Escrow & Payments Terms

Part of the Terms of Service. Where this document and any other GimartHub document differ on the user relationship, this document governs.

1. What "escrow" means here

When a Buyer pays for an order, the funds are captured by our payment providers and held for the Buyer's benefit until the order completes or is otherwise resolved. GimartHub administers this hold ("escrow").

• The escrow balance is not a bank deposit, an e-money account, stored value, or an investment.
• It does not earn interest for you.
• GimartHub does not lend, invest, or use held funds as working capital; held funds are kept with regulated payment partners.
• GimartHub is a marketplace intermediary, not a bank, and (unless a licensed partner is used and disclosed) not a licensed escrow agent.

Consistent with Pakistan's e-commerce policy framework (the 2019 e-Commerce Policy and the Second National e-Commerce Policy for 2025–2030), this document sets out the escrow flow step by step, with defined timelines and an accessible dispute route (see the Refund & Dispute Policy). Regulatory context is in the Regulatory & Compliance Framework.

2. Who can buy and sell (testing period)

• Sellers must be resident and based in Pakistan (see the Seller Agreement).
• International accounts are restricted to buyer access. They cannot list or sell.

3. Payment methods ("rails")

Payments settle into a State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)-regulated account. During the testing period the escrow account is a NayaPay account.

International buyers — GimartHub Balance. To avoid per-transaction fees on small purchases (international card / PayPal processors typically charge ~2.9%–5% plus a $0.30–$0.50 fixed fee — which on a $2 item can be 25% of the price), international buyers top up their GimartHub Balance in fixed increments (e.g. $10, $20, $50) in a single payment, then spend that Balance for instant checkout on any number of small items with no additional payment fee. Top-ups are made by transfer through one of NayaPay's supported global remittance partners (for example Remitly, Wise, or ACE Money Transfer) to the account and reference shown, and the buyer uploads the receipt for verification.

Buyers inside Pakistan — bank transfer or Raast (including Raast Person-to-Merchant (P2M): QR code, Raast Alias, IBAN, Request-to-Pay) to the account shown on the order or top-up page, using the reference provided; then upload the receipt.

After paying, the Buyer uploads a screenshot / receipt of the transfer and GimartHub verifies it before the Balance is topped up or the order proceeds. Each rail is operated by a licensed third party under its own terms; GimartHub and its account provider offer transparent fee disclosure, clear reconciliation, and an accessible dispute process, as required by SBP. Manual-confirmation orders and top-ups stay Pending until verified and expire if not paid within the stated window.

Balance transfers. A user may send GimartHub Balance to another GimartHub account. The first three transfers per account are free; after that a small transfer fee of 0.05% of the amount (minimum 1¢), charged to the sender in addition to the amount sent, applies. Balance has no cash value, are not refundable to a bank account except as GimartHub decides, are for use on GimartHub only, and transfers are final once completed. GimartHub may pause, limit, reverse, or refuse a transfer, and may freeze Balance, where it suspects fraud, money laundering, sanctions evasion, or any breach of these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy. Using transfers to sell Balance for cash, to move value for a third party, or to circumvent the escrow/fee system is prohibited and may lead to suspension and reporting to the authorities.

4. Currencies and display

• The platform's base currency is USD; each Listing has a USD price.
• Prices, order totals and Balance are shown in the viewer's local currency (from the account's country or the request's location), converted at the daily rate, with the USD amount shown alongside. For buyers and sellers in Pakistan, amounts display in PKR.
• The transaction currency is USD — the amount transferred, escrowed and refunded is the USD amount on the order; any local-currency figure shown is an indicative conversion.
• Payment-provider or remittance-partner FX (their rate to convert your local money) is outside our control.

5. Fees

Fees may change with notice. The fees applied to an order are those shown at checkout and are stored on the order.

6. Escrow states

An order moves through these states:

Auto-confirmation: if the Buyer does not confirm or dispute within the confirmation window, the order auto-completes. Buyers should always inspect the asset before the window ends.

7. Release to the Seller

On Completed, the Seller's proceeds = gross order amount − Seller commission − pass-through processor fees.

Those proceeds first sit in escrow against the order. After the payout hold window (up to 14 days; longer for new or higher-risk Sellers) and any reserve percentage held against dispute/chargeback risk, GimartHub releases the amount into the Seller's earnings wallet. During the testing period this release is performed by GimartHub staff and may be immediate. A release can be reversed back to escrow, or voided entirely, if the buyer is refunded or the order should not pay out.

8. Payouts

• The earnings wallet holds money GimartHub has released from escrow. Money still in escrow is shown separately as in escrow and is not yet withdrawable.
• Minimum withdrawal (Pakistan): PKR 10,000. A Seller can request a withdrawal once their wallet balance reaches PKR 10,000 equivalent. This keeps per-transfer fees reasonable and gives buyers time to verify a purchase (fraud control).
• The Seller clicks Request payout and provides a Raast alias / IBAN / wallet number. GimartHub verifies the request and sends the payout by local transfer — Raast, interbank transfer (IBFT), JazzCash or Easypaisa — to the Seller's Pakistani account, attaches a transfer reference or screenshot, and debits the wallet.
• We may delay, decline or reverse a payout pending verification, an open dispute, suspected fraud, a legal request, or a negative balance. Changing your payout details triggers a short security hold.

9. Refunds

Refunds are governed by the Refund & Dispute Policy. In general:

• Refunds go back to the original payment method where the rail supports it; otherwise via an approved alternative recorded on the order.
• A refund may exclude non-refundable processor fees, as disclosed.
• Partial refunds and split resolutions are possible via dispute outcomes.

10. Chargebacks and reversals

• If a Buyer's bank or processor reverses a payment, GimartHub will investigate and may submit evidence on the Seller's behalf.
• Where a Seller was already paid, the Seller authorises GimartHub to recover the amount (plus any fee) from their balance, held funds, or reserve, and to treat any shortfall as a debt.
• Abusing chargebacks (disputing a legitimately delivered order with your bank instead of using our dispute process) is a serious violation of the Acceptable Use Policy and may lead to a ban and referral to the processor.

11. Negative balances and set-off

If your GimartHub balance goes negative (refunds, chargebacks, fees, penalties), you must repay it promptly. You authorise GimartHub to set off amounts you owe against any current or future balance and to pause payouts until the balance is cleared.

12. Unclaimed funds

If a payout cannot be completed (invalid method, no valid method on file, account closed) and you do not resolve it, we will hold the funds and attempt to contact you. Unclaimed funds are handled per applicable unclaimed-property/escheat law after the statutory period.

13. Anti-money-laundering, KYC and sanctions

GimartHub applies a risk-based AML/CFT programme aligned with Pakistan's Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010 (as amended), the FATF Recommendations, and the framework overseen by Pakistan's AML/CFT Authority (2023), SBP and SECP. In particular:

• Identity verification is required before cumulative payouts to a Seller exceed USD 500, and at any time on risk grounds — phone and government ID, and where needed proof of the source of goods or funds.
• We screen payees against applicable sanctions / restricted-party lists and monitor for structuring, rapid pass-through, mismatched identities and other red flags.
• We may delay, decline, freeze or reverse a payment, payout or Balance top-up, request more information, or report suspicious activity to the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) or other authorities, and we need not tell you if the law prohibits it.
• Balance top-ups are held for the account holder's own future purchases; they are not a payment service to third parties and may not be used to transfer value between users.

14. Taxes

GimartHub may add applicable taxes at checkout where legally required and may report transactions to authorities. If GimartHub is incorporated in Pakistan it will hold a National Tax Number (FBR) and register for sales tax on services with the relevant provincial authority before charging platform fees. Sellers are responsible for their own tax obligations (see the Seller Agreement §7).

15. Errors

If you believe there is an error in a charge, hold, fee, release, or payout, contact the contact page within 60 days. We will investigate and correct genuine errors.

16. Changes

We may update these Terms at any time, with or without prior notice; the current version is always the one posted on the Platform. We may, but need not, flag significant changes. Orders already in flight are governed by the version in effect when they were placed, except for changes required by law or a payment provider. Your continued use after changes are posted means you accept them.

17. Contact

The contact page · GimartHub, Pakistan.