Website Terms of Use

1. Who we are

1.1 Verca (Pty) Ltd, registration number 2026/240661/07 (Verca, we or us), is a private institution that administers commercial arbitrations in the Republic of South Africa. These terms govern your use of our website at vercagroup.co and every page under it (the website).

1.2 These terms govern the website only. They do not govern a matter administered by Verca. Each arbitration is governed by the arbitration agreement between the parties, the Verca Arbitration Rules and the Administrative Protocol that govern the proceeding under Article 1.3 of the Rules (together, the Rules), and our Terms of Institutional Administration. Our case platform, Verca Case Accord, has its own terms, the Terms of Use of Verca Case Accord, which each user accepts at sign-up. A reference in these terms to an Article of the Rules or of the Administrative Protocol is to that provision in the version that governs the proceeding concerned under Article 1.3 of the Rules or, where no proceeding is concerned, in the version in force at the relevant time. Where that version renumbers, moves or rewords the provision, the reference is to the provision of that version that corresponds to it.

1.3 No goods or services are sold, and no transaction is concluded, through the website (clause 14.2). We nevertheless give in clause 14 the information that section 43 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (ECTA) requires of a supplier that offers goods or services by electronic transaction.

2. Accepting these terms

2.1 By using the website, you agree to these terms and to our Privacy Notice. A summary of the Privacy Notice is published at vercagroup.co/privacy, and the full notice is available from our Information Officer at info@vercagroup.co. If you do not agree, please do not use the website.

2.2 If you use the website on behalf of a firm, a company or a client, you confirm that you are authorised to do so.

3. Information on this website

3.1 The website gives general information about Verca, our procedures, our panel and our fees. It is a summary. It is not legal advice, and it does not create a relationship of attorney and client, or of advocate and client, between you and Verca or any person associated with us. You should take your own legal advice on any dispute.

3.2 Where the website differs from the Rules, the Rules apply. Periods, fees and procedures described on the website are summaries of the Rules and our Schedule of Fees, and are subject to them.

3.3 We take reasonable care to keep the website accurate and up to date, but we do not warrant that every statement on it is complete, accurate or current at the time you read it.

3.4 Using the website does not commence an arbitration. An arbitration commences only as the Rules provide. Sending an enquiry, a request for a fee, a nomination or any other form through the website does not create an obligation on you or on us to proceed with a matter.

3.5 Articles and commentary published on the website express general views on arbitration and dispute resolution. They are not statements of how the Rules will be applied in a particular matter.

4. The procedure suggestion

4.1 The website offers a tool that suggests which procedure may suit a dispute, based on a short description that you type in, and, where you ask, prepares a draft of your enquiry. The suggestion and any draft are prepared with the help of an artificial intelligence service. Both are indicative only.

4.2 The suggestion is not a classification of a matter under the Rules and does not bind Verca or any party. Verca classifies each matter as the Rules provide.

4.3 Do not include names of parties, amounts, privileged material or other confidential information in the description. Our Privacy Notice explains how the description is processed.

5. The model arbitration clause

5.1 You may copy, download and use our model arbitration clause, free of charge, in any contract under which disputes are to be referred to arbitration administered by Verca.

5.2 The model clause is a model. It is offered as a starting point for parties and their advisers. You are responsible for choosing the optional parts, completing the elections, and making sure that the clause suits your contract. If you change the wording, the change is yours, and you may not present the changed wording as a Verca model clause.

6. Forms and what you send us

6.1 You may use the forms on the website to send us an enquiry, ask for a fee, nominate an arbitrator in a matter, register your interest, or ask to hear about mediation.

6.2 When you use a form, you must give information that is true and complete, and you may submit information about another person only if you are entitled to do so.

6.3 Please do not send confidential, privileged or sensitive information through the website. Documents and detailed information about a dispute are received securely on Verca Case Accord once a matter is opened.

6.4 When you send a form through the website, we send a confirmation to the email address you give. If you do not receive a confirmation within one (1) business day, please contact us at info@vercagroup.co or on 082 467 9123. A message sent through the website is not treated as received by us until it reaches our mailbox, as section 23 of ECTA provides.

6.5 A nomination sent through the website is a step in a matter only to the extent that the Rules give it that effect. Time limits under the Rules are not extended because a form on the website was unavailable or a confirmation was delayed.

7. How you may use the website

7.1 You may use the website only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these terms.

7.2 You may not:

• use the website in a way that breaches any law, including the Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020 and the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013;
• try to gain access to any part of the website, its systems or its data that is not open to the public, or test the website for vulnerabilities;
• send automated or bulk submissions through the forms, or copy or collect content from the website by automated means, except as a search engine indexes it;
• upload or send anything that is unlawful, defamatory, misleading or infringes another person's rights, or that contains malicious code; or
• use the website in a way that interferes with its operation or with any other person's use of it.

7.3 We may limit the number of submissions from one connection, and may block access to the website or to a form where we reasonably believe that it is being misused.

8. Intellectual property

8.1 The website, its content, its design, the Verca name, the Verca logo and the name Verca Case Accord belong to Verca or its licensors, and are protected by law. These terms do not transfer any of those rights to you.

8.2 You may view, print and share pages of the website for your own information or for advising a client, provided that you do not change them and that Verca is acknowledged as their source. Clause 5 governs the model clause. Any other use requires our prior written consent.

8.3 You may not use the Verca name or logo in a way that suggests that Verca endorses you, your firm or your services, or that you are associated with Verca, unless we have agreed to it in writing.

9. Links to other websites

9.1 The website may link to websites of other persons, such as the Information Regulator or a government department. We provide those links for convenience only. We do not control those websites and are not responsible for their content, their availability or how they process personal information.

9.2 You may link to the home page of the website, or to any other public page, provided that you do so fairly and lawfully and do not suggest any association with Verca that does not exist.

10. Availability of the website

10.1 We will take reasonable steps to keep the website available, but we do not guarantee that it will be available at all times, free of errors or free of malicious code. We may change, suspend or withdraw any part of the website at any time, including for maintenance.

10.2 Use reasonable security measures on the devices you use to access the website.

11. Liability

11.1 Nothing in these terms excludes or limits the liability of Verca, its directors, employees or service providers for fraud, dishonesty, bad faith, intentional misconduct or gross negligence, or any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 where that Act applies. Where that Act applies to you, these terms apply subject to it, including sections 48, 49 and 51.

11.2 Subject to clause 11.1, Verca, its directors, employees and service providers are not liable for any loss or damage arising from the use of, or the inability to use, the website, from reliance on any information on the website or on a procedure suggestion, or from the content of any linked website.

11.3 Subject to clause 11.1, Verca is not liable for any indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of profit, revenue, opportunity or data, however caused.

11.4 The liability of Verca and of arbitrators in connection with a matter is governed by the Rules and the Terms of Institutional Administration, and not by these terms.

12. Privacy

12.1 We process personal information that you give us through the website in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 and our Privacy Notice. A summary is published at vercagroup.co/privacy, and the full notice is available from our Information Officer at info@vercagroup.co. The Privacy Notice explains what the website keeps, where it is kept, for how long, and your rights.

13. Changes to these terms

13.1 We may change these terms from time to time. Each version carries a version number and date, and the current version is always published at vercagroup.co/terms. A changed version applies from the date it is published, and does not affect anything done through the website before that date.

14. Information about Verca

14.1 As section 43 of ECTA requires, we record the following:

• Full name and legal status: Verca (Pty) Ltd, a private company incorporated in the Republic of South Africa, registration number 2026/240661/07.
• Physical address, and address for the service of legal documents (domicilium citandi et executandi): Unit 63, Block 4, Lombardy Business Park, 66 Graham Road, Shere, Pretoria, 0084.
• Postal address: PostNet Suite L07, Private Bag X37, Lynnwood Ridge, 0040.
• Telephone: 082 467 9123. Email: info@vercagroup.co. Website: vercagroup.co.
• Services: the administration of commercial arbitrations under the Verca Arbitration Rules. Our fees are given in writing before a party commits, under our Schedule of Fees.

14.2 We do not sell goods or services through the website, and no transaction is concluded on it. Fees for a matter are agreed and paid outside the website, as the Rules and the Terms of Institutional Administration provide.

15. General

15.1 These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa.

15.2 The High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division, Pretoria, has jurisdiction in any dispute about these terms, without affecting any arbitration agreement that applies.

15.3 If any provision of these terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, it is severed and the rest of these terms remain in force.

15.4 No relaxation or indulgence that we allow is a waiver of our rights.

15.5 Please send any question about these terms to info@vercagroup.co.

Version 1.0, 29 October 2026