Plain-language rule: A user sees the price and accepts an invoice before work begins. Refunds depend on the service stage and actual work completed. Contributors may withdraw only cleared earnings shown as available in their wallet.
1. Purpose
This Policy explains how ResearchBridge Africa handles service cancellations, refunds, invoice adjustments, wallet earnings and contributor payouts. It aims to provide fair outcomes, protect users from undisclosed charges, compensate genuine work already performed, and maintain complete financial and audit records.
Nothing in this Policy excludes a right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded. Where applicable law, a payment provider or a written institutional agreement gives a user stronger protection, that protection prevails.
2. Scope
This Policy applies to paid research-support services, tutorials, reviews, consultations and other orders made through ResearchBridge Africa, as well as wallet credits and payout claims by reviewers, tutors, consultants, ambassadors and other approved contributors. It should be read with the Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy, Service Pricing, Peer-Review Policy, Complaints Procedure and applicable invoice.
Donations, grants, institutional subscriptions, event tickets, third-party products and journal charges may have additional written terms. Those terms must be disclosed before payment.
3. Key definitions
4. Pricing, invoices and consent
- The applicable standard price, currency, delivery estimate and any approved urgent surcharge must be shown before an order is submitted.
- The platform will issue a numbered invoice. Work should not begin until the applicant accepts the invoice and any required payment is verified, unless ResearchBridge Africa expressly approves different written terms.
- A provider or support officer may not replace the approved price with a private quotation or request payment outside the authorised platform process.
- If the service scope changes, ResearchBridge Africa must issue an amended invoice or obtain documented approval before charging more.
- Promotional discounts and credits have no cash value unless their terms expressly say otherwise.
5. Cancelling a service order
An applicant may request cancellation through Orders & Payments or the designated support channel. The request is effective when the platform records it; merely stopping communication does not cancel an order.
Important: ResearchBridge Africa will not impose an undisclosed cancellation penalty. Any deduction must be connected to accepted work, documented progress, an agreed milestone or an unavoidable disclosed third-party cost.
6. When a refund may be granted
- Duplicate payment, verified overpayment or payment against a cancelled invoice.
- ResearchBridge Africa or the assigned provider cannot deliver within a reasonable revised time and the applicant does not accept the delay.
- The delivered service materially differs from the accepted invoice or agreed scope and is not corrected within a reasonable opportunity.
- A service is cancelled under section 5 with an unearned balance.
- A payment was taken because of a verified platform error or unauthorised transaction, subject to identity and payment-provider checks.
- Academic misconduct, conflict of interest or another serious breach makes the paid service unusable, after a fair investigation.
- Another refund is required by applicable law or an enforceable written agreement.
Dissatisfaction based solely on an academic result, publication decision, grade, reviewer recommendation or institution’s decision does not automatically create a refund right where the agreed service was properly performed. ResearchBridge Africa does not guarantee approval, publication, marks, research outcomes or institutional acceptance.
7. Non-refundable and partially refundable items
The following may be non-refundable or deducted only to the extent they were clearly disclosed, properly incurred and legally recoverable:
- Accepted or completed service milestones and verified professional work already performed.
- Urgent work already performed under an accepted urgent-service surcharge.
- Custom materials already produced and delivered within the agreed scope.
- Unavoidable third-party charges that cannot be recovered, where disclosed before payment.
- Promotional credits, coupons, complimentary services or expired discounts.
- Taxes or statutory charges that ResearchBridge Africa is not legally permitted to refund.
An entire payment will not be withheld merely because one part is non-refundable. Finance must calculate and explain any partial refund.
8. Refund request and decision process
- Submit the order or invoice number, payment evidence, reason, requested outcome and relevant supporting material.
- Finance acknowledges the request and may place the disputed amount or related payout on temporary hold.
- Support confirms the service stage and deliverables; Finance verifies the payment and calculates any earned or unearned portion.
- The applicant and affected contributor receive a fair opportunity to explain disputed facts where necessary.
- Finance issues a reasoned decision showing the approved amount, deductions, refund method and appeal route.
Requests should ordinarily be made within 14 calendar days after cancellation, delivery or discovery of the problem. A later request may still be considered where delay was reasonable, fraud or a latent problem is alleged, records remain available, or law requires it.
9. Refund method and timing
An approved refund will normally be returned to the original payment method. ResearchBridge Africa may use a verified alternative only where the original method is unavailable, the payer authorises it, and fraud controls are satisfied. Refunds must not be redirected to an unrelated person.
ResearchBridge Africa will normally initiate an approved refund within 10 business days after the decision and receipt of any required payment details. Banks, Mobile Money operators and other payment providers may take additional time to complete it. Finance will provide a refund reference or status update.
10. Failed, reversed and disputed payments
An order remains unpaid until funds are verified. A failed, reversed, charged-back or fraudulently disputed payment may lead to suspension of the affected order, invoice, wallet credit or payout while Finance investigates. The user must not receive both a platform refund and a payment-provider chargeback for the same amount.
ResearchBridge Africa may correct duplicate credits, reverse provisional entries and recover a confirmed overpayment from future lawful amounts after notice and a fair opportunity to respond. It will not use unrelated wallet funds as an undisclosed penalty.
11. Service quality complaints and remedies
Where a complaint concerns quality or scope, ResearchBridge Africa may first offer correction, re-performance, reassignment, replacement of a defective deliverable, a reasonable extension, partial refund or full refund, depending on severity and what is practical. A user is not required to accept repeated correction attempts where the defect is serious or trust has reasonably broken down.
Academic and ethical complaints will follow the relevant integrity or peer-review procedure. Financial staff must not decide scholarly merit, and academic staff must not approve their own payout or refund.
12. Wallet earnings
Wallet entries must identify the earning source, gross amount, authorised deductions, net amount, status and date. Earnings may remain pending until the underlying work is completed, accepted or verified and any quality, conflict, refund or fraud review is resolved.
- Available earnings may be claimed; pending, reserved, disputed, reversed or already-paid amounts may not.
- The wallet does not accept general deposits, pay interest or operate as a bank or savings account.
- Promotional credits, service refunds and contributor earnings must be recorded separately.
- A contributor may not sell, transfer or pledge a wallet balance to another person.
- ResearchBridge Africa may place a proportionate temporary hold where a related service, refund, identity, misconduct or chargeback matter is under documented review.
13. Payout eligibility and claims
A contributor must have an active approved account, completed required identity and payout verification, no unresolved material restriction, and an available balance. The current minimum claim is GHS 50, unless the Finance Centre displays a different approved minimum before the claim is made.
- Select an amount that does not exceed the available cleared balance.
- Confirm the payout method and account ownership, then submit the claim.
- The system issues a unique claim reference and reserves the claimed amount.
- Finance verifies the earning record, identity, deductions, prior payouts and any open dispute.
- An authorised officer approves, rejects or returns the claim for correction; a different authorised officer should mark payment as paid where practicable.
14. Payout methods, deductions and timing
Approved payouts may be sent by verified Mobile Money, bank transfer or another method displayed by the platform. The account should be in the contributor’s name unless Finance approves a lawful documented exception.
Before claim confirmation, the platform must show any applicable commission, withholding tax, transfer charge or other deduction and the expected net payout. ResearchBridge Africa may make deductions required by law and will provide available supporting records.
Finance will normally process an approved claim within 5 business days after approval. Provider delays, compliance checks, incorrect account details, public holidays or exceptional operational events may extend completion. A claim becomes Paid only when a transaction reference or equivalent evidence is recorded.
15. Rejected, failed and returned payouts
A claim may be rejected or returned for correction if it exceeds the available balance, duplicates another claim, contains incorrect details, fails verification, concerns disputed or reversed earnings, breaches platform rules or cannot lawfully be paid. Finance must record the reason.
If a payout fails or is returned, the net amount will be restored to the available balance after reconciliation, less only a disclosed non-recoverable provider charge where lawful. A contributor must promptly report a payout sent to an incorrect account; recovery cannot be guaranteed where the contributor confirmed incorrect details.
16. Death, incapacity and inactive accounts
A verified personal representative may request payment of a deceased contributor’s undisputed available earnings, subject to lawful proof of authority, identity, tax and succession requirements. For an incapacitated user, Finance may require lawful authority before changing payout instructions.
ResearchBridge Africa will not treat an available balance as forfeited merely because an account is inactive. It may restrict access for security, contact the user, apply documented retention rules, or take action required by law.
17. Fraud, misconduct and improper claims
Submitting false payment evidence, manipulating wallet records, claiming for undelivered or plagiarised work, colluding to create artificial earnings, impersonating another person, or seeking duplicate refunds or payouts is prohibited. ResearchBridge Africa may preserve evidence, suspend the affected transaction, investigate fairly, correct the ledger, restrict an account and report matters where lawful and proportionate.
No automatic forfeiture: Suspicion alone does not permanently remove a refund or earning. Except where urgent protective action is necessary, a person affected by an adverse financial decision will receive the concern, relevant evidence, an opportunity to respond and a reasoned outcome.
18. Complaints, review and appeal
A user may request internal review within 15 business days after a refund, cancellation or payout decision, stating the decision challenged, grounds and supporting evidence. Grounds may include material factual error, procedural unfairness, overlooked evidence, conflict of interest, incorrect calculation or a disproportionate outcome.
The review should be handled by an authorised person not materially responsible for the original disputed decision. ResearchBridge Africa will aim to decide a straightforward review within 15 business days. This internal process does not remove any right to contact a payment provider, regulator, court or other lawful dispute-resolution body.
19. Records, privacy and audit
Finance will maintain invoice, payment, refund, wallet, claim, approval, transaction-reference, correspondence and adjustment records for the documented retention period and any longer period required to meet legal, accounting, tax, fraud-prevention or dispute obligations. Access is limited according to role and legitimate need.
Every material pricing change, invoice adjustment, refund decision, wallet credit or reversal, claim approval, rejection and paid status must be recorded in the Finance Centre and Audit Trail. Personal and payout information will be handled under the Privacy Policy and applicable data-protection requirements.
20. Governance and separation of duties
- Support may assist with service facts but must not privately set prices or approve its own financial benefit.
- Academic personnel decide academic quality; Finance calculates and records financial consequences.
- Contributors may not approve their own earnings or payouts.
- High-value or exceptional refunds, manual wallet adjustments and payouts should require a second approval threshold configured by the Super Admin.
- Reconciliation should compare invoices, verified payments, refunds, wallet liabilities and completed payouts at regular intervals.
21. Policy changes and notice
ResearchBridge Africa may amend this Policy for operational, legal, payment-provider or service changes. The published version and effective date will be displayed. A material change will not ordinarily reduce an already-accrued refund or available earning retrospectively unless required by law, necessary to correct fraud or error, or expressly accepted by the affected person.
22. Guidance basis and expert review
This Policy is designed for ResearchBridge Africa’s Ghana-based platform and reflects principles of transparent pricing, payment verification, fair financial decision-making, secure transaction records and responsible processing of personal information. Payment services should be provided through appropriately authorised providers, and financial records should comply with applicable payment, tax, accounting and data-protection requirements.
Review notice: Before public launch, the final policy and implementation will be reviewed by a qualified Ghanaian lawyer, accountant or tax adviser as appropriate, and aligned with the contracts and rules of the selected payment providers.
Appendix A — Refund decision summary
Appendix B — Payout claim declaration
I confirm that the claimed amount does not exceed my available wallet balance; the underlying work and earning records are genuine; my identity and payout details are accurate; I have disclosed any relevant dispute or restriction; and I authorise ResearchBridge Africa and its payment provider to process the claim and keep required transaction records.