1. The Platform
Tethered Australia Pty Ltd (ABN 63 667 211 645) ('Tethered', 'we', 'us') provides a hosted software platform that enables EV charging site owners and operators to manage chargers, sites, pricing, users, drivers, sessions, reporting and payouts.
We may update, modify or improve the Platform at any time. We will give reasonable notice of material adverse changes via the Platform or email.
2. Accounts & eligibility
- You must be at least 18 years old and authorised to bind the entity You represent.
- You are responsible for the accuracy of registration information, your ABN/GST status, banking details and for all activity under your account.
- You must keep credentials secure and notify us immediately of suspected unauthorised access.
- We may verify your identity or business under applicable AML/CTF, KYC and payment-provider requirements.
3. Fees, billing & payouts
- Subscription fees are charged monthly or yearly in advance per the plan selected in-Platform. Yearly plans are billed up-front and are non-refundable mid-term except where required by the Australian Consumer Law. All fees are in AUD and exclusive of GST unless stated.
- Platform session fee (active subscription): while your subscription is active, an 8% platform fee is applied to the gross value of each completed charging session (calculated as price per kWh × kWh delivered) and is deducted from amounts payable to You before payout.
- Post-cancellation commission: if your subscription is cancelled, downgraded below the required tier, or otherwise lapses while one or more chargers remain connected to the Platform, the platform fee on completed sessions automatically increases to 30% from the end of the paid period until either (a) You remove the chargers from the Platform, or (b) a new active subscription covers them. You are responsible for migrating chargers off the Platform if You no longer wish to incur this fee.
- Payouts to your nominated Australian bank account are made on the schedule shown in the Platform, subject to bank clearance and fraud checks.
- You authorise us and our payment processor (acting as merchant of record where applicable) to debit applicable fees, refunds, chargebacks and reversals from amounts collected or, if insufficient, to invoice You.
- Overdue amounts may accrue interest at the RBA cash rate + 2% p.a. and we may suspend the Platform until paid.
- Pricing changes will be notified at least 30 days in advance.
4. Term, renewal & cancellation
- The Agreement starts on account creation and continues for the billing interval You select (monthly or yearly), automatically renewing each billing cycle.
- You may cancel at any time through the in-Platform billing portal. On cancellation You retain full access until the end of the current paid period, after which your account moves to read-only mode: existing data and reports remain accessible, but creating, editing or onboarding new chargers, sites and users is disabled.
- If chargers remain connected to the Platform after the paid period ends, sessions continue to be authorised and metered, and the 30% post-cancellation commission in clause 3 applies until those chargers are removed by You.
- Either party may terminate for convenience with at least 30 days' written notice (in-Platform or email).
- We may suspend or terminate immediately for material breach, non-payment, insolvency, fraud, safety risk, or to comply with law.
- Fees paid are non-refundable except where required by the Australian Consumer Law.
5. Your obligations as operator
- You are responsible for the lawful operation, safety, maintenance, electrical compliance, signage, metering accuracy and insurance of your chargers and sites.
- You must comply with all applicable Australian laws and standards including the Australian Consumer Law, Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), National Measurement Act 1960, Spam Act 2003, AEMO/AER rules and any retailer authorisation or exemption required to on-sell electricity in your jurisdiction, work health and safety laws, AS/NZS 3000 (Wiring Rules), AS/NZS 61851 (EV charging equipment) and any state/territory EV-charging, electrical-licensing or accessibility requirements.
- You must align operationally with the Commonwealth DCCEEW Driving the Nation minimum operating standards (including charger uptime, signage and pricing transparency) where they apply to your sites.
- You must hold and maintain appropriate insurance, including public liability and (where applicable) professional indemnity and cyber insurance, at levels reasonable for the size and risk profile of your sites.
- You must display accurate pricing to drivers and honour the price quoted at session start.
- You are the merchant of record for charging services supplied to drivers; we facilitate payment collection only.
- You must promptly resolve driver disputes relating to your sites and chargers.
6. Data, content & licence
- You retain ownership of data You submit ('Customer Data'). You grant us a non-exclusive licence to host, process and display Customer Data to operate and improve the Platform and to produce de-identified aggregate analytics.
- We retain ownership of the Platform, all software, models, documentation and de-identified aggregate data.
- You warrant You have all rights necessary to provide the Customer Data and that it does not infringe third-party rights or laws.
7. Privacy
Our handling of personal information is governed by our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms and complies with the Australian Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
8. Acceptable use
You must comply with our Acceptable Use Policy. We may suspend the Platform if your use poses a security, legal or operational risk.
9. Service availability
We use commercially reasonable efforts to keep the Platform available but do not guarantee uninterrupted access. Service levels, support response times and service credits are set out in our Service Level Agreement, which forms part of these Terms. Planned maintenance will be notified where practicable. We are not liable for downtime caused by third-party networks, hardware faults at your sites, force majeure, or factors outside our reasonable control.
10. Australian Consumer Law & Unfair Contract Terms
Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts or modifies any consumer guarantee, right or remedy under the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)) or any other law that cannot lawfully be excluded. Where our liability for breach of a non-excludable guarantee can be limited, our liability is limited (at our option) to resupplying the services or paying the cost of resupply.
These Terms are intended to comply with the unfair contract terms regime in the Australian Consumer Law and the ASIC Act. Any term that would be unfair within the meaning of those laws is to be read down to the extent necessary to make it fair, or, if that is not possible, severed. We will not rely on a term in a way that would be unfair to a consumer or small-business counterparty.
11. Warranties & disclaimers
Subject to clause 10, the Platform is provided 'as is'. To the maximum extent permitted by law we exclude all implied warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.
12. Limitation of liability
- Subject to clause 10, neither party is liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive loss, or loss of revenue, profit, goodwill, data, or business opportunity.
- Our total aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with the Agreement (whether in contract, tort, statute or otherwise) is capped at the total subscription and transaction fees paid by You to us in the 12 months preceding the first event giving rise to the claim.
- This cap does not apply to your payment obligations, your indemnities below, breaches of confidentiality, or liability that cannot be limited by law.
13. Indemnity
You indemnify us against all loss, damage, cost and expense (including legal costs on an indemnity basis) arising from: (a) your operation of chargers or sites; (b) your breach of these Terms or law; (c) personal injury, property damage or electrical incidents at your sites; (d) any claim by a driver or third party relating to your services, pricing, refunds or conduct.
14. Confidentiality & intellectual property
Each party must keep the other's confidential information confidential and use it only to perform the Agreement, except where disclosure is required by law.
The Platform, including all software, source code, models, algorithms, user interfaces, documentation, branding and trade marks, is owned by Tethered Australia or its licensors. You must not copy, modify, reverse engineer, decompile, scrape, resell or create derivative works of the Platform, except to the extent these restrictions are prohibited by law.
14A. Payment security (PCI DSS)
Card payments are processed by PCI DSS compliant payment providers. We do not store full card numbers or CVVs on our infrastructure. You must not transmit card data to us outside the documented payment flows.
14B. Data export & portability
During the term and for at least 30 days after termination You may export your Customer Data (sites, chargers, sessions, drivers, reports) in CSV format from the Platform. After that period we may delete Customer Data, subject to backups expiring in the ordinary course and to records we are required to retain by law.
Charging session records are retained for 7 years from the session end date to satisfy Australian tax and electricity-industry record-keeping requirements. An automated cleanup job runs daily at 03:15 UTC and permanently deletes charging session records once the 7-year retention period has elapsed.
15. Suspension
We may suspend your account or specific features immediately where we reasonably believe there is: a security risk, non-payment, fraud, breach of these Terms, regulator request, or safety concern at your sites.
16. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be notified at least 30 days before they take effect. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance.
17. Governing law & jurisdiction
These Terms are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia. The parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales and the Commonwealth of Australia.
17A. Complaints & dispute resolution
If You have a complaint, please contact us first at the email shown below. We will acknowledge within 5 business days and aim to resolve within 30 days. If unresolved, You may refer the complaint to:
- the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) or your state fair trading office for consumer-law matters;
- the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) for privacy matters;
- the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) or the relevant state energy ombudsman (e.g. EWON in NSW, EWOV in VIC) for matters relating to the sale or supply of electricity, where applicable.
18. General
- Assignment: You may not assign without our consent; we may assign to a related body corporate or in connection with a sale of business.
- Notices: Notices must be in writing and may be given by email to the address on the account.
- Severability: If a provision is unenforceable it is severed without affecting the remainder.
- Entire agreement: These Terms (with the Privacy Policy, AUP and any order form) are the entire agreement and supersede prior representations.
- Force majeure: Neither party is liable for failure caused by events beyond reasonable control.