Terms of Service

Last updated: 5 May 2026

1. Agreement

By accessing or using DomainsWatch ("the Service"), operated by Moducraft (Pty) Ltd ("we", "us", "our", "DomainsWatch"), you ("you", "the user") agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not use the Service.

These Terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you and Moducraft (Pty) Ltd. Please read them carefully before creating an account or using any part of the Service.

2. Service Description

DomainsWatch provides the following services for South African (.co.za and related ZA-namespace) domain names:

Monitoring: Daily WHOIS queries to detect changes in domain registration status, expiry dates, registrar details, and registrant information.
Alerting: Email notifications when a watched domain changes status - including expiry, suspension, pending deletion, redemption, and availability.
Catching: When a watched domain becomes available for registration, DomainsWatch attempts to register it on your behalf via the Domains.co.za reseller API, directly into your customer account at Domains.co.za.

DomainsWatch monitors publicly available WHOIS data provided by ZACR (the ZA Central Registry). We are not a registrar. We operate as a reseller under the Domains.co.za accredited registrar relationship.

3. Account Registration

You must provide accurate, complete, and current registration information. You agree to update your information promptly if it changes.
You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of your account credentials. You must notify us immediately of any unauthorised use of your account.
You must be at least 18 years of age to create an account.
You may not create multiple accounts for the same person or entity without our prior approval.
You may not share your account credentials with any other person.
You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account.

4. Fees and Payment

All prices are in South African Rand (ZAR). Moducraft (Pty) Ltd is not currently VAT-registered. Prices do not include VAT. All payments are processed securely via PayFast (Pty) Ltd.

4.1 Watch Fee - R99 per domain

A one-time fee of R99 is charged when you add a domain to your watchlist. The monitoring service begins immediately upon successful payment. The watch fee is non-refundable as the service is rendered from the moment the domain is added to your watchlist.

The watch remains active until the domain drops and is registered (by you or another party), the registrant renews and the watch cycle resets, or one year has elapsed - whichever occurs first.

4.2 Catch Service Fee - R299

A fee of R299 is charged when you opt to use the domain catching service for a specific domain. This fee is DomainsWatch's service fee for the catching attempt.

The catch service fee is fully refundable if the catch attempt fails for any reason, including: the domain being caught by another party, the registrant renewing the domain, budget exceeded, or a registrar/API error.

If you cancel a catch order before the order enters the ARMED state, the catch service fee is fully refunded. If you cancel after the order has been ARMED but before an attempt is made, the catch service fee is refunded at 50%.

4.3 Registration Cost - variable, pass-through

Domain registration costs are passed through at wholesale rates from the registrar (Domains.co.za). The registration cost varies by TLD - for example, .co.za domains are approximately R89. DomainsWatch does not mark up registration costs.

At catch order time, you set a maximum budget for the registration cost. If the actual registration cost at the time of the catch attempt exceeds your budget, the catch is aborted and you receive a full refund of both the catch service fee and registration buffer.

On a successful catch, any unused registration budget is refunded to you.

4.4 Upfront Payment Model

All costs - the catch service fee and the registration budget - are captured in full at the time you place a catch order. This is a real charge, not a pre-authorisation. This ensures that catch orders are never processed without secured funds and eliminates abandonment risk.

4.5 Refund Matrix

Scenario	Watch Fee	Service Fee	Reg Buffer
Catch successful	Retained	Retained	Unused portion refunded
Catch failed - caught by other	Retained	Refunded	Refunded fully
Catch failed - registrant renewed	Retained	Refunded	Refunded fully
Catch failed - budget exceeded	Retained	Refunded	Refunded fully
Catch failed - registrar/API error	Retained	Refunded	Refunded fully
User cancels before ARMED	Retained	Refunded	Refunded fully
User cancels after ARMED	Retained	Refunded 50%	Refunded fully

Refunds are processed via PayFast. Card refunds typically take 5 to 7 business days. EFT refunds from same-bank transfers typically process within 1 to 2 business days; cross-bank EFT may take 3 to 5 business days.

4.6 Package Subscriptions

Domain monitoring packages (Starter, Pro, Agency) are billed as yearly subscriptions. Your payment method is charged automatically each year on your renewal date.

Package subscriptions provide a set number of concurrent domain monitoring slots. Slots represent the number of domains you can actively watch at any one time. When a watched domain completes its lifecycle (drops and is registered, or the registrant renews), the slot is freed and can be used for a new domain.

4.7 Subscription Cancellation

You may cancel your package subscription at any time from your dashboard. Upon cancellation:

Your subscription remains active until the end of your current billing period.
After expiry, all active watches continue to be monitored until their lifecycle completes - we honour our obligation in full.
You will not be able to add new watches, modify existing watches, or remove watches until you renew.
No partial refunds are issued for unused subscription time.

You may resubscribe at any time to regain full access to your package features.

4.8 Priority Watch

The Priority Watch fee (R299) or upgrade fee (R200 when upgrading from Standard) is non-refundable. Priority Watch provides first-deposit-wins catching priority and early alerts. Only one Priority Watch is permitted per domain.

If you cancel a Priority Watch, the fee is not refunded. The priority slot becomes available for other users.

4.9 Payment Processing

All payments are processed by PayFast (Pty) Ltd, a licensed payment service provider. By making a payment through DomainsWatch, you also agree to PayFast's terms and conditions. We do not store your credit card or bank account details.

5. Domain Monitoring

We monitor domains using publicly available WHOIS data from the ZACR registry.
Monitored domains are checked via WHOIS at least once every 24 hours. When a domain enters the drop pipeline (pending suspension or later), monitoring frequency increases automatically.
We do not guarantee that all status changes will be detected instantaneously. WHOIS data may be incomplete, delayed, or temporarily unavailable due to registry processing times or technical issues.
We make best efforts to provide accurate and timely monitoring, but we cannot be held liable for delays or inaccuracies in WHOIS data provided by the registry.
Alerts are sent via email and are subject to normal email delivery times. DomainsWatch does not guarantee instant delivery of alerts. For time-critical decisions, we recommend checking your dashboard directly.

6. Domain Catching

The catching service described in this section is currently in development. These terms will apply once the service becomes available.

The catching service attempts to register domains on your behalf via the Domains.co.za reseller API.
We cannot guarantee that any catch attempt will succeed. Other parties may register the domain before our system completes the registration request. Domain catching is inherently competitive and subject to registry timing.
Domains are registered directly into your customer account at Domains.co.za. The domain is registered in your name from the moment of registration. DomainsWatch never holds domains in its own name.
You must complete KYC (Know Your Customer) verification before using the catching service. KYC details are used to create your customer account at Domains.co.za and to populate registrant information on the domain.
Once a domain is registered to your Domains.co.za account, you have full ownership and control. You may transfer it to any other registrar at any time.
Deleting your DomainsWatch account does not affect domains registered to you at Domains.co.za.

6.1 First-Deposit-Wins

If multiple users place catch orders for the same domain, the default conflict resolution rule is first-deposit-wins - the earliest catch order placed has priority. If the first attempt fails, the next order in the queue receives the attempt. All unsuccessful orders receive a full refund of the catch service fee and registration buffer.

6.2 User Attestation

When placing a catch order, you must affirm:

By placing a catch order, you certify that: (a) you have a legitimate right or business interest in the domain; (b) registration will not infringe any trademark, copyright, or other intellectual property right; (c) you will not use the domain for unlawful purposes; and (d) you accept full legal responsibility for any disputes arising from the registration.

This attestation is recorded with a timestamp and forms part of the catch order audit trail. You accept full responsibility for any trademark disputes, ADR proceedings, or legal claims arising from domains registered through DomainsWatch.

7. Intellectual Property

Domain names registered through the DomainsWatch catching service are not intellectual property of DomainsWatch or Moducraft (Pty) Ltd. We do not claim any ownership interest in domains you monitor or catch.

Trademark disputes, SAIIPL ADR proceedings, and any related legal matters are the sole responsibility of the domain registrant (you). DomainsWatch will cooperate with lawful dispute proceedings and provide audit trail evidence where required, but is not a party to such disputes.

The DomainsWatch name, logo, and branding are the intellectual property of Moducraft (Pty) Ltd. You may not use our branding without prior written permission.

8. Limitation of Liability

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

To the maximum extent permitted by South African law, DomainsWatch and Moducraft (Pty) Ltd are not liable for:

Failed catch attempts, regardless of the reason for failure
Missed, delayed, or inaccurate alerts caused by WHOIS data delays, registry downtime, or technical issues beyond our control
Losses arising from domain registration disputes, trademark claims, or ADR proceedings
Service interruptions due to factors beyond our control, including but not limited to registry outages, registrar API failures, internet connectivity issues, and force majeure events
Any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages
Loss of profits, revenue, data, or business opportunities

Our total aggregate liability for all claims arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service is limited to the total fees paid by you to DomainsWatch in the 12 months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

9. Service Availability

We strive to maintain high availability of the Service but do not guarantee 100% uptime. The Service may be temporarily unavailable due to:

Scheduled maintenance (we will provide reasonable advance notice where possible)
Unscheduled outages caused by technical failures, security incidents, or infrastructure issues
Registry or registrar downtime beyond our control
Force majeure events (see Section 15)

We are not liable for any losses resulting from Service unavailability.

10. WHOIS Data Accuracy

DomainsWatch relies on WHOIS data provided by the ZACR registry and individual registrars. We do not control, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of WHOIS data. WHOIS records may be:

Delayed in reflecting recent changes (registrations, renewals, transfers)
Incomplete or redacted due to privacy policies
Temporarily unavailable during registry maintenance

You should not rely solely on DomainsWatch for critical domain-related decisions. We recommend verifying WHOIS data independently where the outcome is material.

11. Acceptable Use Policy

You agree not to:

Use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable law or regulation
Attempt to circumvent access controls, rate limits, or security measures
Scrape, bulk-export, or systematically extract data from the Service by automated means
Register domains that infringe on the trademarks or intellectual property of others
Use the Service to harass, pressure, or extort other domain holders (this includes reverse domain name hijacking)
Submit false or misleading KYC information
Create accounts using false identities or impersonate another person or entity
Interfere with or disrupt the integrity or performance of the Service
Attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Service, other accounts, or computer systems

12. Account Termination

12.1 Termination by You

You may close your account at any time via the dashboard or by contacting us. Upon account closure:

All active watches are cancelled. Watch fees are non-refundable.
Any pending catch orders are cancelled and refunded according to the refund matrix in Section 4.5.
Your personal information is handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy (30-day soft delete, then permanent deletion).
Domains registered to your Domains.co.za account are unaffected.

12.2 Termination by Us

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your account immediately and without prior notice if:

You violate these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy
We reasonably suspect fraudulent activity on your account
You fail to provide accurate KYC information when requested
We are required to do so by law or regulatory order

We also reserve the right to refuse any catch order at our sole discretion, without obligation to provide an explanation.

13. Domains.co.za Partnership

Domains caught via DomainsWatch are registered through Domains.co.za, an accredited .co.za registrar. By using the catching service, you acknowledge that:

You become a customer of Domains.co.za and are bound by their terms of service in addition to these Terms.
Your KYC details are shared with Domains.co.za for the purpose of creating your customer account and registering domains.
Domain management (DNS, transfers, renewals) after registration is handled through the Domains.co.za control panel.
DomainsWatch is a reseller and is not liable for actions or omissions by Domains.co.za.
DomainsWatch is not responsible for Domains.co.za service availability, customer support, or domain management after registration is complete. All post-registration support is provided by Domains.co.za directly.

14. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa.

In the event of a dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms, the parties agree to first attempt to resolve the dispute through good-faith negotiation. If the dispute cannot be resolved within 30 days, either party may submit the matter to the jurisdiction of the Western Cape High Court, Cape Town.

15. Force Majeure

Neither party shall be liable for any failure or delay in performing its obligations under these Terms where such failure or delay results from circumstances beyond the reasonable control of that party, including but not limited to: natural disasters, war, terrorism, riots, government actions, power failures, internet or telecommunications failures, registry or registrar outages, pandemics, and acts of God.

16. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Moducraft (Pty) Ltd, its directors, officers, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or in connection with:

Your use of the Service
Your violation of these Terms
Your violation of any third-party rights, including intellectual property rights
Domains registered on your behalf through the catching service
Any dispute arising from your domain registrations, including trademark claims and ADR proceedings
False or misleading information provided by you, including KYC details and catch order attestations

17. Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be communicated to registered users via email at least 30 days before taking effect. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page indicates when the Terms were last revised.

Continued use of the Service after the effective date of any changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not agree with the changes, you must stop using the Service and close your account before the effective date.

18. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

19. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any other policies referenced herein, constitute the entire agreement between you and Moducraft (Pty) Ltd regarding the use of the Service, and supersede all prior agreements and understandings.

20. Contact

For questions, concerns, or enquiries about these Terms:

Email: [email protected]
Privacy-related enquiries: [email protected]

Moducraft (Pty) Ltd (Registration number: 2026/138609/07)
92 Rosmead Avenue, Kenilworth, Cape Town, 7708, South Africa