Because we help form companies in the UAE, the law requires us to know who you are, who ultimately owns your business, and that your money comes from lawful sources. You promise that the information you give us is true, you agree to cooperate with our checks, and you accept that we may pause or refuse services — and share information with regulators — when the law requires it. Every reputable provider in this industry operates under the same rules. (This summary is for convenience only and is not part of the agreement.)

24. Know-Your-Customer Checks and Your Compliance Warranties

24.1 Why we run these checks. As a UAE business-setup provider, Zola is subject to UAE anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing laws, including Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025 and Cabinet Resolution No. 134 of 2025. These laws require us to identify our customers, verify the people who ultimately own or control them, understand the source of the funds we receive, and monitor our business relationships on an ongoing basis. We cannot waive, reduce, or contract out of these obligations, and we apply them to every customer.

24.2 Your warranties. You represent and warrant to us — when you accept these Terms, each time you place an Order, and on a continuing basis for as long as we provide Services to you — that:

(a) Accuracy. All information and documents you provide to us, including everything covered by clause 13, are true, accurate, complete, and not misleading;

(b) Lawful source of funds. All funds you use to pay us are derived from lawful activity, are not the proceeds of crime, and are not provided by, for the benefit of, or on behalf of any person or jurisdiction subject to sanctions (see clause 27);

(c) UBO disclosure. You have disclosed, and will keep disclosed, every ultimate beneficial owner of your business, and you have not used nominees, layered structures, or other arrangements to conceal any such person. An ultimate beneficial owner means every natural person who directly or indirectly owns or controls 25% or more of its shares or voting rights, or who otherwise exercises effective control over it;

(d) Change notification. You will notify us in writing within 15 days of any change, after incorporation or registration, to your company's ownership, ultimate beneficial owners, directors or managers, or business activities;

(e) Cooperation with due diligence. You will cooperate with our standard due diligence, and with enhanced due diligence where you, an owner, or a connected person is a politically exposed person or where a higher-risk factor applies, by providing the information and documents we request within 10 business days of our request; and

(f) Screening. You acknowledge that Zola will screen you, your ultimate beneficial owners, shareholders, directors, and authorized representatives against sanctions lists and politically-exposed-person databases, including through third-party screening providers, at onboarding and periodically afterwards. This screening is required by law and does not depend on your consent (see our Privacy Policy).

24.3 Survival. The representations and warranties in this clause survive the incorporation or registration of your company, the completion of any Service, and the termination of these Terms.

24.4 Consequences of misrepresentation. A material misrepresentation in your application or compliance information is a material breach of these Terms. It may also lead the relevant Authorities to cancel your license or registration, impose penalties, or refer the matter for criminal prosecution. Those consequences are imposed by the Authorities, not by Zola, and we are not liable for them. Our rights under clauses 25, 30, and 31 apply in addition.

25. Our Right to Refuse, Suspend, or Terminate on Compliance Grounds

25.1 What we may do. Acting in good faith and on a legal or regulatory basis, we may:

(a) refuse to accept an Order, or decline to submit an application, where we cannot complete the due diligence the law requires of us;

(b) suspend any Service, Case, or your account where you or a connected person becomes subject to sanctions or is identified as a politically exposed person requiring further review, where we identify a material compliance concern, or where a law, regulator, or Authority requires us to pause;

(c) withhold or freeze payments, refunds, or other funds pending regulatory clearance, and no interest accrues on withheld amounts; and

(d) terminate these Terms or any Service immediately and without notice where you breach clause 24 or applicable anti-money-laundering law.

25.2 No liability. Where we take any step under clause 25.1 in good faith and on a legal or regulatory basis, we are not liable to you for any resulting loss, delay, or non-performance. This clause does not exclude liability that cannot be excluded under UAE law, and it does not remove your statutory rights as a Consumer.

25.3 Refunds after clearance. If a suspension under this clause is lifted and you or we then cancel the affected Service, any refund is determined under clause 16 and Schedule 1 (Refund & Cancellation Policy), and Government Fees are treated as set out in clause 15.

25.4 Limited explanations. The law may prevent us from telling you why a step under this clause was taken (see clause 26). Where that is the case, our communications about your Case may be limited, delayed, or general in their wording, and that is not a breach of these Terms.

26. Regulatory Disclosure; No Tipping-Off

26.1 Disclosure to regulators and Authorities. You acknowledge and consent that, where required or permitted by law, we may share information relating to you and your Case — including identity and ownership information, uploaded documents, correspondence, and payment details — with:

• freezone and other government Authorities;
• the UAE Financial Intelligence Unit;
• law enforcement agencies and courts;
• sanctions and politically-exposed-person screening providers; and
• other regulators.

We may do so without further notice to you and without seeking further consent.

26.2 No tipping-off. UAE law may prohibit us from telling you that a report has been filed with the authorities or that an investigation concerning you is pending. You acknowledge this and, to the extent permitted by law, waive any claim against us arising from our non-disclosure of such matters or from any resulting limitation, delay, or wording of our communications with you.

26.3 International disclosure. Information disclosed under this clause may be passed by UAE authorities to foreign authorities under lawful international cooperation frameworks. The legal protections applying to your information in a foreign jurisdiction may differ from those in the UAE.

26.4 Your access to audit records. During the retention period described in clause 32 and the Privacy Policy, you may ask us for the audit-trail entries relating to your Case through the contact channels listed in our Privacy Policy. We will provide them except where an entry is subject to a legal hold or where the law prohibits disclosure.

27. Sanctions and Restricted Jurisdictions

27.1 Who may not use the Services. The Services are not available to, and you must not order or use them for the benefit of, any person who is:

(a) located in, ordinarily resident in, or incorporated in a jurisdiction subject to comprehensive sanctions under the sanctions lists adopted by the United Nations Security Council or the UAE;

(b) designated on any sanctions list adopted by the United Nations Security Council or the UAE, including the UAE Local Terrorist List; or

(c) owned or controlled by, or acting on behalf of, any person described in (a) or (b).

27.2 Continuing representation. You represent and warrant, when you accept these Terms and on a continuing basis, that neither you, nor any of your ultimate beneficial owners, shareholders, directors, or authorized representatives, nor the source of any funds you pay us, falls within clause 27.1. You must notify us immediately if this changes.

27.3 Effect of breach. If clause 27.1 applies to you or this representation proves untrue, clause 25 applies: we may refuse, suspend, freeze, or terminate without liability, cancel affected Orders, and deal with any funds received as the law requires.

PART E — LIABILITY & GENERAL

In plain terms: We promise to do our work with reasonable skill and care, but we cannot promise outcomes that Authorities decide. If something goes wrong and it is our fault, our liability is capped at what you paid for the affected Service (and, if you paid us fees, never less than AED 5,000) — except for serious wrongs like fraud or gross negligence, which we never exclude. You cover us only for problems you cause, such as giving us false information. You can close your account whenever your cases and bills are settled; we then scrub your personal details but must keep compliance records for the legally required period. We give you 30 days' notice of material changes to these terms, and you can leave penalty-free if you disagree. Disputes are governed by UAE law and go before the competent UAE courts (or, for business customers, Dubai arbitration) after we first try to work things out for 30 days. (This summary is for convenience only and is not part of the agreement.)

28. Warranties & Disclaimers

28.1 Our promise. We warrant that we will perform the Services with reasonable skill and care, using appropriately trained personnel, and in line with the descriptions in your Order and Schedule 2.

28.2 What we do not promise. Except for the warranty in clause 28.1, the Platform, the AI Assistant, and all content on them are provided "as is" and "as available", without any other warranty, express or implied, including warranties of fitness for a particular purpose, uninterrupted availability, or error-free operation. In particular, we do not warrant that any Authority will approve a license, visa, bank account, tax registration, or any other application — those decisions are made exclusively by the relevant Authority (see clause 11).

28.3 Information is not advice. Articles, guides, AI Assistant outputs, proposals, and other informational content on the Platform are general information only. They are not legal, tax, accounting, immigration, or financial advice, and you should not rely on them without verifying with a qualified professional (see clause 5).

28.4 Your statutory rights. Nothing in these Terms excludes, limits, or waives any right you have as a Consumer under Federal Law No. 15 of 2020 on Consumer Protection or any other UAE law that cannot lawfully be excluded or waived. Where these Terms conflict with such a right, the right prevails.

29. Limitation of Liability

This clause is important. Please read it carefully. It limits our liability to you.

29.1 Cap on liability. Subject to clauses 29.4 and 29.5, our total liability to you arising out of or in connection with any claim is limited to the fees you paid to us for the specific Service giving rise to the claim, and our total aggregate liability for all claims arising in any period is limited to the total fees you paid to us in the 12 months preceding the first claim. In all cases where we are liable to a customer who has paid fees, these caps shall not reduce our liability below AED 5,000. For clarity, "fees" in this clause means our Service Fees and excludes Government Fees we collected and remitted on your behalf.

29.2 Excluded losses. Subject to clause 29.4, neither party is liable to the other for indirect or consequential losses, including loss of profits, loss of revenue, loss of business or business opportunity, loss of anticipated savings, or loss of goodwill, even if advised of the possibility of such losses.

29.3 Matters we are not responsible for. Subject to clause 29.4, we are not liable for:

(a) the decisions, delays, requirements, or fee changes of any Authority, or any consequence of an Authority rejecting, suspending, or conditioning an application (see clause 11);

(b) losses arising from inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading information or documents you provided to us (see clause 13); or

(c) losses arising from your reliance on outputs of the AI Assistant or other informational content, contrary to clauses 5 and 28.3.

29.4 What we never exclude. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits either party's liability for: (a) death or personal injury caused by its negligence; (b) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; (c) gross negligence; (d) willful misconduct; or (e) any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under UAE law, including under Articles 233 and 274 of the UAE Civil Code and the non-excludable rights of Consumers under Federal Law No. 15 of 2020. The caps and exclusions in clauses 29.1 to 29.3 do not apply to the matters listed in this clause 29.4.

29.5 Free and anonymous use. If you use the Platform or the AI Assistant without paying any fees — including anonymous chat use — you have paid nothing for that use, and subject to clause 29.4 our liability to you in respect of that use is nil.

30. Indemnity

30.1 What you cover us for. You will indemnify us against third-party claims, regulatory fines, and direct losses (including reasonable legal costs) only to the extent they arise from:

(a) your breach of the warranties in clause 13 or clause 24, including false or incomplete information or documents, or false declarations regarding ultimate beneficial ownership or source of funds;

(b) your unlawful use of the Services or the Platform; or

(c) a claim by your own contact persons, shareholders, directors, or employees that you lacked the authority or a lawful basis to share their personal data with us or with an Authority.

30.2 Crypto payments. If you pay by cryptocurrency, the indemnity in clause 30.1 also covers third-party claims, fines, and losses arising from the compromise of the wallet you paid from, or from source-of-funds or sanctions issues attaching to the paying wallet address, except to the extent caused by our own systems.

30.3 What you never cover us for. The indemnity in this clause 30 does not apply to the extent a claim, fine, or loss arises from our own breach of these Terms, our negligence, our gross negligence, or our willful misconduct. We remain responsible for our own compliance obligations and cannot pass them to you.

30.4 Conduct of claims. We will notify you promptly of any claim covered by this clause, take reasonable steps to mitigate the loss, and not settle a covered claim without your consent (not to be unreasonably withheld).

31. Term, Suspension & Termination; Account Deletion

31.1 Term. These Terms apply from the moment you first use the Platform and continue until your account is closed and all Orders are completed or cancelled.

31.2 Closing your account. You may close your account at any time, provided that at the time of closure: (a) you have no open Case — that is, no Case in "Pending Payment", "Documents Requested", "Documents Under Review", "In Progress", or "On Hold" status; and (b) you have no unpaid Order — that is, no Order in "Draft" (created but not yet issued) or "Issued" (issued but not yet paid) status. If you have open Cases or unpaid Orders, the account-deletion screen will tell you what is outstanding; you must first complete the engagements, settle the Orders, or cancel them under Schedule 1 (Refund & Cancellation Policy).

31.3 Closure works by anonymization. When your account is closed, we do not erase the underlying records; we anonymize your account. This means:

(a) scrubbed: your email address, phone number, full name, password, Google and LinkedIn sign-in identifiers, profile photo, and any introducer/referral link are permanently removed, and all of your active sessions are revoked; and

(b) retained: records of your Cases, Orders, payments, and invoices, and the documents you uploaded for compliance purposes, are kept — without your scrubbed identity fields on the account — for the retention periods required by law (see clause 32).

By closing your account you expressly acknowledge this retention. An anonymized account cannot be reactivated or reused.

31.4 Our right to suspend. We may suspend your access to the Platform or to specific Services immediately, without prior notice, if: (a) you materially breach the acceptable-use rules in clause 6; (b) amounts you owe are overdue; or (c) suspension is required for us to comply with AML, sanctions, or other legal obligations, or pending the outcome of compliance checks under clauses 24 to 26. We will lift a suspension promptly once the cause is resolved, where the law allows.

31.5 Our right to terminate. We may terminate these Terms or any Order: (a) for your material breach, by written notice giving you 14 days to cure, and terminating if the breach is not cured within that period; or (b) immediately and without a cure period where the breach concerns AML, sanctions, fraud, or other compliance matters, or where the law requires us to end the relationship.

31.6 Effect of termination. On termination or account closure: (a) pending Orders are cancelled and any refund is determined under Schedule 1 (Refund & Cancellation Policy); (b) Deliverables already issued to you remain yours (see clause 7); (c) amounts you owe for Services already performed become immediately due; and (d) clauses 7 (IP), 13 and 24 (your representations), 26 (regulatory disclosure), 29 (liability), 30 (indemnity), 32 (data protection), 33 (confidentiality), 37 (disputes), and 38 (general) survive.

32. Data Protection

32.1 We process personal data as described in our Privacy Policy and in accordance with Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 on the Protection of Personal Data (PDPL). The Privacy Policy is a separate notice, not a contractual term (see About These Terms); it does not form part of these Terms, and your data protection rights and any consents under it exist under applicable law independently of these Terms.

32.2 When we submit your application to an Authority, that Authority receives a copy of the submitted information and documents and processes them as an independent controller under its own rules. We are not responsible for an Authority's processing.

32.3 We are required by UAE AML law to retain know-your-customer records, Case records, and related transaction documentation for a minimum of 5 years after the end of our relationship with you (or longer where an Authority requires). This legal duty overrides any erasure request for that data, including on account closure (see clause 31.3).

32.4 Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw consent as described in the Privacy Policy. Withdrawal does not affect processing carried out before withdrawal, or processing we are legally required to perform.

33. Confidentiality

33.1 Each party will keep the other's non-public information confidential and use it only for the purposes of these Terms. For you, this includes your Case materials, uploaded documents, and personal data; for us, it includes our proposals, pricing, templates, and internal processes.

33.2 Either party may disclose confidential information: (a) to Authorities and regulators where required by law or under clause 26; (b) where otherwise required by law or a court of competent jurisdiction; or (c) to its professional advisers under duties of confidence.

33.3 You may use the proposal documents and pricing we prepare for you for your own evaluation and business, but you may not publish, resell, or redistribute them.

33.4 Access to your Case materials within Zola is restricted to staff whose role requires it, and access is logged. This is a description of our current practice, not a separate warranty.

34. Force Majeure

34.1 Neither party is liable for a failure or delay in performance caused by events beyond its reasonable control, including: Authority system outages; government processing suspensions or backlogs; banking partner unavailability; blockchain network failures or congestion; epidemics; war or civil unrest; natural disasters; utility or telecommunications failures; and changes in law or regulation that prevent performance. The obligation to pay for Services already performed is not excused.

34.2 The affected party will notify the other promptly, state the expected duration, and use reasonable efforts to mitigate.

34.3 If a force majeure event continues for 90 days or more, either party may terminate the affected Order by written notice. We will then refund the fees you paid for Services not yet performed and any Government Fees we have not yet remitted to an Authority, in accordance with Schedule 1 (Refund & Cancellation Policy).

35. Amendments

35.1 We may amend these Terms (including Schedule 1 (Refund & Cancellation Policy) and Schedule 2) from time to time. Changes to the Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy are governed by those documents, not by this clause.

35.2 Material changes — including changes to fees, liability, refund rights, or the core scope of the Services — take effect no earlier than 30 days after we email you notice of the change. If you do not accept a material change, you may terminate these Terms without penalty within 14 days of the notice, and we will refund, pro rata, any fees you prepaid for Services not yet performed.

35.3 Non-material changes, and changes required for legal or regulatory compliance, take effect when posted on the Platform.

35.4 Your Order keeps its terms. An Order you have already placed remains governed by the version of these Terms you accepted when you placed it, unless a change is required by law.

35.5 We publish a version history of these Terms, showing each version's effective date, so you can see what changed and when.

36. Notices & Electronic Communications

36.1 You consent to receive all notices, invoices, amendments, and other communications under these Terms electronically — by email to the address on your account and through in-Platform notifications. Electronic notices satisfy any legal requirement that a communication be in writing.

36.2 Where you designate a contact person for a Case, notices sent to that contact count as notice to you; we will copy the account owner on legal notices.

36.3 Notices to us must be in writing, by post to ZOLA CS DMCC, Unit No. 278, DMCC Business Centre, Level No. 1, Jewellery & Gemplex 3, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

36.4 You are responsible for keeping your email address current. A notice sent to the address on your account is effective even if you no longer use it.

36.5 You may switch off non-essential email notifications in your profile. This does not opt you out of legal notices. Notices about amendments, suspension, termination, compliance requests, and billing may be delivered by email, through in-Platform notifications, or both, and a notice delivered to your account is effective even if you have switched off email notifications. If you switch off email notifications, you remain responsible for checking the Platform for notices.

37. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

37.1 Governing law. These Terms are governed by the federal laws of the United Arab Emirates as applied in the Emirate of Dubai.

37.2 Talk first. Before starting formal proceedings, the parties will attempt in good faith to resolve any dispute through direct negotiation for 30 days from one party's written notice of the dispute to the other.

37.3 Consumers. If you are a Consumer and the dispute is not resolved under clause 37.2, the competent onshore courts of the United Arab Emirates have jurisdiction. If we bring a claim against you, we will bring it in the onshore courts of the Emirate of Dubai; nothing in this clause limits the court before which you, as a Consumer, may bring or defend a claim under UAE law. We do not require Consumers to arbitrate. As an alternative, we may offer — and you may accept or decline — mediation under the rules of the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC); mediation is voluntary and does not limit your right to go to court. Nothing in this clause limits any right you have under UAE law to complain to a competent consumer-protection authority.

37.4 Business Customers. If you are a Business Customer and the dispute is not resolved under clause 37.2, the dispute shall be finally resolved by arbitration under the DIAC Arbitration Rules, by one arbitrator, seated in Dubai, conducted in English.

37.5 Urgent relief. Nothing in this clause prevents either party from seeking urgent injunctive or interim relief from a court of competent jurisdiction.

38. General Provisions

38.1 Entire agreement. These Terms, together with Schedule 1 (Refund & Cancellation Policy), Schedule 2 (Service Descriptions & Submission Milestones), and your Order and invoice, form the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Services and supersede all prior discussions. The Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy apply alongside these Terms but are separate notices and do not form part of this agreement. Neither party relies on any statement not recorded in these documents, except that nothing in this clause excludes liability for fraud.

38.2 Severability. If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, it will be reformed to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid while preserving its intent, and the remaining provisions stay in full force.

38.3 Waiver. A failure or delay in exercising a right is not a waiver. A waiver is effective only if given in writing and applies only to the instance for which it is given.

38.4 Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms or any Order without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms to a successor in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of our business, provided your rights are not reduced.

38.5 Third parties. These Terms benefit only you and us. No third party has any right to enforce them, except that our affiliates, officers, and employees may rely on the protections in clauses 29 and 30.

38.6 Language. These Terms may be made available in other languages for convenience. The English text governs in case of any inconsistency.

38.7 Survival. Clauses 7, 13, 24, 26, 29, 30, 32, 33, 37, and 38 survive termination of these Terms, together with any other clause that by its nature should survive.

38.8 Headings. Headings and the "In plain terms" summaries are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation.

SCHEDULE 1 — Refund & Cancellation Policy

In plain terms: If you are a consumer, you can cancel any service within 14 days of paying and get your Service Fees back — unless we have already submitted that service's application to the Authority. For everyone, refunds depend on how far the work has gone: before we submit, you get almost everything back; after we submit, the Service Fee is earned; after the service is completed, it is not refundable. Government fees we have already paid over to an Authority cannot be returned by us. If a rejection is our fault, we fix it for free or refund you. (This summary is for convenience only and is not part of the agreement.)

This Schedule 1 (Refund & Cancellation Policy) forms part of the Terms & Conditions of ZOLA CS DMCC and is incorporated by reference through clause 16. Capitalized terms have the meanings given in clause 1. If this Policy conflicts with the body of the Terms & Conditions, this Policy controls for refunds and cancellation. "Submission" for each service category is defined in Schedule 2.

S1.1 Who You Are: Consumer or Business Customer

How this Policy applies depends on the declaration you made at checkout (see clause 3):

• Consumers — natural persons purchasing for purposes outside their trade or business (Federal Law No. 15 of 2020 on Consumer Protection) — receive everything in this Policy, including the 14-day cooling-off right in S1.2.
• Business Customers receive the staged refunds in S1.3 and all other protections in this Policy, but not the statutory cooling-off right in S1.2.

Nothing in this Policy reduces any right a Consumer has under UAE law that cannot be excluded by contract.

S1.2 Consumer Cooling-Off: 14 Days, Per Service

If you are a Consumer, you may cancel any service within 14 days of the date your payment is confirmed and receive a full refund of the Service Fees for that service, without giving a reason.

• The cooling-off right ends early for a service once that service is Submitted (see the milestones in Schedule 2). For a Submitted service, the staged refund in S1.3 applies instead.
• The right applies per service, not per Order. If your Order contains several services and only one has been Submitted, you keep the cooling-off right for the others.
• Government Fees connected to a cancelled service are treated under S1.6: amounts we have not yet remitted are refunded.
• You may cancel by any clear statement to us (see S1.7). You may, but do not have to, use the Model Cancellation Form in S1.12.

S1.3 Staged Refunds (All Customers)

Outside the cooling-off right, cancellations and refunds for every customer — Consumer or Business Customer — are assessed service by service against the stage that service has reached:

Per-service application. Where an Order contains multiple services, each service is assessed at its own stage. Cancelling one service does not by itself cancel the others, but see S1.8 on the effect of a full refund on your Case.

S1.4 If the Error Is Ours

If an Authority rejects an application because of our own preparation error — for example, we submitted an incomplete or incorrectly prepared application despite you having given us accurate and complete information — then, regardless of stage, we will at no additional Service Fee:

• re-submit the corrected application; or
• where re-submission is impossible, refund the Service Fee for that service.

This mirrors clause 11. It does not cover rejections caused by inaccurate or incomplete information you provided (clause 13) or by an Authority exercising its own discretion (S1.5).

S1.5 Authority Rejection (No Error by Zola)

Authorities decide in their sole discretion, and we do not guarantee outcomes (clause 11). If an Authority rejects an application and the rejection is not caused by our error:

• the Service Fee is retained or refunded according to the stage reached under S1.3 (in most cases Stage 2, so the Service Fee is earned);
• unremitted Government Fees are refunded;
• you may instruct us to re-submit; re-submission is a new instruction and new Government Fees (and any re-work fees disclosed to you in advance) will apply.

S1.6 Government Fees

Government Fees are collected by us as your agent and itemized separately on your Invoice (clause 15):

• Remitted Government Fees — amounts we have already paid over to an Authority — are non-refundable by Zola. You may pursue the Authority directly for any refund it offers.
• Unremitted Government Fees — amounts collected from you but not yet paid over — are refunded when the related service is cancelled.

S1.7 How to Request a Refund; Timelines

• How. Send your cancellation or refund request through the in-case chat or the contact form at zolagroup.com/contact, identifying the Order and the service(s) concerned. Consumers may use the Model Cancellation Form in S1.12.
• Decision. We will decide your request and tell you the outcome within 10 business days of receiving it.
• Execution. Approved refunds are paid within 14 days of approval, to the original payment method.
• Crypto payments are refunded in fiat (AED) at the Invoice value by bank transfer, not in cryptocurrency (clause 20). We will ask you for your bank account details.
• Wire refunds also require your bank account details; please provide them promptly, as we cannot pay out without them.

S1.8 Effect of a Refund

A full refund of a payment closes the related Case: the Case moves to Inactive, all services under it stop, and no further work is performed. Where a refund relates to only part of an Order (for example, one service out of several), we refund the relevant amount in accordance with S1.7 and provide you with documentation of the adjusted balance for your Order; the other services in your Order continue unaffected. Deliverables already issued to you remain yours.

S1.9 Partial and Duplicate Payments

• Partial wire receipts. If you cancel an Order before completion and we hold a partial wire payment (clause 21), the amount received is refunded less bank transfer costs.
• Duplicate captures. If the same Order is charged twice (clause 19), we will verify the duplicate and refund it in full — no request stage, no deductions, once verified.
• Crypto underpayments and overpayments are handled under clause 20: partial amounts and overages are refunded in fiat on request, less costs where stated there.

S1.10 Compliance Holds

We may delay or withhold a refund where the law, a regulator, or an Authority requires us to do so (see clauses 25 and 26). In some situations we are legally prohibited from telling you the reason for the delay or from confirming whether a regulatory process is underway. A withheld refund is released promptly once we are legally permitted to release it. Held amounts do not accrue interest.

S1.11 Non-Refundable Items

The following are not refundable in any case (except where S1.4 applies, and except for duplicate captures, which are refunded in full under S1.9):

• Service Fees for completed services and services at Stage 3;
• Service Fees earned at Submission under Stage 2;
• third-party costs already consumed on your behalf (for example, courier, attestation, or translation costs actually incurred and documented);
• remitted Government Fees (S1.6);
• payment-method surcharges (card, wire, or crypto processing fees) charged on the transaction being refunded.

S1.12 Model Cancellation Form

Consumers may (but need not) use this form to exercise the cooling-off right in S1.2. Complete and send it to us by email or through the in-case chat.

To:       ZOLA CS DMCC
                    Unit No. 278, DMCC Business Centre, Level No. 1, Jewellery & Gemplex 3, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
                    (or via the in-case chat / zolagroup.com/contact)

          I/We hereby give notice that I/we cancel the following service(s):

          Service(s) to cancel:        _______________________________
          Order number:                _______________________________
          Case number (if known):      _______________________________
          Date of Order / payment:     _______________________________
          Name of customer:            _______________________________
          Account email address:       _______________________________
          Preferred refund method
          (original payment method
          unless crypto — see S1.7):   _______________________________

          Date:                        _______________________________
          Signature (paper form only): _______________________________

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SCHEDULE 2 — Service Descriptions & Submission Milestones

In plain terms: This Schedule describes, in general terms, what each category of service covers and the exact moment a service counts as "Submitted" — the moment that ends the consumer cooling-off for that service and moves it to Stage 2 of the refund table. The specific Product description you see at purchase always controls the exact scope. (This summary is for convenience only and is not part of the agreement.)

S2.0 How to Read This Schedule

• The Product description controls. The services you buy are the Products described at purchase — title, price, benefits, required documents, and required information (clause 10). The descriptions below are generic category descriptions; where they differ from the Product description shown at purchase, the Product description prevails.
• "Submission" defined. For every service category, Submission occurs when Zola transmits the prepared application or filing to the relevant Authority or partner and receives the Authority's or partner's acknowledgment of receipt. Submission is a per-service event. It ends the cooling-off right for that service (S1.2) and moves that service to Stage 2 of the refund table (S1.3). Submission is not approval: all decisions remain with the Authority (clause 11).
• Dependencies. Every service depends on confirmed payment, your timely provision of accurate documents and information (clause 13), completion of our compliance checks (clauses 24–25), and the Authority's own requirements and processing.

S2.1 Trade License

• Included: preparing your company-formation and trade-license application from the documents and information collected in your Case, submitting it to the freezone or government Authority named in your Product, liaising on Authority queries, and delivering the issued license documents to you as Deliverables.
• Excluded: the Authority's decision; approval of company names or business activities; legal, tax, or accounting advice; any activity, visa allocation, or facility not listed in your Product description.
• Dependencies: accurate questionnaire answers (your proposal and product match depend on them — clause 10); passports and corporate documents for all shareholders and ultimate beneficial owners; Authority-specific requirements.
• Submission milestone: when Zola transmits the completed license application package to the freezone or government Authority and receives the Authority's acknowledgment of receipt.

S2.2 Residency Visa

• Included: preparing and submitting the visa application(s) described in your Product (such as entry permit and residence-visa processing) for the named applicant(s), and coordinating the steps the Product describes.
• Excluded: immigration decisions; medical fitness and biometrics outcomes; visas beyond the visa quota of the company Product you purchased (clause 10).
• Dependencies: a valid trade license or eligible sponsoring entity; applicant passports with sufficient validity; the applicant's attendance at any required medical or biometrics appointments; immigration-authority requirements.
• Submission milestone: when Zola transmits the visa application for an applicant to the immigration Authority and receives the Authority's acknowledgment of receipt. Each applicant's visa is a separate service for refund purposes.

S2.3 Bank Account Assistance

• Included: preparing your bank application file, introducing you to one or more banking partners, and guiding you through the bank's own onboarding requirements (clause 17).
• Excluded: any guarantee that an account will be opened, with any particular bank, on any timeline. Banks underwrite independently and apply their own KYC, which may exceed ours.
• Dependencies: an issued trade license and corporate documents; your direct cooperation with the bank's KYC and interviews; the bank's own risk appetite.
• Submission milestone: when Zola transmits your prepared application file to the bank (or first bank, where several are approached) and receives the bank's acknowledgment of receipt. The Service Fee is earned at that point (S1.3, Stage 2), reflecting that the preparation and introduction effort is the service.

S2.4 Office Address

• Included: arranging the registered office address or workspace product described at purchase, for the fixed period stated in the Product description (clause 18).
• Excluded: automatic renewal — no service auto-renews. We aim to send renewal reminders, but you remain responsible for repurchasing on time whether or not a reminder reaches you; if you do not repurchase in time, consequences imposed by Authorities (license fines, address invalidation) are your responsibility.
• Dependencies: an active license or formation in progress with the relevant Authority; timely repurchase for continuity.
• Submission milestone: when Zola transmits the address registration request or related documentation to the Authority or partner facility provider and receives its acknowledgment of receipt.

S2.5 Tax Registration

• Included: preparing and filing the tax registration application described in your Product (for example corporate tax or VAT registration) with the Federal Tax Authority, based on the figures and documents you provide.
• Excluded: the Federal Tax Authority's decision; tax advice or tax planning (clause 2); ongoing filings unless your Product description includes them.
• Dependencies: accurate and complete financial figures, dates, and documents from you — registration accuracy depends on what you provide (clause 18); the Authority's portal availability.
• Submission milestone: when Zola transmits the registration application to the Federal Tax Authority and receives the Authority's acknowledgment or filing reference.

S2.6 Annual Compliance

• Included: preparing and making the filings expressly listed in your Product description (for example license renewal filings or annual declarations) for the fixed period purchased (clause 18).
• Excluded: any filing not listed in the Product description; automatic renewal of the engagement (no auto-renewal — we aim to send reminders, but you remain responsible for repurchasing on time, and Authority penalties for missed periods you did not repurchase are your responsibility); audit, bookkeeping, or advisory work unless listed.
• Dependencies: timely provision of the underlying information for each filing; an active license; Authority deadlines and requirements.
• Submission milestone: for each filing, when Zola transmits that filing to the relevant Authority and receives the Authority's acknowledgment of receipt. Each listed filing is assessed separately under S1.3.