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A global Information and Communication Technology player, Hewlett Packard, and other top officials in Africa’s ICT industry have declared that cases of Information Technology products counterfeiting has been on the increase in the past years in Nigeria and other countries in the African continent.
This was the fulcrum of their conclusion at this year’s edition of Anti-Counterfeiting Africa Conference held in Johannesburg, South Africa by HP, where participants discussed the economic looses of and made clarion calls on governments on how to tackle counterfeiting.
Government officials, lawenforcers and representatives of ministries responsible for anti-counterfeiting, gathered at the summit to discuss consumer protection and raise awareness against illegitimate goods.
Speaking at the two-day conference aimed at educating and empowering organisations across the continent against the effects of counterfeit trade, Brand Protection Programme Manager for HP’s Printing and Personal Systems group, Mr. Jeff Kwasny, said Africa was now being used as a transit route for fake goods, ad development, he said, posed an indirect threat to European and American markets.
“HP is a company that places a priority on protecting customers and its brand and that is why we are raising awareness on the impact and consequences of counterfeit trade at the two-day summit in Johannesburg,” he said. During the summit, HP outlined how to fight counterfeiting, and looked specifically at how policy makers can toughen applicable laws and enforcement capacity across Africa. According to reports, the global trade in counterfeit goods is growing and Africa is increasingly being targeted as a market for counterfeit merchandise.
African nations are therefore becoming increasingly aware of challenges that counterfeit trade represents to their economies and their citizens, and becoming active in the fight against it. Commenting, Printing and Personal Systems Africa Director for HP, Mr. Fabrice Campoy, said the HP Anti-counterfeiting Programme works hard to protect partners and customers, but added that was only made possible through close collaboration with law enforcers around the world.
“We therefore truly appreciate the cooperation of African law enforcement to helping to make this event possible, and protect African customers from the inferior standards and potential risks of counterfeit,” Fabrice said. According to Fabrice, Original HP supplies distinguish themselves by their superior quality and reliability at competitive prices.
While the global economy loses about $6 billion annually to the menace of counterfeit phones coming through the grey market, according to latest Mobile Manufacturers Forum, (MMF), report, Samsung Electronics has said that it would deepen partnership with the relevant authorities and vendors in Nigeria to tackle influx of fake phones.
The new report by MMF showed that in 2013, no fewer than 148 million counterfeit mobile devices were sold through visible retail sites, with many more expected to be sold in unofficial retail outlets, online auction websites and in local black markets worldwide.
A grey market is the trade of a commodity through distribution channels which, while legal, are unofficial, unauthorized, or unintended by the original manufacturer.
The most common type of grey market is the sale of imported goods brought by small import companies or individuals not authorized by the manufacturer.
The MMF is an international non-profit organisation founded in 1998 by a number of leading manufacturers of mobile radio equipment, including leading ones like Nokia, Samsung, Apple, as well as network suppliers like Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks and Alcatel-Lucent, among others.
It would be recalled that the Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Department of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), had earlier played host recently to the Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa, of Mobile Manufacturers Forum (MMF), Mr. Thomas Barmuller, for bilateral discussions with the regulator on reassuring the Nigerian telecom consumer of their safety from electromagnetic field (EMF).
The MMF report informed that lab tests on more than 50 counterfeit devices found that most failed basic compliance tests against industry standards for network connectivity, which translated into a very high percentage of call dropouts for users.
According to the report, network coverage was significantly reduced as more substandard devices connected to the network, which created coverage blackspots that could only be fixed by installing 80 per cent more base stations.
The report, according to MMF Secretary General, Micheal Milligan in Brussels, Belgium, “with the average knock-off phone selling for around $45, our conservative estimate of $6 billion in illegal sales represents a massive financial loss for governments and the mobile phone industry.
“Governments can combat the growing counterfeit phone problem with new technology which can identify substandard devices on the mobile network and permanently block users who don’t change to a genuine product.”
In India alone, the MMF claims that counterfeits make up more than 20% of the cellphone market, causing US$1.5 billion annually in lost sales, $85 million direct tax losses and $460 million indirect tax losses. “Counterfeit phones are made with cheap sub-standard materials and have been shown to contain dangerous levels of metals and chemicals like Lead,” Mr. Milligan said.
Although counterfeit mobile phone is a global issue causing economic damages to equipment manufacturers, the Director, Hand Held Product, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Emmanouil Revmatas who spoke to the Nigerian IT Journalists at the just concluded Samsung Forum held in Malaga, Spain assured that they were working with government to clean the market with substandard mobile phones which cut across all brands of phone.
Even though he did not give precise figure on the Nigerian market, he said that the impact of grey market is significant in Nigeria, adding that relevant authorities must join hands to address the ugly trend.
At the forum that showed latest Samsung products available in the global IT market, he said that, “We will continue to educate the consumers on original Samsung phones. We have engaged the government. We are working with the Nigerian Communications Commission. Our products are type-approved. Samsung is very active in Nigeria. We are active in Corporate Social Responsibility. Samsung products have continued to do well in Nigeria and other markets around the world. Our products have continued to be the toast of consumers”
At the 5th Samsung African forum that attracted Samsung’s African vendors including Nigeria, he said that Samsung has been very active in Nigeria, creating awareness and educating the consumers on how they can get original products.
“We have engaged the ministry of Communications Technology, the NCC and we will deepen partnership with them to clean the market. The most important thing is that we have been informing our customers on how to identify original products. This we do through education and awareness. We do this through consumer forums to protect the brand. Education and government effort are more needed to stem the tide” he said.
Speaking to one of the Samsung’s vendors at the forum that was well attended , the Chief Executive Officer of Dallas Communications Nigeria, Emeka Uyaelumuo, admitted that fake phones are not limited to only Nigeria market.
While calling on the relevant authorities to join hands in the clean up exercise, he advised end users to always buy phones from authorized Samsung dealers in the Nigerian IT market which he said is the largest in Africa.
“Computer Village is a big market. It has given jobs to millions of Nigerian. Many authorized dealers are in Computer Village where consumers can buy good phones. Dallas Communication has maintained good name in original phones.
Before now, the Nigerian regulatory , the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, in partnership with the Nigerian Customs Service and Phone Dealers Association of Nigeria had last year in Lagos organized a one day forum to sensitize end users again on the dangers of buying fake phones coming through grey market.
Veteran film maker, Tunde Kelani, threatens not to release movies in Nigeria again as pirates hijack his new film, Maami, AKEEM LASISI reports At a time celebrated film maker Tunde Kelani should be very happy and laughing all the way to the bank, he is currently a sad man. The usually optimistic producer is indeed downcast and disillusioned. Reason: Maami, a film he released on DVD on Monday, has been massively pirated. “This may be the last time I will release a film in Nigeria,” TK said on the phone in an emotional voice on Thursday. “Our industry is completely gone. I released Maami on Monday. Barely 24 hours after, pirates are using wheelbarrows to sell it in Lagos. They have pirated the film such that it has flooded every nook and cranny of Nigeria. Interestingly, everyone quotes this miracle data about the development of Nollywood and its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product. What a lie! I can’t go on like this. This may be the last time I will release any film, at least here in Nigeria.” Years after Kelani finished work on the film that stars Funke Akindele and Olumide Bakare he could not release another one. While he screened it in different parts of the country and beyond, his experience with pirates on his earlier movies that include Arugba and Campus Queen did not encourage him to push Maami out immediately. Now that he has eventually released it, the goons have yet ambushed him. Also in a statement released by Kelani’s Mainframe Production on Thursday, he said he was called by fans to draw his attention to the activities of the pirates who recreated the imprints and the jackets of the film, dubbed on cheap DVD for sales. The original copy of Maami, marketed by Ajimson Integrated Services Limited, as mastered on DVD , is contained in a jewel box and is laminated. Nigerian film industry, he feared, would continue to experience the menace of pirates and investors would suffer due to lack of infrastructure, especially when physical distribution channels are infested by pirates whose dangerous activities are unchecked. “In the last 10 years, I have tried everything to survive the attacks. I have relied on donors and well- wishers to continue to make films but each time I loose all the investments, therefore I cannot continue to live the rest of my life in this dangerous place called Nigeria.” So disillusioned is Kelani that he fears for young Nigerians wanting to go into film business. He explained, “I pity young Nigerians aspiring to become filmmakers and my advice to them is to seek other media if they have the talent or they can go to agriculture because Nigeria one day will need to feed itself. Nigeria that Fela Anikulapo called BBC, the Big Blind Country is finally here.” Kelani’s story is not different from what many of his colleagues have experienced. Apart from distribution issues, pirates feast on films and musical works with impunity. The Nigerian Copyright Commission says it is doing its best but this is far from being enough to bring sanity to the sector. So bad has the situation become that many actors, producers and directors are facing hard times, not minding the fame and usual physical glitz they radiate.
…as active phone subscriptions hit 127 million
Telecoms subscribers in Nigeria currently spend an average of N447.8bn monthly on recharge and top-up cards .The development is coming even as the active telephone subscriptions in the country hit a record 127 million, according to the latest industry data released by the Nigerian Communications Commission.
The centrality of telephone services to individuals’ and businesses’ daily activities is underscored when the current spending on telephone services is compared with other priority expenditure of Nigerians.
According to findings by a Nigerian commercial law firm, Aluko & Oyebode, while Nigerians spend an average of N447.8bn on recharge cards monthly, their current monthly spending on house rent is estimated at N149.1bn; petrol, N128bn and for motor vehicle services, N14bn.
National Mirror also gathered that expenditures on soap and washing powder, kerosene, electricity including pre-paid vouchers, currently stand at N149.4bn, N144.8bn and N91.8bn respectively while repairs and maintenance activities cost Nigerians N8.7bn.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum organised by the NCC for lawmakers in Lagos, Managing Partner, Aluko & Oyebode, Mr. Gbenga Oyebode, who reeled out the Nigerians’ spending statistics, said telecoms services had become very central to any economy.
“Telecoms services have become very central to our daily lives, whether to individuals, businesses or government. Over the years, the importance attached to telecoms services is being underscored by the increasing expenditures on telecoms services,” he said.
Oyebode said the increasing expenditure on telecoms services was informed by the telecoms sector “potential in the 21st century, where it is creating new information highways; changing the business/service delivery landscape; promoting efficiency; providing opportunity/capacity building and economic growth|”.
According to Oyebode, Information and Communication Technology in general has remained a catalyst for growth in Nigeria. “ICT has recorded significant impact in Nigeria in areas such as e-commerce, financial services, e-governance, e-learning.
However, other untapped areas include e-agriculture and ehealth,” he added. Oyebode noted that broadband was the next frontier for growing the Nigeria’s economy, lamenting that broadband penetration was currently estimated at six per cent in Nigeria.
He, however, stressed that only five per cent of the bandwidth capacity available on overseas cables was currently being used, leaving 95 per cent of the capacity redundant.
“Notwithstanding all of the potential of ICT to Gross Domestic Product, Nigeria still lags behind due to insufficient development of necessary laws to protect ICT infrastructures,” he said. Meanwhile, the NCC has said that as at December 31, 2013, the number of active telephone subscriptions had reached a whopping 127 million.
The latest subscriber statistics showed that the country connected 169 million telephone lines, covering the Global System for Mobile Communications, Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA, and the fixed wired/ wireless lines operators of which 127 million were currently active.
However, in the Mobile Number Porting scheme launched on April 22, 2013 by NCC, about 45,101 subscribers exchanged mobile operators in the last quarter of 2013.
Further breakdown of the statistics revealed that GSM operators, including MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat, connected 159 million lines with 124 million active. The CDMA operators, whose fortunes have plummeted in the last five years, sustained a downward trend with a connection of 7.6 million lines, while only 2.4 million lines remained active.
The fixed wired/wireless operators connected 2.3 million lines with only 360,537 lines left active. Also, Nigeria recorded a growth in its teledensity, from 81.7 per cent in January 2013 to 91.1 per cent by the end of the year under review.
Telephone density or teledensity is the number of telephone connections for every hundred individuals living within an area. It varies widely across nations and also between urban and rural areas within a country.
The statistics also showed that telecommunications operators’ total installed capacity, which was 226.6 million by January 2013 went up to about 248.4 million by the end of the year.
It could also be deduced from the statistics that MTN Nigeria, which recently reported revenues of N794bn in 2013 and paid N1.23trn to government as taxes in the last 13 years, remained the largest mobile operator in the country, with over 56 million subscribers and 45 per cent market share.
Globacom, owned by oil magnate, Otunba Mike Adenuga, followed with 21 per cent market share and over 25 million subscription; Airtel, with 24.8 million subscription controls 20 per cent of the market. Etisalat, after five years of operations in the country, has about 18 million subscribers and 14 per cent market share.
In addition, it was gathered that for Mobile Number Portability statistics, in October, 8,105 subscribers ported out; 7,830 in November and 5,850 in December. In terms of porting in, 8,112, 8,242 and 6,962 subscribers ported into the networks in October, November and December respectively of the period under review.
The CDMA operators, including Visafone; Multi- Links; Starcomms and the dormant Zoom Mobile, continue to record decline in telephone subscriptions. According to the NCC data, the CDMA operators, which started the year with about 14 million subscriptions, lost about 6.35 million connected lines to end the year with 7.6 million. However, of the figures, only 2.8 million were active in January, 2013 and by December, 2013, it fell to 2.4 million. Visafone controls more than 65 per cent of the total CDMA subscriptions in the country.
The Lubricant Producers Association of Nigeria recently tabled a complaint before the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, following the influx of fake lubricants into the Nigerian market. The association also asked the Federal Government through its agencies to find a solution to the problem considering the level of revenue loss they were recording, as the adulterators controlled a portion of the market.
Apart from the uncontrolled importation of the adulterated lubricants, it has been established that locally, some dubious people refill lubricant containers with lubricant-substances, and subsequently sell the same to unsuspecting citizens for almost the same price as the original product. This development, which has persisted for a long while now, had been described as the bane of the industry, as many of the local manufacturers are now almost out of the market.
The Executive Secretary, LUPAN, Mr. Emeka Obidike, had said most of the products in question were produced with recycled oils, with little or no additives. LUPAN had warned that granting lubricants import licences to people without knowledge of the industry could result in closure of legitimate existing plants, unemployment and economic losses to the nation.
Currently in Nigeria, there are two regulatory agencies for lubricants— the Department of Petroleum Resources, and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria. While DPR licenses firms to produce any petroleum product, SON monitors quality of products to ensure standardisation. The DPR had consented to initiating the requisite mechanisms to fight substandard lubes in the country. The agency had prohibited the sale of lubricants or materials claimed to be lubricants in unbranded, unlabeled packs or plastic bottles in open market areas or roadside stands. It also said it was working to inform stakeholders of the dangers of patronising unlicensed retailers, and creating an awareness campaign to dissuade the public from using unbranded lubricants.
In line with this, the Federal Government had also said it was stepping up supervision of base oil importation in the attempt to ensure base oils go only to licensed lube blenders, rather than ending up in the hands of vendors who pass the raw product off as finished lubricants. Government, through its agencies, is also making effort to increase the frequency of quality assurance visits to blending plants, with a move to deploy motorised testing laboratories in every part of the country to check adulterated lubricants. To check this trend, some stakeholders in the industry have reiterated the need for higher tariff on imported lubricants in order to protect local producers and help them to remain competitive. Low tariff on raw materials would also lift the local industry.
Adulterated lubricants, according to LUPAN, could cause irreparable damage to engines, through wearing and knocking. It is therefore estimated that Nigeria’s economy loses about N250bn annually to adulterated lubricants processed and sold at roadsides.
LUPAN had expressed worries that the investments of its members running into billions of naira would crumble if the anomaly was not addressed. The DPR said it was collaborating with SON and LUPAN in the campaign against the distribution and retailing of adulterated lubricants.The Director General of SON, Mr. Joseph Odumodu, had stressed that there was a multiplicity of problems within the lubricants market.
He had said that, “One of the challenges is the fact that people are bringing in processed lubricants. They were lubricants used before and cleaned up. The fact is that they do not have the same ability to withstand the pressure from genuine ones.
“One major challenge is how we can stop the roadside people from selling base oil as lubricants. Most of these oils are base oil and some of them unprocessed. Unfortunately, an average Nigerian does not know the difference. Once they see what they call engine oil or lubricant, they use them.”
In a bid to ameliorate the situation, the DPR said it remained committed to mobilising the rest of the industry to check the excesses of adulterators, while adding that it had strengthened its licensing and permits processes by making sure that only genuine firms are allowed to import and blend lubricants.
Legitimate companies in the business, it was learnt, will re-package their products to protect them from adulteration. Firms like Conoil, Oando, among others, had joined the campaign. Recently, Oando Marketing Plc called on the Federal Government to curb the influx of sub-standard lubricants into the Nigerian market. The firm had said that the influx of fake and substandard foreign lubricants into Nigeria was not good for the industry.
Inasmuch as stakeholders in the industry want a clampdown on fake dealers in lubricant products, they also believe that strict adherence to provisions of the Local Content Act, as far as the business is concerned, will strengthen local players, drive creativity, and check ethical abuse.
With decades of experience in the world of business, Mr. Biodun Marquis, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Pragmatic Technologies, in this interview, asserts that multilevel marketing’s (MLM) ability to alleviate poverty actually depends heavily on the potency and sustainability of the product distributed. These products, he says, should be greatly considered by anyone before subscribing to any MLM business opportunity.Reaching end-users at no costMultilevel marketing is actually used by companies to increase their sales channels by letting others work for them instead of them having to worry too much about getting to the end-users. It’s simply looking for resellers rather than the traditional employment of sales persons.SustainabilityWhile most people believe such business opportunities can serve as a major source of income, a major factor that should be considered before thinking that way is the product being sold by the company. Is this product in demand? Is it a fad? If a product is a fad, people will only make noise about it for a few years and then it dies off. But if it’s not, then that makes the business sustainable as all parties involved will keep making good money from it.Online selling vs MLMHowever, online selling remains the easiest way of getting to many buyers at once. Although, its greatest disadvantage is that you cannot ‘feel’ the product. For someone like me, when I want to buy a product, I like to feel the texture and every other thing about it, as well as try to know if it suits me.Factors to consider before joining a MLM companyBefore subscribing to any MLM company, you must first analyse the product marketed. Is the product essential? Most products distributed via multilevel marketing like a few years ago are no longer selling. In fact, I hardly even hear about them today. Such products cannot constitute a sustainable business for any man or woman who perhaps thinks MLM can be his sole source of come.MLM and poverty alleviationMLM’s capacity to end poverty 50-50; it may either hold true or fail. But what else do you expect a manufacturer who wishes to push his product into the market to tell anyone who can help market it? But the truth is, whether engaging in such business opportunity will take a reseller or distributor out of poverty is a function of the product’s potency. If the product is of good quality and people are buying it without being pressured to do so, then yes, it will take the recruited downlines out of poverty. But if the product is not in demand, the recruited downline is going to find it very frustrating, energy-sapping and money-consuming.- By Biodun Marquis
The World Bank has stated that Nigeria has one of the highest inflation rates, which pushed an estimated four million people into poverty between January and May 2023. This was disclosed during the launch of the June 2023 edition of the Nigeria Development Update on Tuesday in Abuja.
The Washington-based lender also said about 7.1 million poor Nigerians would become poor if the Federal Government failed to compensate or provide palliatives for them, following the removal of fuel subsidy. According to World Bank data, 89.8 million Nigerian were poor as of the beginning of this year. The lender noted that additional four million Nigerians became poor between January and May this year, raising the figure to 93.8million.
Latest projection means the number of poor Nigerians will rise to 100.9 million if the government fails to compensate vulnerable citizens for fuel subsidy removal.
The World Bank Nigeria Development Update report noted that Nigeria’s inflation has risen to a 17-year high, and has been driven by a number of factors, such as CBN funding of budget deficit, previous multiple exchange rates, devaluation, and trade restrictions.
The report read, in part, “Consumer price inflation has surged and is currently one of the highest globally, which is related to Nigeria’s fiscal imbalance and points to the urgency of reform efforts. Inflation in Nigeria has been high for many years due to structural factors, but it escalated in 2022, to the point where consumer prices increased at their fastest pace for 17 years.
“The consumer price index further accelerated in 2023 through May, up to 22.4 percent y-o-y. High inflation has been driven by the monetization of the fiscal deficit by the CBN, multiple exchange rates and exchange rate depreciation in the parallel market, and intensified trade restrictions, exacerbated by the spike in global food and energy prices.
“The CBN implemented measures to control rising inflation, including raising the monetary policy rate by 700 basis points, but these proved ineffective and monetary policy remained loose overall in the first half of the year. The loss of purchasing power from high inflation has increased poverty in the short-term, pushing an estimated 4 million Nigerians into poverty between January and May 2023.”
The National Bureau of Statistics recently disclosed that inflation in the country rose to 22.41 per cent in May, which is the highest in about 19 years. Also, the NBS, in its National Multidimensional Poverty Index report, disclosed that 133 million Nigerians are multi-dimensionally poor. The NBS said 63 per cent of Nigerians were poor due to a lack of access to health, education, living standards, employment, and security.
The Multidimensional Poverty Index offered a multivariate form of poverty assessment, identifying deprivations across health, education, living standards, work, and shocks.
In its new report, the Washington-based bank noted that the loss of purchasing power increased the poverty headcount rate by an estimated 2 percentage points or 4 million people. This may mean that the total number of poor people in the country has risen to 137 million this year.
The World Bank added that the number of poor people in rural areas increased by an estimated 4 percent, while in urban settings, there was an estimated increase of 11 per cent.
The Brenton Woods institution further noted that with the removal of fuel subsidy, about 7.1 million people are at risk of becoming poor if no form of compensation is provided by the government.
The report read, “In the immediate term, the removal of the petrol subsidy has caused an increase in prices, adversely affect ting poor and economically insecure Nigerian households. Petrol prices appear to have almost tripled following the subsidy removal.
“The poor and economically insecure households, who directly purchase and use petrol as well as those that indirectly consume petrol, are adversely affected by the price increase. Among the poor and economically insecure, 38 percent own a motorcycle and 23 percent own a generator that depends on petrol. Many more use petrol dependent transportation.
“The poor and economically insecure households will face an equivalent income loss of N5,700 per month, and without compensation, an additional 7.1 million people will be pushed into poverty.
The World Bank warned that many newly poor and economically insecure households will likely resort to consequential coping mechanisms, such as “not sending children to school, or not going to the health facilities to seek preventative healthcare or cutting back on nutritious dietary choices.”
The bank stressed the need for adequate compensation, noting that compensating transfers will be essential in helping to shield Nigerian households from the initial price impacts of the subsidy reform.
The lending institution further applauded the removal of the subsidy and FX management reforms, which are crucial measures to begin to rebuild fiscal space and restore macroeconomic stability.
KPMG has stated that the Nigerian unemployment rate had increased to 37.7per cent in 2022 and will further rise to 40.6per cent, due to the continuing inflow of job seekers into the job market.
The multinational consulting firm, in a newly released report tagged ‘KPMG Global Economy Outlook report, H1 2023,’ said unemployment will continue to be a challenge due to the slower-than-required economic growth and the inability of the economy to absorb the 4-5 million new entrants into the Nigerian job market every year.
“Unemployment is expected to continue to be a major challenge in 2023 due to the limited investment by the private sector, low industrialisation and slower than required economic growth and consequently the inability of the economy to absorb the 4-5 million new entrants into the Nigerian job market every year. Although the National Bureau of Statistics recorded an increase in the national unemployment rate from 23.1per cent in 2018 to 33.3per cent in 2020. We estimate that this rate has increased to 37.7per cent in 2022 and will rise further to 40.6 per cent in 2023.”
The report also said that in 2024, the unemployment rate will grow to 43 per cent while inflation will accelerate to 20.3 per cent in 2023 and 20.0 per cent in 2024.
The KPMG further noted that the incoming administration will face a deeply rooted challenging environment, characterised by fragile and slow economic growth and challenges in the foreign exchange market.
“Additionally, government revenue remains inadequate to support much-needed expenditure, leading to a high debt stock and high debt service payments. The Nigerian economy ended the past year with a GDP growth rate of 3.52 per cent in Q4 2022, compared with 2.25 per cent in Q3 2022, with growth averaging 3.10 per cent over 2022,” it explained.
The firm projected recovery in telecommunications, and trade services, as well as an expected recovery in the oil sector, on account of measures being taken to tackle security issues, to drive the forecast of three per cent growth in 2023.
“Growth in 2022 was driven by the non-oil sector, as continuous recovery in household consumption boosted spending, particularly in the finance and insurance services, telecommunications, and transportation and storage services.
“While the non-oil sector grew by 4.84 per cent, the oil sector contracted by 19.22 per cent, largely attributed to worsening oil theft, pipeline vandalisation, underinvestment, and other operational challenges inhibiting oil production. Accordingly, oil output (including condensates) declined from 2.07 million barrels per day in Q1 2020 to 1.34 million by Q4 2022.”
It further said that the spillover from an expected slowdown in the global economy in 2023 and its trade and financial flows implications would drag on Gross Domestic Product.
The report claimed that growth will be negatively affected by the naira redesign policy introduced in Q4 2022 and Q1 2023. According to KPMG, it has implications on key non-oil sectors like manufacturing, trade, accommodation and food services, transportation and other services, further slowing down overall GDP growth in 2023.
“Headline annual inflation maintained its upward trend throughout 2022, reaching its highest levels in almost two decades and closing the year at 21.34 per cent, with food inflation and core inflation growing by 23.75 per cent and 18.49 per cent, respectively. This was driven by persistent structural issues, which impacted domestic food production and transportation such as insecurity, floods in key agricultural producing areas and rising international food and energy prices following the Russia-Ukraine conflict and other policy-related bottlenecks, which continue to impact the cost of doing business.”
It also noted that the expected fuel subsidy removal and the 2023 fiscal bill would also mount pressure on domestic prices in 2023.
“To combat rising inflation, the Nigerian Central Bank raised the monetary policy rate by a cumulative 500 basis points in 2022, to 17.5 per cent, and increased the cash reserve ratio from 27.5 per cent to 32.5 per cent. However, despite these aggressive rate hikes, inflation has remained stubbornly high and is predicted to remain above 20 per cent in 2023, due to the persistence of the structural and policy issues.”
KPMG further said that growth was set to be driven by the continuous recovery in household consumption, sustained performance of the non-oil sector and a recovery in oil production.
“Inflation to remain elevated, driven partly by persistent food supply shocks, foreign exchange illiquidity, and insecurity. We expect Nigeria’s GDP to continue to grow at a relatively slow pace of three per cent in 2023, due to the slowdown in economic activity that typically characterizes periods of political transition in Nigeria.”
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Amendments & Waiver: The T & C are incorporated as part of your Associates Application and constitutes the entire agreement between you and PutPocketi® with regard to your business relationship and supersede any prior agreements, representations and understandings between you and any other Associate, whether they are in writing or verbal. PutPocketi® may amend the T & C, product prices, product specifications and availability online from time to time as it sees fit. It may also be necessary to amend the Global Loyalty Program (G.L.P) from time to time to ensure global compliance and viability. Any such amendments will be deemed as part of this agreement. PutPocketi® will endeavor to notify Associates of any amendments by posting notices in your private Associates site. If an executive of PutPocketi®, who is authorized to bind PutPocketi® to contracts or agreements, specifies in writing an amendment or waiver to any of these provisions, then that shall constitute a legally binding provision. NB: Provisions of the G.L.P. and FAQ’s constitute binding aspects of the T & C and visa versa.
Associate: To become an Associate, you need to be introduced by an existing Associate and accepted byPutPocketi® as an Associate. PutPocketi® may refuse to accept any Associate Application, at its sole discretion.
Associate Application: During the course of filling in your on-line Associate Application to join PutPocketi®Solutions, you confirm your appreciation and agreement of the T & C. By accepting this agreement, you accept that you will abide by any laws and regulations that are relevant to your PutPocketi® account. You accept that you have not relied on any information or promise that is not contained in the T & C. Alleged misrepresentations by sponsor Associates may be investigated by PutPocketi® Solutions, and the company reserves the right to take action against breaches. As an Associate you agree that you are an independent Member and are not an agent, employee, franchisee, partner, joint venturer or a legal representative of PutPocketi® Solutions. Any reference that you as an Associate make about yourself must clearly depict your independent Associate status. i.e: As an Associate, you may not give yourself titles which may indicate that you hold any official role within Putpocket International Limited. If as an Associate, you have a phone listing, the phone may not be listed under the PutPocketi® Solutions name, nor may you answer the phone using the PutPocketi® Solutions name.
Associate Confidentiality: Team reports and other information are provided by PutPocketi® to you for your individual use and are not to be utilized for any other purpose. All information contained in the Team reports is strictly proprietary and confidential. As an Associate, you agree that it will be provided as confidential information from PutPocketi® Solutions and you will not disclose such confidential information to any third party.
Associate Cross-Introductions/Placements: As an Associate, you shall not introduce other opportunities or products to any Associates other than those whom you have personally introduced into PutPocketi® Solutions. It is unethical and against company policy to solicit Associates for another purpose. Associates found violating this policy may be terminated. At any PutPocketi® function, official or otherwise, you may not share information about other opportunities or products, even with your personally introduced Associates or with guests. Such activities will result in termination.
Customers: Many Associates started as a Customer simply because all they wanted to do was take advantage of the services. Some may remain Customers, whilst others progress to Bronze Associate and beyond.
Associate Income Tax: As an Associate, you are completely responsible for paying local, state, and national taxes on any income you earn from your PutPocketi® business. Income earned may constitute part of your tax assessable income, so therefore you should discuss with your Tax Consultant any possible tax deductions of expenses related to the earning of your PutPocketi® income.
Associates - Global Loyalty Program (G.L.P.): As an Associate (Diamond, Gold, Silver, Bronze), you have the option to participate in the G.L.P. This is the Rewards program to compensate Associates for the purchase, authentication and advertisement of PutPocketi® branded or offered products. Rewards are paid to you as an Associate in accordance with the G.L.P. As an Associate, you acknowledge that you understand the G.L.P and that you will be entitled to receive Rewards on the basis ONLY of personal product Loyalty code and team members authentication(s). You agree to present the PutPocketi® G.L.P factually and honestly as it is displayed on the PutPocketi® Solutions Website.
Associate Introduction Conflicts: Before applying to become an Associate, you will need to choose an Introducer/Sponsor. If as an Associate (Gold, Silver, Bronze), you submit more than one Application, listing a different Introducer/Sponsor on each, PutPocketi® recognises the first Application received. People are not allowed to have multiple sites in different Teams in PutPocketi®, this is regarded as a breach to Terms and Conditions. Requests to change Introducers/sponsor/placements cannot be considered. Teams are built on mutual trust and solid relationships between the company and its Associates. Introduction/placement changes may damage these relationships and affect the income of many people.
Associate Legal Age, Obligations and Indemnities of the G.B.P: As an Associate, you must be at least 18 years of age at the time of joining. As an Associate you agree that you have no authority to bind PutPocketi® Solutions to any obligation other than the obligations as set out in the T & C. As an Associate you will indemnify and hold PutPocketi® Solutions completely harmless in relation to any claims made by any third party, whether they arise out of involvement in the G.L.P or any breach of any parts of the T & C. As an Associate, you indemnify and agree to hold PutPocket International Limited or the parent company, including but not limited to, the CEO, the Board, Executives, Shareholders, Staff, Associates, Subsidiaries, Agencies; harmless from all claims, costs, damages, expenses, liabilities, losses and legal fees, resulting from or arising out of or in any way connected with any Associate’s PutPocketi® Web-Sites and any mistakes or alterations in relation to information provided toPutPocketi® Solutions via the Web-Sites. Information provided by you to PutPocketi®, including your name, address, phone numbers & email addresses remain the property of PutPocketi®. You agree to the usage of this data, without any extra compensation in any form.
Associate Placements: A Placement is earned by you if you have sufficient personal volume and elect to participate in the G.L.P. You are afforded the status of Associate. As an Associate (Diamond,Gold, Silver, Bronze), you may only acquire between one, three (3) or more Reward Centres total in the G.L.P, provided you have sufficient Loyalty points and wish to work the G.L.P. PutPocketi® Solutions has the right to terminate participation in the G.L.P of any Associate who acquire or operate any other Placements in a team other than their own down-line team. This is considered a serious offence against all known principles of the industry and specifically against the T & C of PutPocketi® Solutions. When you introduce your first new Associate into PutPocketi®, this Associate needs to be placed in one of either of your two Legs (teams). The next Associate who you sponsor will be positioned in your other Leg (team). As per your Personal Placement, preferences that you confirm in your Associates Virtual office of your Web-Site, you may now place new Associates below other Associates in one of your two Legs (teams).
Associate Qualification for Residual Income Cash Rewards: To qualify for Cash Rewards as an Associate, you must have as a sponsor Associate (Diamond, Gold, Silver, Bronze), personally generated a minimum of 8000 Loyalty Points in the G.L.P provided that you have created a minimum of 4000 Loyalty Points in both Legs (teams), you then qualify for future Rewards, when earned. Rewards Points add up to assist you in earning Step Bonus(es). When you have 24000 Loyalty Points in total or it's multiples, which must be balanced in these configurations only: 9000:15000, or 15000:9000, or 12000:12000, you’re then able to earn Step Bonus Commission. Step bonus points naturally accrue between Activity and Qualification, however no Rewards can be paid unless all requirements are fulfilled.
Bonus Activity/Validity:
For Associate members or business builders to retain validity, Associate Member must continue to generate “Brand Loyalty Point Validity” (BLPV) on a specific Product as defined by the system, to qualify for Loyalty Points accrual from team members business activities for same product brand.
Associate Refund Policy: There is no refund of any kind for any of the Associate members. Incases where there are issues with product purchased, PutPocketi® will liaise with service provider and relevant regulatory agencies to remedy proven, observed defects.
Associate Sale or Transfer of Businesses: As an Associate (Diamond, Gold, Silver, Bronze), you have the right to sell your business after Application to and Approval by PutPocketi®. This Approval shall not be unreasonably withheld. The company reserves the right of approval for your rejoining.
Associate Spouses: As an Associate (Diamond, Gold, Silver, Bronze), you may desire to have your spouse/defacto/family members living in same household involved in the business either as separate Customers or as Associates.
Associate Succession: In the event of the death or incapacity of an Associate, PutPocketi® Solutions requires a copy of the death certificate/a registered medical physician’s statement. In this event, the Associates income rights as a business site owner may pass to their successors. The successors must submit a written Application including death certificate/registered medical physician's statement, for consideration by PutPocketi® Solutions.This Approval shall not be unreasonably withheld. If approved, the successors agree to assume the responsibilities of the Associate.
Sponsor(s): A sponsor is one who registers a new Associate with PutPocketi® and has the responsibility of assigning the placement of the new Associate. PutPocketi® grants Associates a non-exclusive right to introduce new Associates into PutPocketi®. As a sponsor, you are expected to coach, nurture and communicate with the newly registered Associates that form your team.
Associate Termination: PutPocketi® reserves the right to terminate any Associate at any time if that Associate is assessed by PutPocketi® as acting in a manner that is not within the T & C, including the provisions of applicable laws and standards of fair dealing. PutPocketi® shall effect termination, at its sole discretion. In the event that you are terminated, you agree to immediately cease representing PutPocketi®. Any present or future Rewards from your authentication activities as an Associate or the activities of your existing team, as of the date of the breaches, will be forfeited.
Associate Virtual Office Accounts: Every registered member is entitled to a hosted (free) Virtual Office Account as part of your membership package. This will be placed in one of your sponsor teams. You may now order products without Account Fees. You may also elect to participate in the G.L.P. PutPocketi® has the right to terminate participation in the G.L.P of any Associate who acquire or operate any other Virtual Office Accounts in a team other than their own down-line team. These actions are considered serious offences against all known principles of the industry and specifically against the T & C of PutPocketi® Solution. When you introduce your first new Associate into PutPocketi®, this Associate needs to be placed in one of either of your two teams. The next Associate who you sponsor will be positioned in your other team. As per your Personal Placement Preferences that you confirm in your Associates virtual office of your Web-Site, you may now place new Associates below other Associates in one of your two teams.
Company Registration Details: PutPocket International Limited is a subsidiary of Drev Technology Liimited, a company registered under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Corporate Home Office: PutPocket International Limited has her operating offices in Abuja/Lagos/Warri - Nigeria.
Customer Accounts: If you elect to become a Customer, you will receive a special Customer Account accessible via your sponsor personal website. You are provided with username, password, login details and links to a virtual office to place orders, authenticate products and view usage history etc. Customers may only hold one account.
Disclaimers: PutPocket International Limited makes no warranties to you that:
As an Associate, you will earn any money.
Information obtained from sources other than PutPocketi® Solutions will be accurate or reliable.
The PutPocketi® Solutions Website or server is free of viruses or other harmful factors.
Errors or omissions contained on the PutPocketi® Website shall be corrected.
As an Associate or customer, you will have 24hour/7day access to a personal Website.
As an Associate or customer, you will have 24hour/7day access to the PutPocketi® Website.
Unauthorized access/alteration to PutPocketi® data will not occur.
Jurisdictional Law: These Terms & Conditions (referred to as T & C) shall be interpreted and enforced in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. By joining PutPocketi®, you agree that jurisdiction shall lay with the place of acceptance of the T & C, which is the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Partial Validity: Should any portion of these T & C or any other instruments referred to herein or issued byPutPocketi® Solutions be declared invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the balance of such rules or instruments shall remain in full force and effect.
Trademarks, Patent, Trade Names, Logos, Slogans, and Advertising: The names of PutPocketi® Solutions and any other names that may be adopted by PutPocketi®(such as trade names, trademarks, logos and slogans), are proprietary and are of great value. Associates must seek and receive written permission from PutPocket International Limited to produce, use, distribute or advertise products using the PutPocketi® logos or trademarks. Doing so without written approval is subject to termination. All approved advertising must use the words “Independent Associate” clearly showing you are not representing the company in an official capacity, but are operating as an Independent Associate. You are free to use blind ads where there is no reference made toPutPocketi® name, logos or trademarks, address, telephone number or products. An Associate may not produce, use, distribute or advertise product materials that are deceptively similar in nature to those provided by PutPocketi® Solutions for its Associates. To prevent inadvertent errors or illegal claims, an Associate must use the terminology contained in the most current PutPocketi® marketing materials. Associates may not engage in spamming or other unsolicited direct marketing activities for the purpose of promoting their participation in PutPocketi® Solutions and the G.B.P.
Services Terms and Conditions:
The Terms and conditions outlined below cover the Use, Access, Control and Guarantees of services:
Quality of Service: PutPocketi® Solutions is ONLY able to guarantee product quality through the service(s) of our strategic partners (Government Regulator Agencies).
Dispute Resolution: Associates are encouraged to work within the guidelines of the company’s Terms and Conditions. When an Associate has a discrepancy or grievance with PutPocketi® Solutions:
The Associate must first lodge their complaint to PutPocketi® via our online ticketing system. Once the Associate receives their response, and if they are not satisfied with the outcome, they may further escalate the ticket to a higher level of support. If by second level support, you are still not satisfied with the result/outcome, you may lodge your complaint for review by company management or senior company operators for a final decision. Once a final decision has been made, it is final, only management or board members are able to have the decision reversed, and that can only be done under reviewed circumstances.
In many countries, there are Government run regulatory Authorities, these Authorities may be of an ombudsman or Consumer relations, as standard procedures they will request that you first follow your complaint with the company according to the standard policies and procedures, when you signed up for services withPutPocketi® Solutions.
Rates/Prices:
Rates and prices are subject to alteration without notice however Associates/Customers will be informed of such alterations by way of announcements. Rates are expressed in NGN with possibility for other currencies in the nearest future and will also be subject to review every 14 working days. It is the End-Users responsibilities to check the rates/prices prior to any transaction.
Service usage: Usage of the PutPocketi® service is provided to you on a privilege basis, and thereforePutPocketi® is able to suspend the services if any of the following breaches are observed, discovered, found or reported to/by PutPocketi®:
The services are used to harass, threaten or intimidate a person or entity.
The cause of any material breach of the governing laws of the country you are residing in, or the country you are calling.
Using of the service to the disadvantage of PutPocketi® Solutions or other End-Users.
Using another End-Users account without authorization, by way of obtaining, inducing, stealing or purchasing the access codes from a person or entity, without the consent of the account holder.
End-Users found taking advantage of vulnerabilities in the system, and who do not report same toPutPocketi®, are liable for damages caused and may face suspension of Membership.
Replication of the service whilst actively participating in the PutPocketi® business without prior consent or authorization from PutPocketi® Solutions. Participate in a competing organizations network, utilizingPutPocketi® services.
Support Services: PutPocketi® Solutions provides official support to its Associates via an online support mechanism, however PutPocketi® reserves the right to modify this process without notice and is able to adjust, modify, amend or create new processes without detriment to the End-User.
PutPocketi® Solutions does not recognize any other support channel as an official support channel unless that representing agent, site or entity has express written authorization stating that they are a company fully endorsed by PutPocketi® Solutions as an official support site or agent.
All End-User support should be made through the End-Users Virtual office/Associates area that is provided to them by PutPocketi® Solutions. This support is provided to you in the form of a Ticketing support system. This ticketing support system tracks and builds a history on the End-user to allow us to better service you through better reporting.
From time to time, PutPocketi® will provide certain Global Leaders with additional incentives so as to assist them in the operations of their business and provide them with access to company personnel to assist in the supply of information to their Teams.
Global Leaders are those who have been endorsed by the Company, or have been nominated by the Global Business Development Council.
Non Performance: The Company, at its discretion shall not be Liable to pay bonuses to any member as a result of Non Performance. “Non Performance” in this case, is the term referred to business builders, who have introduced other members and have or are receiving bonuses for such introductions, and have failed to support such members. The term “Fail to Support” is deemed to have occurred with such member or business builder, fails to communicate with a team member after that team member makes a reasonable request for such assistance. It also refers to noncompliance with company requests to support certain members within a period of one week, unless an extension to do so is requested in writing. The term “Team Member” refers to any person who has the ability to create bonuses for that particular member, who is Non Performing.
PutPocketi® Solutions will from time to time provide online live interactive support. This support will be provided to Associates free of charge during business hours, in designated States/countries.
PutPocketi® Solutions operates as an Online Business Facilitator/Supplier and therefore conducts majorly businesses via its online portal and through synergy with some of our strategic partners . However from time-to-time PutPocketi® Solutions may open up more portals of communications to satisfy the increasing demand on Person-to-Person Communications.
PutPocketi® Solutions at no stage warrants any form of support that is not official or within company guidelines, policies and procedures.
Use of putpocketi.com website
You agree, undertake and confirm that your use of Putpocketi® shall be strictly governed by the following binding principles: You shall not host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, update or share any information that: (a) belongs to another person and to which You does not have any right to. (b) is grossly harmful, harassing, blasphemous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, libellous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically objectionable, disparaging, relating or encouraging money laundering or gambling, or otherwise unlawful in any manner whatever; or unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing including but not limited to "indecent representation of women" or misleading in any way. (c) is patently offensive to the online community, such as sexually explicit content, or content that promotes obscenity, pedophilia, racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual; (d) harasses or advocates harassment of another person; (e) involves the transmission of "junk mail," "chain letters," or unsolicited mass mailing or "spamming"; (f) promotes illegal activities or conduct that is abusive, threatening, obscene, defamatory or libelous; (g) infringes upon or violates any third party's rights [(including, but not limited to, intellectual property rights, rights of privacy (including without limitation unauthorized disclosure of a person's name, email address, physical address or phone number) or rights of publicity]; (h) promotes an illegal or unauthorized copy of another person's copyrighted work (see "Copyright complaint" below for instructions on how to lodge a complaint about uploaded copyrighted material), such as providing pirated computer programs or links to them, providing information to circumvent manufacture-installed copy-protect devices, or providing pirated music or links to pirated music files; (i) contains restricted or password-only access pages, or hidden pages or images (those not linked to or from another accessible page); (j) provides material that exploits people in a sexual, violent or otherwise inappropriate manner or solicits personal information from anyone; (k) provides instructional information about illegal activities such as making or buying illegal weapons, violating someone's privacy, or providing or creating computer viruses; (l) contains video, photographs, or images of another person age 18 or older without his or her express written consent and permission or those of any minor (regardless of whether you have consent from the minor or his or her legal guardian). (m) tries to gain unauthorized access or exceeds the scope of authorized access (as defined herein and in other applicable Codes of Conduct or End User Access and License Agreements) to the Sites or to profiles, blogs, communities, account information, bulletins, friend request, or other areas of the Sites or solicits passwords or personal identifying information for commercial or unlawful purposes from other users; (n) engages in commercial activities and/or sales without Putpocketi®'s prior written consent such as contests, sweepstakes, barter, advertising and pyramid schemes, or the buying or selling of "virtual" items related to the Sites. Throughout this Terms of Use, Putpocketi® "prior written consent" means a communication coming from Putpocketi® Legal department, specifically in response to your request, and specifically addressing the activity or conduct for which you seek authorization; (o) solicits gambling or engages in any gambling activity which Putpocketi®, in its sole discretion, believes is or could be construed as being illegal; (p) interferes with another user's use and enjoyment of Putpocketi® Website or any other individual's user and enjoyment of similar services; (q) refers to any website or URL that, in the sole discretion of Putpocketi®, contains material that is inappropriate for the Putpocketi® Website or any other Website, contains content that would be prohibited or violates the letter or spirit of these Terms of Use. (r) harm minors in any way; (s) infringes any patent, trademark, copyright or other proprietary rights or third party’s trade secrets or rights of publicity or privacy or shall not be fraudulent or involve the sale of counterfeit or stolen items; (t) violates any law for the time being in force; (u) deceives or misleads the addressee/ users about the origin of such messages or communicates any information which is grossly offensive or menacing in nature; (v) impersonate another person; (w) contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer resource; or contains any Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots, easter eggs or other computer programming routines that may damage, detrimentally interfere with, diminish value of, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, data or personal information; (x) threatens the unity, integrity, defence, security or sovereignty of The Federal Republic of Nigeria, friendly relations with foreign states, or public order or causes incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence or prevents investigation of any offence or is insulting any other nation. (y) shall not be false, inaccurate or misleading; (z) shall not, directly or indirectly, offer, attempt to offer, trade or attempt to trade in any item, the dealing of which is prohibited or restricted in any manner under the provisions of any applicable law, rule, regulation or guideline for the time being in force. (aa) shall not create liability for us or cause us to lose (in whole or in part) the services of our ISPs or other suppliers; You shall not use any “deep-link”, “page-scrape”, “robot”, “spider” or other automatic device, program, algorithm or methodology, or any similar or equivalent manual process, to access, acquire, copy or monitor any portion of the Website or any Content, or in any way reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of the Website or any Content, to obtain or attempt to obtain any materials, documents or information through any means not purposely made available through the Website. Putpocketi® reserves the right to bar any such activity. You shall not attempt to gain unauthorized access to any portion or feature of Putpocketi® website, or any other systems or networks connected to Putpocketi® Website or to any Putpocketi®’s server, computer, network, or to any of the services offered on or through Putpocketi® Website, by hacking, password “mining” or any other illegitimate means. You shall not probe, scan or test the vulnerability of Putpocketi® website or any network connected to Putpocketi® website nor breach the security or authentication measures on Putpocketi® website or any network connected to Putpocketi® Website. You may not reverse look-up, trace or seek to trace any information on any other user of or visitor to Putpocketi® Website, or any other customer of Putpocketi®, including any Putpocketi® account not owned by you, to its source, or exploit Putpocketi® Website or any service or information made available or offered by or through Putpocketi® Website, in any way where the purpose is to reveal any information, including but not limited to personal identification or information, other than your own information, as provided for by Putpocketi® Website. You agree that you will not take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the infrastructure of Putpocketi® Website or Putpocketi®’s systems or networks, or any systems or networks connected to Putpocketi®. You agree not to use any device, software or routine to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Website or any transaction being conducted on the Website, or with any other person’s use of the Website. You may not forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any message or transmittal you send to Putpocketi® on or through the Website or any service offered on or through the Website. You may not pretend that you are, or that you represent, someone else, or impersonate any other individual or entity. You may not use the Website or any Content for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms of Use, or to solicit the performance of any illegal activity or other activity which infringes the rights of Putpocketi® or others. Solely to enable Putpocketi® to use the information you supply us with, so that we are not violating any rights you might have in Your Information, you agree to grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sub-licensable (through multiple tiers) right to exercise the copyright, publicity, database rights or any other rights you have in Your Information, in any media now known or not currently known, with respect to Your Information. Putpocketi® will only use Your Information in accordance with the terms of use and Putpocketi®’s Privacy Policy. From time to time, you shall be responsible for providing information relating to the items or services proposed to be sold by you. In this connection, you undertake that all such information shall be accurate in all respects. You shall not exaggerate or over emphasize the attributes of such items or services so as to mislead other Users in any manner. You shall not engage in advertising to, or solicitation of, other users of Putpocketi® to buy or sell any products or services, including, but not limited to, products or services related being displayed on Putpocketi® or related to Putpocketi®. You may not transmit any chain letters or unsolicited commercial or junk email to other users via Putpocketi®. It shall be a violation of these Terms of Use to use any information obtained from Putpocketi® in order to harass, abuse, or harm another person, or in order to contact, advertise to, solicit, or sell to another person outside of Putpocketi® without Putpocketi®’s prior explicit consent. In order to protect our users from such advertising or solicitation, Putpocketi® reserves the right to restrict the number of messages or emails which a user may send to other users in any 24-hour period which Putpocketi® deems appropriate in its sole discretion.12. You understand that Putpocketi® has the right at all times to disclose any information (including the identity of the persons providing information or materials on the Putpocketi® Website) as necessary to satisfy any law, regulation or valid governmental request. This may include, without limitation, disclosure of the information in connection with investigation of alleged illegal activity or solicitation of illegal activity or in response to a lawful court order or subpoena. In addition, we can (and you hereby expressly authorize us to) disclose any information about you to law enforcement or other government officials, as we, in our sole discretion, believe necessary or appropriate in connection with the investigation and/or resolution of possible crimes, especially those that may involve personal injury. Putpocketi® reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor the materials posted on Putpocketi® website. Putpocketi® shall have the right to remove or edit any Content that in its sole discretion violates, or is alleged to violate, any applicable law or either the spirit or letter of these Terms of Use. Notwithstanding this right of Putpocketi®, YOU REMAIN SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT OF THE MATERIALS YOU POST ON THE Putpocketi® WEBSITE AND IN YOUR PRIVATE MESSAGES. Please be advised that such Content posted does not necessarily reflect the views of Putpocketi®. In no event shall Putpocketi® assume or have any responsibility or liability for any Content posted or for any claims, damages or losses resulting from use of Content and/or appearance of Content on Putpocketi®. You hereby represent and warrant that you have all necessary rights in and to all Content you provide and all information it contains and that such Content shall not infringe any proprietary or other rights of third parties or contain any libelous, tortious, or otherwise unlawful information Your correspondence or business dealings with, or participation in promotions of, advertisers found on or through Putpocketi®, including payment and delivery of related goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such advertiser. Putpocketi® shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings or as the result of the presence of such advertisers on Putpocketi®. It is possible that other users (including unauthorized users or “hackers”) may post or transmit offensive or obscene materials on Putpocketi® and that you may be involuntarily exposed to such offensive and obscene materials. It also is possible for others to obtain personal information about you due to your use of Putpocketi®, and that the recipient may use such information to harass or injure you. Putpocketi® does not approve of such unauthorized uses but by using the Putpocketi® Website you acknowledge and agree that Putpocketi® is not responsible for the use of any personal information that you publicly disclose or share with others on Putpocketi®. Please carefully select the type of information that you publicly disclose or share with others on Putpocketi®. Putpocketi® shall have all the rights to take necessary action and claim damages that may occur due to your involvement/participation in any way on your own or through group/s of People, intentionally or unintentionally in DoS/DDoS (Distributed Denial of Services).
Contents Posted on Site
All text, graphics, user interfaces, visual interfaces, photographs, trademarks, logos, sounds, music, artwork and computer code (collectively, “Content”), including but not limited to the design, structure, selection, coordination, expression, “look and feel” and arrangement of such Content, contained on Putpocketi® is owned, controlled or licensed by or to Putpocketi®, and is protected by trade dress, copyright, patent and trademark laws, and various other intellectual property rights and unfair competition laws. Except as expressly provided in these Terms of Use, no part of Putpocketi® and no Content may be copied, reproduced, re-published, uploaded, posted, publicly displayed, encoded, translated, transmitted or distributed in any way (including “mirroring”) to any other computer, server, website or other medium for publication or distribution or for any commercial enterprise, without Putpocketi®’s express prior written consent. You may use information on Putpocketi® products and services purposely made available by Putpocketi® for downloading from the Site, provided that you (1) not remove any proprietary notice language in all copies of such documents, (2) use such information only for your personal, non-commercial informational purpose and do not copy or post such information on any networked computer or broadcast it in any media, (3) make no modifications to any such information, and (4) not make any additional representations or warranties relating to such documents. You shall be responsible for any notes, messages, e-mails, billboard postings, photos, drawings, profiles, opinions, ideas, images, videos, audio files or other materials or information posted or transmitted to the Sites (collectively, "Content"). Such Content will become the property of Putpocketi® and you grant Putpocketi® the worldwide, perpetual and transferable rights in such Content. Putpocketi® shall be entitled to, consistent with our Privacy Policy, use the Content or any of its elements for any type of use forever, including but not limited to promotional and advertising purposes and in any media whether now known or hereafter devised, including the creation of derivative works that may include Content you provide. You agree that any Content you post may be used by Putpocketi®, consistent with our Privacy Policy and Rules of Conduct on Site as mentioned herein, and you are not entitled to any payment or other compensation for such use.
Other Businesses
Putpocketi® does not take responsibility or liability for the actions, products, content and services on Putpocketi® website, which are linked to Affiliates and / or third party websites using Putpocketi® APIs or otherwise. In addition, Putpocketi® may provide links to the third party websites of affiliated companies and certain other businesses for which, Putpocketi® assumes no responsibility for examining or evaluating the products and services offered by them, and Putpocketi® does not warrant the offerings of, any of these businesses or individuals or the content of such third party website(s). Putpocketi® does not in any way endorse any third party website(s) or content thereof.
Links
Putpocketi® welcomes links to this site. You may establish a hypertext link to Putpocketi® website, provided that the link does not state or imply any sponsorship or endorsement of your site by Putpocketi®. You must not use on your site or in any other manner any trademarks, service marks or any other materials appearing on Putpocketi®, including any logos or characters, without the express written consent of Putpocketi® and the owner of the mark or materials. You must not frame or otherwise incorporate into another third party website or present in conjunction with or juxtaposed against such a website any of the content or other materials on the Putpocketi® website without Putpocketi®’s prior written consent.
Privacy
We view protection of Your privacy as a very important principle. We understand clearly that you and Your Personal Information is one of our most important assets. We store and process Your Information on computers that may be protected by physical as well as reasonable technological security measures and procedures in accordance with Information Technology Act 2000 and rules there under. Our current Privacy Policy is available at http://www.putpocketi.com/privacy.html. If you object to your Information being transferred or used in this way please do not use Putpocketi® Website.
