Terms and Conditions for the MTN MoMo Open API Challenge 2019 (“Challenge”)
By participating in the Challenge and/or accepting any prize, and in consideration for the mutual undertakings and benefits detailed below you and each member of the team, as the case may be (each a “Participant”), hereby irrevocably agree to be bound by these terms and conditions pertaining to the Challenge (“T&Cs”), as well as any other terms and conditions applicable to the Challenge and incorporated in the terms hereof.
The Challenge is being promoted and run by MTN Group Management Services Proprietary Limited (hereinafter “MTN”) and MTN CAMEROON in Cameroon, MTN COTE d’IVOIRE in Cote d’Ivoire, MTN GHANA in Ghana, MTN UGANDA in Uganda and MTN ZAMBIA in Zambia (each referred to as a “MTN OpCo”) their staff, directors and/or third party service providers (collectively, the “Organisers”). MTN and its affiliates are referred to herein collectively as “MTN Group”.
Each Participant agrees to be bound by the decisions of the Organisers, which are final and binding in all respects.
The Challenge is being hosted by HackerEarth Inc., which for purposes of the T&Cs are included as one of the “Organisers”. To the extent applicable, Participants shall also be bound by the HackerEarth Inc. terms and conditions and/or privacy policies, as may be communicated to the Participants.
In the event of a conflict or inconsistency of any nature between these T&Cs and any other applicable terms and conditions, these T&Cs will take precedence.
MTN may, in its sole discretion, amend these T&Cs at any time, without notice, and such amendment(s) shall be deemed to have taken effect from the date of publication of the revised terms and conditions, as published on the Challenge Portal (as defined below), or otherwise brought to the attention of the Participants.
- Challenge periods and Territories
- The idea submission phase of the Challenge, as further explained below in clause 4.1 of these T&Cs (“Idea Phase”) will commence from 00:01 on 21 October 2019 and will end on 23:59 on 1 December 2019 (“Idea Phase Period”).
- The build phase of the Challenge, as further explained below in clause 4.3 of these T&Cs (“Build Phase”) will commence at 00:01 on 10 December 2019 and will end at 23:59 on 22 December 2019 (“Build Phase Period”).
- The territories in which the Challenge will be held are Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia (each a “Territory” and collectively, the “Territories”).
- Successful Participants will be required to present their App (as defined below) on date and location to be communicated by the Organizers during the Challenge in the respective Territories. The aforesaid date may be amended in the sole discretion of the Organisers.
- Eligibility
- In order to be eligible for participation in the Challenge, each entrant must:
- be a citizen or a legal permanent resident of any of the Territories;
- be 18 (eighteen) years or older as at the commencement of the Idea Phase Period (i.e. 7 October 2019); and in the case of Participants that participate in the Challenge in Cameroon, each entrant must be 21 years or older;
- be in possession of a valid passport and in the case of Participants that participate in the Challenge in Cameroon, each entrant must be in possession of residence permit for foreign Nationals or National Identity Cards for Cameroon Nationals;
- have no criminal record - Participants with any criminal records shall be automatically disqualified;
- not, in any way, be affiliated with, or employed/contracted by an MTN competitor in the telecommunications industry;
- be willing to provide to and verify to MTN and/ or the relevant MTN OpCo their personal information including, but not limited to, full name/s and surname, identity / passport / residence permit / social security number, age, physical residential address, mobile telephone number and banking details;
- be in possession of a valid MTN Mobile Money Account or alternatively, eligible to acquire or open a valid MTN Mobile Money Account;
be able to present the Idea submitted in the Idea Phase in person to the relevant MTN OpCo in the relevant Territory; and
- abide by these T&Cs;
failing which, the winner(s) shall forfeit the Prize(s) (as defined below) on the grounds of ineligibility. Each entrant represents and warrants that by entering in or participating in this Challenge, he/she has full eligibility to do so. The Organisers reserve the right to request proof that entrants have met any or all of these eligibility requirements. In entering the Challenge, you confirm that you are eligible to do so and eligible to claim any prize you may win. The Organisers also reserve all rights to disqualify you if your conduct is contrary to the spirit or intention of the Challenge.
- No MTN Group employees and their family or relatives and the service providers and their family or relatives are eligible to participate in the Challenge.
- Registration
- Registration to participate in the Challenge is free of charge.
- Participants may register as an individual, alternatively, as a team with a maximum of 4 (four) Participants per team (“Team”). For the avoidance of doubt, reference to “Participant” in these T&Cs shall also include a Team comprising of a maximum of 4 (four) member Participants.
- For the avoidance of doubt, a Participant may include an employee/contractor of MTN or any MTN OpCo, provided all other eligibility requirements stipulated in clause 2 (Eligibility) are met by such Participant.
- For purposes of registration to participate in the Challenge, please follow the following steps:
- Step 1: Visit the following website to access the Challenge portal: https://www.hackerearth.com/challenges/hackathon/momo-hackathon/ (“Challenge Portal”);
- Step 2: Sign-up to create your account on the Challenge Portal by following the on-screen instructions; and
- Step 3: Register to participate and fill out the required fields by following the on-screen instructions.
- By submitting to registration, a Participant is agreeing to be bound by these T&Cs.
- Challenge requirements and participation details
- Idea Phase
Prior to the expiry of the Idea Phase Period, Participants who have successfully registered for the Challenge in terms of the provisions of clause 3 (Registration), are required, in accordance with the terms of these T&Cs, to submit in the required format, via the Challenge Portal and in accordance with any instructions contained therein, the idea/concept explaining, in sufficient detail, the specifications and proposed functions of the App, as defined in clause 4.3.1 below (“Idea”). Idea entries cannot be returned.
- Invitation to participate in the Build Phase
- The top 12 (twelve) Participants’ Ideas per Territory will be invited by the relevant MTN OpCo to participate in the Build Phase of the Challenge to develop a working prototype of the App, which is based on the Idea.
- The top 12 (twelve) Participants in each Territory will be required to present their Ideas in person at a venue, at a date and time to be communicated by the relevant MTN OpCo to the Participants in the relevant Territory. The Organisers’ decision as to which Participants are invited to participate in the Build Phase shall be guided by the provisions of clause 4.5 below, and such decision shall be final and binding.
- Build Phase
- If selected to proceed to the Build Phase in terms of clause 4.2 above, prior to the expiry of the Build Phase Period, such Participants are required either to:
- develop an innovative financial and transactional mobile application solution, by utilising the MTN Mobile Money (“MoMo”) open application programme interfaces (“API”) made available by the MTN to the Participants on the Challenge Portal or elsewhere (collectively, “MTN MoMo APIs”); or
- update/connect an existing application developed by the Participant using an existing MTN MoMo API,
(each referred to as an “App”).
- Under no circumstances, shall an App contain, or make any references to, any pornography, adult, racist, religious or culturally divisive content, unlawful activities and/or political themes. The Organisers reserve the right to disqualify any Participant for any reason, in its sole and absolute discretion, including the determination in its sole discretion that an Idea and/or App is non-compliant with the aforesaid guidelines, or is inconsistent with the goals, image or policies of MTN, or is otherwise harmful to the reputation of MTN, any MTN OpCo or any other Organiser.
- Judging criteria
Success in the Challenge depends to a substantial degree on the exercise of skill, knowledge, or judgment of the Participants in accordance with these T&Cs. In order to determine the winners of the Challenge, MTN and the MTN OpCos shall, in their sole and absolute discretion, assess each Idea and/or App (collectively, an “Entry”) in terms of a number of criteria, including, without limitation, the following:
- Design: Is the Entry polished, visually appealing and easy to use?
- Effective use of the MTN MoMo APIs: Does the Entry take advantage of most of the endpoints that the MTN open API has to offer?
- Utility and impact: Is the Entry compelling and/or indispensable? How much impact will it create?
- Originality: Is the Entry unique and/or innovative? Is it appealing to unexpected audiences?
- Business opportunity: How scalable is the business opportunity, how big is the potential market?
- Implementation: Comprehensiveness of the Entry in terms of functionality and working given the idea/concept.
The decision of the Organisers of a winning Entry is final and no correspondence or discussion will be entered into.
- Nature of Prizes
- Grand Prize
- The overall winner of the Challenge in each Territory will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the Ericsson Headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden (“Grand Prize”). In the event that the overall winner of the Challenge is a team, then only the appointed leader by the team shall receive this Grand Prize. Should the team fail to appoint the leader to receive the Grand Prize within a reasonable time as required by MTN, MTN shall be entitled to allocate the Grand Prize to any member of the team in its sole discretion and its decision in this regard shall be final.
- The Grand Prize will include the following:
- expenses pertaining to flights, visas, accommodation, transport, hospitality and entertainment specifically provided for in the written itinerary to be provided by the Organisers; and
- a guided tour of the Ericsson Headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden.
- The Grand Prize excludes any expenses relating to:
- spending money/allowances and gratuities;
- any changes made to the flights and or any of the bookings arranged by the Organisers;
- travel insurance;
- gifts or discretionary spend; and
- any transfers and/or activities/excursions not specified in the itinerary to be provided by the Organisers.
- Cash Prizes
- In addition to the Grand Prize for each winner in each of the Territories, the top 3 (three) Participants in each Territory will be awarded a cash prize (each, a “Cash Prize”) of the equivalent local currency value deposited in a valid MTN Mobile Money Account, as indicated below. For the avoidance of doubt, if a winner is a registered team, the below sums will be divided equally amongst the number of Participants in such team. Should a winner not be in possession of a valid MTN Mobile Money Account, he/she shall be required to obtain such an account, failing which, such Cash Prize will be forfeited.
- The cash prizes will be paid in local currency including all applicable taxes, foreign exchange conversion rates and charges as well as transfer fees.
Best App
(overall winner, being the same as the recipient of the Grand Prize)
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1st Runner-up
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2nd Runner-up
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USD 2,500.00
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USD 2,000.00
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USD 1,500.00
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- General
- All taxes and other expenses associated with the Grand Prize and Cash Prizes (collectively, the “Prizes”) are the winners’ sole responsibility.
- The Prizes are not transferrable and will be handed out to the winning Participants. In the case of a winner being a registered team, all Participants of such team must be present. The Organisers reserve the right to substitute any prize with another prize of similar value.
- Winner notification and acceptance
- Following the decision by the Organisers of the identity of the winners of the Prizes, such winners of the Prizes will be contacted within 30 (thirty) days of the decision of the Organisers, using the telephone number or email address provided with the Challenge registration and/or Entry.
- The Organisers will make reasonable efforts to contact the winner(s). In the event that any winner cannot be successfully contacted following reasonable attempts to do so by the Organisers, or is not available, the Organisers reserve the right to automatically disqualify such winner from the Challenge, such winner forfeiting the Prize, and to select an alternative winner.
- Within 10 (ten) business days of being notified, the winners will be requested to provide or verify:
- their personal information and other information required by the Organisers; and
- an affidavit of eligibility, a liability/publicity release and any other forms or documents required by the Organisers or by a relevant tax/revenue authority, or any other governmental authority, as a condition of receiving a Prize,
failing which, the Prizes will be forfeited. In addition to the above, if you are the winner of a prize, but you do not within 10 (ten) business days of being notified, claim your prize by personally attending the offices of the MTN OpCo in the relevant Territory, your claim will become invalid.
- After claiming a Prize pursuant to 6.3, should a winner not redeem his/her Prize within 3 (three) months, after being notified, as directed by the Organisers, his/her Prize will be forfeited.
- In the event that a winner is chosen as one of the winners, but declines the Prize, such Prize shall be forfeited and the Organisers may select another winner.
- Should a winner make any false statement(s) in any documentation required by the Organisers, such winner will be disqualified.
- The Organisers will either publish or make available information that indicates that a valid award of Prizes took place. To comply with this obligation the Organisers will publish the details of the winners and the nature of their Entry in such format and in such media as the Organisers may in their discretion determine.
- The prize may not be claimed by a third party on your behalf.
- The Organisers do not accept any responsibility if you are not able to take up the prize.
- Limitation of Liability
Insofar as is permitted by applicable law, the Organiser (whether collectively or individually), and their agents or distributors will not in any circumstances be responsible or liable to compensate the winner or accept any liability for any loss, damage, personal injury or death occurring as a result of taking up the prize except where such eventuality is caused by the negligence of the Organisers, its agents or distributors or that of their employees.
- Intellectually property
- For purposes of these T&Cs the term “Intellectual Property” shall mean “all patents, rights to inventions, copyright and related rights, trade-marks, trade names and domain names, rights in get-up, rights in goodwill or to sue for passing off, rights in designs, rights in models, rights in computer software, database rights, rights in confidential information (including know-how and trade secrets) and any other intellectual property rights, in each case whether registered or unregistered and including all applications (or rights to apply) for, and renewals or extensions of, such rights and all similar or equivalent rights or forms of protection which may now or in the future subsist in any part of the world.”
- MTN and the MTN OpCos shall retain all rights, title and interest in and to all Intellectual Property owned, possessed, created or acquired by them, incluidng related to any API’s, and nothing in these T&Cs shall grant to you, or puport to grant to you any right in or to any such Intellectual Property.
- To the extent required, MTN and the MTN OpCos hereby grant to you a limited, royalty free, personal, non-transferable, licence to make use of the MTN MoMo APIs for the sole purpose of taking party in the Challenge and for the duration of the Challenge only. The licence contained in this provision shall automatically expire on 10 November 2019 at 08:30 PM SAST.
- You, or in the event of a Team, the members of the Team, shall retain the full right, title and interest in and to the Intellectual Property rights subsisting in your App as determined by applicable laws.
- In consideration for participating in the Challenge you hereby:
- grant to MTN Group an irrevocable, perpetual, royatly free, transferable licence to copy, adapt and use the Idea and / or App in order to run, adjudicate and promote the Challenge and in respect of any future promotional activites undertaken by, or for and on behalf of any MTN Group companies; and
- consent to any MTN Group companies publishing the Idea and / or App and irrevocably agree that there is and shall be no obligation on any MTN Group companies to keep the Idea and / or App or any aspect thereof secret and / or confidential.
- You acknowledge that MTN and the MTN OpCos are continuously working on the development of new products and service offerings and as such has an extensive range of product and service concepts being assessed or under development at all times. For the sake of good order it is recorded that you understand that no concept that is or becomes generally available to the public, or lawfully becomes known to MTN, or is known to MTN can be claimed to be proprietary in any way.
- YOU SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEGE AND IRREVOCABLY AGREE THAT THE SUBMISSION OF THE IDEA AND / OR APP SHALL NOT IN ANY WAY PREVENT, DISQUALIFY OR OTHERWISE LIMIT ANY MTN GROUP COMPANY’S RIGHT AND / OR ABILITY TO CREATE, DEVELOP OR ENHANCE ANY PRODUCT OR SERVICE OF WHATEVER NATURE, OR TO ALLOW ANY THIRD PARTY TO MAKE USE OF ANY MTN GROUP INFRASTRUCTURE OR SERVICES TO PROVIDE ANY PRODUCTS OR SERVICES TO ANY MTN GROUP CUSTOMERS.
- IN ORDER TO GIVE EFFECT TO THE ABOVE MENTIONED PROVISION, YOU HEREBY IRREVOCABLY WAIVE, RELEASE AND FOREVER DISCHARGE EACH MTN GROUP COMPANY AND ITS DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES AND / OR AGENTS FROM ANY AND ALL DEMANDS, ACTIONS, CAUSES OF ACTION, COMPLAINTS, SUITS, DAMAGES, LOSSES, JUDGMENTS, EXECUTIONS, ORDERS AND ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, DEMANDS AND LIABILITIES WHATSOEVER OF ANY KIND, WHETHER IN LAW OR IN EQUITY, KNOWN OR UNKNOWN, WHICH YOU HAVE OR MAY HAVE AGAINST ANY SUCH PARTY RELATED TO THE USE OF ANY IDEA.
- Warranties: You warrant, undertake and represent that:
- the Idea and if applicable, App, is your original work, and
- to the extent that the Idea / App incorporates any third party subject matter, whether in terms of any open source licence or otherwise, you enjoy the lawful right to make use of such subject matter; and
- to the best of your knowledge, the Idea / App does not infringe, violate or misappropriate the Intellectual Property rights of any third party.
- You irrevocably agree that if so directed by MTN or a relevant MTN OpCo, in its sole discretion, you shall apply an MTN GROUP trade mark / logo – as directed by MTN or a relevant MTN Opco – to the landing/home page of the App for as long as required by MTN. The use of the MTN GROUP trade mark / logo shall at all times be subject to the direction and requirements of MTN or the relevant MTN OpCo. Otherwise than as provided for in this cause, you shall have not right whatsoever to make use of any MTN GROUP trademarks / logo in any way.
- You acknowledge and agree that the Organisers have the right to remove and/or reject any Idea/App that in the opinion of the Organisers:
- violates any rights of any third parties or that that encourages or induces the infringement of the rights of any third parties; or
- in any way contains false or misleading information or claims.
- MTN and the MTN OpCos provide the MTN MoMo APIs on an “as is” and “as available” basis. To the extent permitted by applicable law, we disclaim any and all warranties, express, implied or statutory, including warranties of accuracy, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, security, reliability, timeliness, and availability or performance. You understand and agree that you will use the MTN MoMo APIs at your own discretion and risk and that you will be solely responsible for any damages, including but not limited to damages to any computer system or any loss of data, that arise from your use of the MTN MoMo APIs.
- For the sake of good order it is recorded that these T&Cs and specifically the provisions related to Intellectual Property shall apply to all Participants, whether only taking party in the Idea Phase or in both the Idea Phase and the Build Phase.
- General terms
- Without detracting in any way from the provisions contained in these T&Cs, the following general provisions shall apply.
- MTN and the MTN OpCos reserve the right to amend these T&Cs at any time in accordance with the provisions contained in these T&Cs.
- By entering and participating in the Challenge, you agree that the Organisers may collect and process your personal information for purposes of this Challenge (including, but in no way limited to, processing and administering entries, sharing a Participant’s personal information with the Organisers’ service providers and contractors as necessary to conduct and operate the Challenge, communicating with and awarding prizes to winners, making public announcements about winners, advertising, promoting and publicising the Challenge, etc.). You also acknowledge that your personal information may be transferred across jurisdictions which may not have privacy standards comparable to that in the European Union and that any such transfer or processing of your personal information is subject to the privacy policies of the Organisers and any third parties and understand that the use of your personal information by any such third party is subject to the applicable privacy policy, and that the Organisers are not responsible for such use.
- IN THE EVENT OF A DISPUTE BETWWEN THE PARTICIPANTS AND ANY OF THE ORGANISERS, THE DECISION OF MTN AND / OR THE MTN OPCOS WILL BE FINAL AND BINDING AND NO CORRESPONDENCE WILL BE ENTERED INTO. IN THIS REGARD AND FOR FURTHER CLARITY, MTN AND / OR THE MTN OPCOS SHALL BE ENTITLED TO DEAL WITH SUCH DISPUTES (OR ANY FAILURE BY PARTICIPANTS TO FOLLOW THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS) IN THEIR SOLE DISCRETION, INCLUDING THAT MTN AND / OR THE MTN OPCOS SHALL BE ENTITLED, IN ADDITION TO ANY OTHER RIGHTS WHICH THEY MAY HAVE IN TERMS OF THESE T&Cs, TO IMMEDIATELY DISQUALIFY PARTICIPANTS FROM THIS CHALLENGE. BY ENTERING THE CHALLENGE AND/OR ACCEPTING ANY PRIZE, THE ENTRANTS, PARTICIPANTS, USERS AND/OR WINNERS HEREBY INDEMNIFY, RELEASE AND HOLD HARMLESS THE ORGANISERS (INCLUDING THEIR SUBSIDIARIES, HOLDING COMPANIES AND AFFILIATES), THEIR DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, SUPPLIERS AND CONTRACTORS (THE “ORGANISER PARTIES”) FROM AND AGAINST ANY ACTIONS, CLAIMS AND/OR LIABILITY FOR INJURY, LOSS, DAMAGE, EXPENSE, CLAIM OR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND RESULTING IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, FROM PARTICIPATION IN THE CHALLENGE, AND/OR THE USE, ACCEPTANCE OR POSSESSION OF A PRIZE, AND/OR PARTICIPATION (OR NON-PARTICIPATION) IN A PRIZE-RELATED ACTIVITY.
- Participants who, in MTN’s and / or MTN OpCos’ sole determination, act unlawfully, fraudulently, in breach of these T&Cs or otherwise dishonestly, or that brings MTN, any MTN OpCo or any member of the MTN Group’s reputation into disrepute or threatens to do so, may be disqualified from participating in the Challenge and shall not be eligible to win any prize. Any attempt by you to interfere with or manipulate the Challenge may be a violation of criminal and/or civil law and may result, among other things, in your disqualification from the Challenge.
- The Organisers may require the winner and the family members (at no fee) to be identified, photographed, filmed and the aforegoing to be published in any media, subject to the winner's and family members right to decline participating in any such marketing activities.
- ADDITIONAL TO ANY OTHER RIGHTS CONTAINED IN THESE T&Cs, MTN RESERVES THE RIGHT TO TERMINATE THE CHALLENGE AT ANY TIME WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT. IF THIS IS THE CASE, THE ORGANISERS WILL PROVIDE A NOTICE ON THE CHALLENGE PORTAL AND IT SHALL BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF PARTICIPANTS TO REVIEW SUCH WEBSITE IN THIS RESPECT. IN SUCH EVENT, ALL PARTICIPANTS HEREBY WAIVE ANY RIGHTS WHICH THEY MAY HAVE AGAINST ANY OF THE ORGANISER PARTIES AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THEY WILL HAVE NO RECOURSE OR CLAIM OF ANY NATURE AGAINST THE ORGANISER PARTIES.
- THE ORGANISERS ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY ENTRY THAT IS INCOMPLETE OR INCORRECT AND/OR ANY TECHNICAL FAILURE THAT MAY RESULT IN AN ENTRY NOT BEING SUCCESSFULLY SUBMITTED. ANY PRIZE IS ACCEPTED BY A WINNER AT HIS/HER OWN RISK AND THE ORGANISERS ARE NOT LIABLE, AT ANY TIME, FOR ANY DEFECT IN THE PRIZE.
- The laws of the Territory in respect of which the Participant participates in the Challenge shall govern the Challenge in that Territory. Any litigation arising out of, or in connection with the Challenge in a particular Territory shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the relevant court/s of that Territory. By participating in the Challenge in a particular Territory, you irrevocably submit to the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts within that Territory with jurisdiction for such purpose, and waive any objection in connection with the same.
- All Challenge queries must be directed to the discussion page on www.hackerearth.com/challenges/hackathon/momo-hackathon.