Policies
These are the rules the app enforces, generated from the same code that settles money. If the app and this page ever disagree, that's a bug. They are incorporated into the Terms of Service; the legal documents themselves are under /legal.
Fees
Platform fee = max(₦200, 12% of the runner fee + 1.5% of the spend ceiling and tolerance). Paid by the requester, held in escrow with everything else.
Minimum runner fee ₦500. Attempt fee 40% of the fee. Waiting fee ₦25 per minute after 15 minutes of grace, charged to the requester.
Reimbursement = min(actual spend, ceiling + tolerance + approved overage). Anything unused refunds to the requester at settlement.
Price above the cap. The runner asks in-app before paying and waits at the counter; the wait is on the requester. Approved: pay in full, the extra is debited from the requester. Alternative within the cap: proceed. Declined with no alternative, or no answer within 10 minutes on an item that can't be split: the runner doesn't buy, the errand is attempted for a documented external cause, and they get 40% of the fee, anything already spent, and the waiting fee. No answer on a divisible item: buy what fits the cap. The runner never pays above the cap on their own.
Goods value
A small fee to carry something worth a fortune is an offer to steal. Three rules, no exceptions.
Every errand where goods change hands declares what they are worth. The requester sees the figure. Runners see only the band and the tier it needs, for example “goods ₦50,000 to ₦300,000”; never the number.
The fee is at least 1% of the value. The honest path is never the cheap one to give up. Below that the errand can't be posted.
Above ₦1,000,000 nothing can be posted. Nobody may hold more than that of another person's property on an errand, whatever the fee. Go yourself, or split it into errands under that value.
| Tier | May carry goods up to | Fronts up to | Fee floor at the limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 · Unverified | No goods | — | — |
| 1 · Verified | ₦50,000 | ₦25,000 | ₦500 |
| 2 · Trusted | ₦300,000 | ₦150,000 | ₦3,000 |
| 3 · Pro | ₦1,000,000 | ₦500,000 | ₦10,000 |
The value is the declared figure or the spend ceiling plus tolerance, whichever is higher. A runner below the tier the band needs can't accept, and auto-match never offers it to them.
New requesters
A fresh account can't post bait.
Until 3 errands you posted have settled, the spend ceiling on any errand is capped at ₦25,000 and goods at ₦50,000, whatever your tier. The post form says how many are left.
Requesters must be Tier 1 (verified identity and bank identity) to post any errand with spend. A business account inherits the caps of the person who verified it.
Deadline liability
Whoever controlled the delay owns its cost.
| Cause | Examples | Soft deadline | Hard deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Requester caused it | Wrong address, slow to answer a question the task needed, unreachable at handover, changed the spec mid-task. | Runner paid in full. Waiting fee charged after 15 minutes of grace. | Same. If the hard deadline is blown because of the requester, the requester eats the spend too — the runner is reimbursed whatever they paid. |
| Runner caused it | Started late, took a detour, accepted with less time than the estimate needed (the app warns before accepting). | Fee reduced on a schedule: ≤15 min none, ≤1 h 25% off, ≤3 h 50% off, later forfeited. Reimbursement is never reduced. | Fee forfeited. Reimbursement limited to what the goods are still worth (a missed match ticket is worth nothing; groceries still are). This is the only case where a runner can lose fronted money, and they accept it explicitly when they take a hard-deadline errand. |
| External, documented | Venue closed, item out of stock, queue longer than any estimate, road blocked, network down at the point of sale. | No penalty. If the task cannot be finished, it is marked attempted: 40% of the fee, plus full reimbursement of anything already bought. | Same. Documented means a photo, a timestamped check-in, or a message from the venue — the app asks for it at the moment the runner reports the blocker. |
Custody
No goods exist yet. Nothing to lose.
Evidence: —
From the receipt timestamp until handover, the runner is responsible. Lost or damaged goods are not reimbursed, unless the damage is inherent to the item (perishables past their life, sealed goods that are faulty) and photographed at purchase.
Evidence: Receipt photo + item photo at purchase; condition photo before handover.
After 30 minutes at the agreed handover point with the requester unreachable, risk shifts to the requester. The runner may leave the goods at the requester's pre-approved safe drop, or return them to a Zendrun hub. Reimbursement and fee are paid either way, plus waiting fee.
Evidence: Arrival check-in (GPS + photo), call log, safe-drop photo.
The requester enters the handover code (or scans the QR) on the runner's phone. That is the moment custody ends. No code, no handover — unless the grace rule above applies.
Evidence: Handover code entry, timestamp, location.
Goods returned to a hub after a failed handover are held for 7 days for the requester to collect, then disposed of. Perishables are disposed of the same day.
Evidence: Hub intake record.
Before the first errand with spend or goods, every runner passes a five-minute quiz on custody, receipts, the handover code, attempts, the refusal list, goods value bands and off-platform deals. It's at /quiz/.
Handover code
The code is the moment custody ends. Three rules.
- The requester types it on the runner's phone, in person.
- It only works when both phones are within 50 m of each other.
- It is never read out, sent by message, or typed on the requester's own phone. Anyone who asks for it by phone is trying to take the goods without handing them over: refuse and report.
The app refuses the code when either phone has no location or the phones are more than 50 m apart. The QR on the runner's phone does the same job, scanned by the requester.
Tamper seals on high-value errands
A numbered seal turns “it was opened” into a fact.
Seal the bag at purchase and photograph the number; photograph it again intact at handover. A broken or different seal is a dispute won before it starts. Required on high-value errands.
The seal number is recorded at the purchase check-in and checked at handover. A missing or different number stops the code: the runner doesn't enter it and a dispute opens with both photos attached. Seals are sold in the gear store at ₦2,500 for 20, to verified runners only.
Attempts need evidence
“Shop was closed” is free money unless it's proven.
An errand is marked attempted, and the attempt fee (40% of the fee plus anything already bought) paid, only with all of the following, captured at the moment the runner reports the blocker:
- The attempt check-in needs your location at the venue.
- Photograph the blocker: the closed shutter, the empty shelf, the notice on the door.
- Say in a line what stopped you.
Required evidence: gps + photo + note. Every attempt counts on the runner's profile as a rate requesters see before choosing them; above 15% it's flagged.
Cancelling
| Errand state | Runner gets | Spend reimbursed | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 0% of fee | n/a | Free. Full escrow returned. |
| Accepted | 10% of fee | n/a | 10% of the fee goes to the runner for holding the slot. Platform fee kept. |
| In progress | 40% of fee | Yes, in full | Attempt fee (40%) paid. Any recorded spend is reimbursed in full. |
| Spend recorded | 40% of fee | Yes, in full | Spend reimbursed in full. Attempt fee (40%) paid. Goods are returned to the requester or kept by them. |
| Awaiting confirmation | — | — | Cannot cancel at this stage. Open a dispute instead. |
Locked once assigned. Until a runner accepts, the requester can edit (the checks run again and it goes back in the staff queue) or delete (escrow refunded in full, applicants told). From acceptance on, the brief is locked and the errand can't be deleted; it can only be cancelled under the terms above, and the record stays. A runner who has started can release the errand back to the pool only before recording spend.
A runner's cancellation after acceptance, and every no-show, is counted on their public profile and in the reliability board. Nothing hides it.
Who can do what: check (system) · fund (requester) · pull (Zendrun) · publish (Zendrun) · accept (runner) · release (runner/system) · start (runner) · record_spend (runner) · submit (runner) · confirm (requester) · auto_confirm (system) · mark_attempted (runner) · dispute (requester/runner) · resolve (Zendrun) · cancel (requester/Zendrun) · expire (system).
Off-platform work
Everything that protects both sides lives inside an errand: the escrow, the staff review, the check-ins, the custody rules, the reimbursement guarantee, the dispute process.
Zendrun is not liable for any loss from work you arrange with a runner outside the platform: money handed over directly, goods that don't arrive, a task done badly, anything. There is no escrow to refund from and no evidence trail to rule on.
To make going around us unattractive rather than just forbidden: profiles show no contact details, in-app chat opens only once an errand is accepted, and offering an errand to someone you know costs nothing extra and gives them first refusal. Asking for or offering off-platform work is reportable and closes both accounts.
Warnings and bans
Same rule for requesters and runners. A light offence is a warning; the fifth warning is a permanent ban. A serious offence is a permanent ban the first time, no warnings. Warnings never expire. A ban can be appealed once, within 14 days, with evidence.
- Trying to share phone numbers or contact details in chat, questions or images
- Late without using the lateness attribution, or a no-show on an accepted errand
- Going quiet on an active errand (no reply to a check-in or overage question for over an hour)
- A brief that leaves out goods, risk, the real price or the real location
- Rudeness or unprofessional conduct, short of threats
- Wearing Zendrun gear with no errand, or lending it
- A report found to be false or retaliatory
- Duplicate or spam postings
- Fraud: fake receipts, fake evidence, fake handover, keeping money or goods
- Posting a scam: collecting cash from third parties, moving money, bait-and-switch
- Asking for or handling logins, PINs or OTPs
- Impersonation: someone else on the profile, or working under another's account
- Threats, harassment, discrimination or violence
- Restricted or illegal goods
- Taking a Zendrun errand off the platform to avoid escrow
- Endangering someone: intoxicated on an errand, reckless with a person's goods or safety
A repeat counts double. Repeating the same light offence adds 2 warnings, not one, so nobody can bank four of the same thing: the third repeat of one offence is the ban.
Bans follow the person. A ban follows the person, not the number: it is tied to the national ID, the bank identity and the device. A new SIM or a new phone opens nothing.
Your own count is on the account page under Warnings & standing. Every warning arrives as a notification naming the offence and the count. A banned account keeps its record; escrow and wallet balances are settled out, and verification records are kept as the law requires.
Leaderboards
Public rankings computed from settled errands only. Nothing on them is editable by the runner.
To appear: 5 or more completed errands, for 5 or more different requesters, no dispute lost, not banned. Two friends trading small errands all day never reach a board.
The first board is reliability: finished what they accepted, on time. Cancellations and no-shows count against it. The same numbers are on the profile and in the accept panel.
Referrals
Nothing is paid at sign-up or at verification.
Qualifying. The bonus is paid once the referred runner has settled errands for 3 different requesters, or the referred requester has funded and settled 3 posts with different runners. Until then it shows as “qualifying · n of 3”.
One bonus per identity, ever. A person who re-registers is the same NIN and BVN and has already been counted. A stack of SIM cards and borrowed IDs earns nothing.
Codes expire 60 days after sign-up. Self-referrals and rings are detected by device and bank-account matching and forfeit everything.
Disputes
Reimbursement of fronted money is paid at settlement and is never held by a dispute. What a dispute can touch is the fee, the requester's unused escrow, and, where the evidence shows the brief and check-ins weren't followed, a claw-back from the runner's wallet.
Open within 7 days of settlement, or as soon as proof is submitted.
48 hours to agree. Both sides add statements and evidence. Either side can propose a settlement: a share of the fee to the runner and, optionally, an amount back to the requester, with a note. The other side accepts in one tap and the dispute is decided by agreement, reasons on the record, nothing for staff to do. Declining leaves it for staff.
Staff decide within 5 working days of the window closing, 14 days at the very most from opening, with written reasons both sides can read. The check-in log, custody events, photos, locations, receipts and every message are attached automatically and shown to both sides.
Appeal a staff decision once, within 3 days, with new evidence. An agreement isn't appealable.
Losing a dispute counts against tier for both sides. Three lost in a year restricts the account; faked evidence closes it.
Payouts
Money leaves Zendrun to one place only.
Only to the account that matches your BVN. Withdrawals go to a bank account in your own name, BVN-linked at verification. There is no support override: nobody at Zendrun can send your balance anywhere else, whoever asks and whatever the reason. Changing the payout account means verifying the new one the same way.
Standard payout: ₦50 fee, minimum ₦1,000, lands within 24 hours. Top-ups by transfer above ₦10,000 carry the ₦50 stamp duty the bank charges; card top-ups 1.5%, capped at ₦2,000.
Instant payout: ₦100 fee, in your account within 10 minutes, same account rule. Top-ups are held for 24 hours before they can be withdrawn, so a wallet can't be used to move money through.
Online task refusal catalogue
Amplification is fine, impersonation isn't. Screened at post time, attested by the requester, reportable by the runner (who is paid the attempt fee for refusing a listed task).
Allowed
Public information, no one is misled.
- “Find 20 suppliers of X in Lagos with prices”
- “Summarise these three PDFs”
Work on the requester's own data.
- “Type these receipts into a spreadsheet”
- “Dedupe this contact list”
Booking in the requester's name with their consent is agency, not impersonation, as long as no login is shared.
- “Book a table for 4 on Friday”
- “Get me on the waitlist for the clinic”
Ordinary freelance work.
- “Write 5 product descriptions”
- “Design a flyer”
Using a test account the requester owns.
- “Try signing up on my app and note every bug”
Allowed with disclosure
Fine when the runner says who they are calling for.
- “Call NEPA about my bill”
- “Chase the courier for my parcel”
Promotion from a real person's own account is advertising. It must be labelled as paid where the platform or law requires (#ad, #sponsored).
- “Share my launch post on your own WhatsApp status”
- “Post about my shop on your Instagram with #ad”
Messages must open with who the runner is acting for.
- “DM these 15 vendors and ask for a catalogue, say you're asking for Ada's Kitchen”
Only if the runner actually used the product and says the review was requested. Paid positive reviews are refused (see below).
- “Try my app for a week and leave an honest review”
Refused
Posing as the requester, or anyone else, to a person or a platform. This is the line.
- “Log into my Twitter and reply as me”
- “Pretend to be my boss on this call”
A runner never holds a requester's credentials. It is the single biggest fraud vector on a platform like this.
- “I'll send you the OTP”
- “Here's my password”
Bulk likes, follows, votes, streams or comments from accounts that aren't real people's own. Turns the marketplace into an engagement farm.
- “Get me 500 followers”
- “Vote 50 times in this poll”
Reviews from people who never used the product, or paid 5-star reviews.
- “Leave a 5-star review on Google”
- “Write a testimonial as a customer”
Almost always used to dodge a ban, a limit or a verification.
- “Open 10 Gmail accounts for me”
- “Sign up for Bolt with your details, I'll use it”
Doing a KYC selfie, BVN or NIN check for another person is identity fraud.
- “Do the face verification on my account”
- “Use your BVN to open this for me”
Defeating a platform's bot detection on behalf of a script.
- “Solve captchas for my bot”
Academic dishonesty. Tutoring is fine; sitting it is not.
- “Take my online exam”
- “Write my assignment”
Money-mule pattern. All money on Zendrun moves through escrow, never through a runner's own bank account for a requester's benefit.
- “Receive a transfer into your account and send it on”
- “Cash out my crypto”
Regulated, age-gated, and frequently used to launder.
- “Place these bets on my Bet9ja”
Alcohol, tobacco, prescription-only medicines without a prescription on file, weapons.
- “Buy me codeine without a prescription”
Coordinated abuse or collecting private data about a person.
- “Report this account until it's banned”
- “Find this person's home address”