Owner Terms & Conditions

1. Appointment and relationship

These terms govern each vehicle submitted to VRM. The registered account holder (Owner) appoints VRM as a marketplace and managed handover intermediary for approved rentals. VRM does not acquire title to the vehicle. A separate booking and vehicle-handover record applies to every rental.

2. Lawful ownership, control and authority

The Owner warrants that they lawfully possess the vehicle and have a valid, continuing right to offer it for commercial hire, sign these terms and authorise approved drivers. The Owner must disclose any financier, co-owner, lessor, registered owner or other person whose written consent is required and provide satisfactory evidence. A registration-book mismatch does not by itself establish wrongdoing or lawful authority. VRM may decline the vehicle until satisfactory independent checks are complete.

3. Documentation and ongoing changes

The Owner will supply accurate registration, ID, written authorisations, financing consents, roadworthiness and insurance evidence when requested through a secure approved process; immediately report changes, expiry, ownership disputes, liens or police reports; and avoid inaccurate descriptions or altered documents. Sensitive documents must be supplied through a secure process arranged by VRM, and must not be included in a public vehicle description.

4. Insurance verification for listing eligibility

The Owner must provide accurate and current insurance information, including the policyholder, insurer, effective dates, permitted uses, driver restrictions, excesses and relevant exclusions. VRM verifies that coverage when deciding whether a vehicle qualifies for listing. A vehicle whose coverage does not qualify will not be listed. The Owner must cooperate with verification and must not describe coverage more broadly than the policy permits.

The Owner must promptly notify VRM of any policy expiry, cancellation, restriction or other material change so that listing eligibility can be reassessed. Insurance verification is part of vehicle listing approval; VRM does not arrange additional insurance for individual bookings. Actual cover remains subject to the policy and applicable law. An acknowledgment by a renter cannot bind an insurer or eliminate statutory rights and duties.

5. Safe condition and defect disclosure

The Owner warrants that the vehicle is roadworthy, legally compliant, suitably maintained and safe for its intended use. All known faults, accident damage, warning lights, recalls, tyre/brake issues, mechanical defects and limitations must be disclosed in writing before listing and before each drop-off. The Owner remains responsible for rectifying pre-existing defects and for material omissions.

6. Responsibility for owner-origin loss

To the extent legally attributable to the Owner’s breach, negligent maintenance, undisclosed defect, lack of authority or failure to provide proper insurance, the Owner is responsible for resulting reasonably proven losses, claims, injury or damage suffered by renters, passengers or third parties, subject to applicable law and fair allocation of fault. Nothing creates automatic liability where causation has not been established.

7. Fines, charges and legal compliance

The Owner warrants that, as of delivery to VRM, the vehicle has no undisclosed unpaid parking tickets, traffic penalties, impound charges, taxes or other enforceable amounts attributable to periods before rental. The Owner will resolve those liabilities and supply evidence where reasonably requested. New fines are investigated and allocated to the responsible party for the relevant period.

8. Booking confirmation and owner response

A customer request is not a confirmed rental. The Owner has twelve (12) hours from notification to decide on any proposed price and confirm vehicle availability. Price acceptance/rejection does not itself confirm availability. If a lower offer is declined but availability confirmed, payment is not requested until the customer accepts the standard listed rate. The owner must not collect payment directly for a VRM booking.

9. Vehicle drop-off and custody

The Owner retains the vehicle until a confirmed drop-off appointment. At VRM receipt, both parties inspect the car, record mileage, fuel, keys, defects and a signed checklist, and take up to six photographs. Custody changes only when documented. The Owner must collect the car promptly after the documented return and condition reconciliation.

10. Price, fees and settlement

The owner sets a listed daily rate. VRM's commission is 20% of the agreed rental amount, before other lawfully disclosed charges and taxes. Customers booking 14 or more days may propose a lower daily rate, which the Owner may accept or reject independently of confirming vehicle availability. If an offer is declined but the car is available, the customer must first agree to the original price before payment. VRM will initiate weekly owner payouts every Wednesday for eligible rental days in the immediately preceding calendar week (Monday through Sunday), including eligible days within a rental that is still in progress. Wednesday is the payout processing day; arrival of funds in the Owner's account may depend on their bank or payment provider. If banking services are unavailable on Wednesday, VRM will initiate the payout on the next available banking day and inform affected Owners of material delays. Each weekly payment is calculated using the agreed daily rental rate, less VRM’s agreed commission and any applicable lawful, disclosed adjustments. Payment is conditional on VRM having actually received cleared customer rental funds for those days and completing the applicable booking and payment checks. At the end of the rental, VRM will reconcile the final number of chargeable rental days and any approved extra charges or refunds; any resulting difference will be shown on the Owner’s statement and settled in the next practicable weekly payment cycle. Security deposits are held and reconciled separately and are not treated as Owner rental earnings. VRM will provide the Owner with an itemised weekly statement showing the rental dates covered, gross earned rent, commission, adjustments and net payout. Any withheld or disputed amount will be identified with the reason and dealt with promptly in accordance with applicable law and the Owner agreement.

11. Incidents, breakdowns and assistance

The Owner must cooperate promptly with lawful incident reporting, police inquiries, insurers and recovery attempts. VRM will take reasonable care within its accepted custody and will make reasonable efforts to assist in loss investigation and recovery but does not guarantee prevention or recovery of a stolen or damaged vehicle.

12. VRM responsibility and limits

VRM is not the vehicle owner or insurer. Except where law requires otherwise, VRM is not responsible for loss arising solely from renter misuse, independent crime, or a defect the Owner concealed and VRM could not reasonably identify. This provision does not exclude liability for VRM’s own negligence, unlawful conduct, breach of duty, misleading representation or non-excludable consumer rights. Liability is determined by evidence and applicable law.

13. Portable trackers and vehicle information

The Owner consents to optional fitting or use of removable, non-destructive vehicle tracking during the documented custody/rental period for vehicle security, incident response and recovery. A tracker is a precaution, not a promise of 24-hour monitoring or recovery. Installation, lawful data handling, access, retention, removal and any ongoing tracking must comply with applicable privacy law and the customer notice.

14. Cancellation, suspension and removal

VRM may reject, temporarily pause or remove a listing where there is a safety, documentation, insurance, suspected fraud or ownership concern. The Owner must immediately notify VRM if a confirmed rental cannot proceed. Fees or loss recovery are limited to reasonable and evidenced amounts allowed under the disclosed cancellation policy and law.

15. Handover records and disputes

Four separate exchanges should be recorded where applicable: Owner to VRM; VRM to Customer; Customer to VRM; VRM to Owner. Each exchange must be accompanied by a checklist, date/time, visible damage notes and up to six photos. A handover record is evidence, not conclusive proof of fault. Disputes are investigated using contemporaneous records, inspections and other credible evidence.

16. Data protection and communication

The Owner authorises the processing of necessary identity, vehicle, booking, payment and inspection data for verification, fulfilment, fraud prevention, lawful claims and customer support, subject to an appropriately published privacy notice and Zimbabwean data-protection law. Optional marketing messages require separate consent.

17. Indemnity limited to fault

To the extent permitted by law, the Owner will reimburse VRM for reasonably substantiated third-party claims and direct costs caused by the Owner’s material misrepresentation, breach or negligent omission, after fair notice and an opportunity to respond; not for VRM’s own wrongdoing or amounts already recovered under insurance.

18. Changes, governing law and acceptance

These terms are governed by Zimbabwean law. Material changes require conspicuous notice and renewed acknowledgement for future vehicle submissions. Each new vehicle submission requires a fresh affirmative acknowledgement, recorded with the terms version, vehicle identifier and timestamp. Nothing removes statutory rights or lawful access to dispute resolution.

19. Deposits, payment deadlines and cancellations

Owners may propose a refundable security deposit for each listed vehicle. VRM retains final approval and may suggest an adjustment before publication; an owner must accept any adjustment as part of listing approval. The approved amount is disclosed to the customer before requesting a booking. Deposit amounts are not owner's rental earnings and are not subject to VRM's 20% commission.

After the owner confirms availability, the customer payment window is forty-eight (48) hours, capped earlier when the vehicle's scheduled collection requires it. Customers pay VRM manually in cash or through EcoCash using instructions supplied by VRM; the website does not collect payment. Payment must be actually received and verified before rental release. Unpaid bookings expire when the agreed, displayed deadline passes; the vehicle dates are released. An owner may not demand direct payment from a VRM customer.

A customer who cancels after paying but before collecting the vehicle may be charged a US$50 administration fee capped at the rental fee actually paid. The owner and VRM must not treat security deposits as rental revenue; genuine deductions require documented evidence, review and lawful authorisation. Owner payouts and customer deposit refunds must be recorded with their actual dates and bank/payment references, and reconciling amounts is not proof of transfer. VRM maintains and verifies these records manually.