Refund, Chargeback & Reserve Policy

Draft — not yet in force. These documents are shared for transparency and are pending legal review. They are not the final, binding terms until published at launch.

DRAFT for legal review — not final, not in force. See 00-README. Part of the Merchant Agreement; relevant extracts inform Customers. `` / [PLACEHOLDER] as defined there.

Provider: CIQRA OÜ, Tallinn, Estonia · Version: 1.0-draft · 2026-07-08

This Policy explains, for CIQRA Pay (Stripe Connect, direct charge): (A) refunds on Storefront sales, (B) chargebacks/disputes, (C) the risk-based reserve, and (D) CIQRA's own subscription refunds. Because each Merchant is the merchant of record, refund/chargeback responsibility for Storefront sales sits primarily with the Merchant, not CIQRA. ``

A. Refunds on Storefront sales (Merchant → Customer)

A.1 Merchant sets and honours the refund/return policy. Each Merchant publishes its own refund/return policy on its Storefront, which must meet mandatory consumer law, including the EU 14-day right of withdrawal for distance contracts and its exceptions (made-to-order goods; sealed goods unsealed after delivery; digital content/services where performance began with the consumer's prior express consent and acknowledgement of loss of the withdrawal right). Merchants may offer more generous terms (hybrid model). ``

A.2 Estonia "withdraw" button (from 01.09.2026). Estonian law will require an online "withdraw from contract" button for consumer distance contracts. CIQRA provides storefront support for this; the Merchant remains responsible for compliant handling and timely refunds. ``

A.3 How refunds are processed. Refunds are issued by the Merchant (or CIQRA on the Merchant's instruction) via Stripe against the original charge, up to the captured amount, and are debited from the Merchant's balance/next payout. Statutory refunds must be made within the legal timeframe (generally 14 days of a valid withdrawal, subject to withholding until goods are returned/evidence of return where permitted). ``

A.4 Fees on refunds. CIQRA returns its commission (application_fee) to the Merchant on a full refund (refund_application_fee=true), and returns it pro-rata on a partial refund. Stripe's own processing fees are set by Stripe and may not be returned. ``

A.5 CIQRA's role. CIQRA provides refund tooling and records but is not a party to the Customer↔Merchant contract and is not liable for a Merchant's refund obligations, except for CIQRA's own processing error.

B. Chargebacks & disputes

B.1 What a chargeback is. A Customer's card issuer may reverse a payment (a "chargeback"/"dispute"). The disputed amount plus a scheme/Stripe dispute fee is debited from the Merchant's balance when the dispute is opened.

B.2 Merchant responsibility. The Merchant is responsible for chargebacks on its sales and for submitting compelling evidence (proof of delivery, terms accepted, communications) within the deadline to contest them. CIQRA/Stripe provide dispute tooling but do not guarantee the outcome; card networks decide.

B.3 Fees & liability. If a dispute is lost, the Merchant bears the transaction amount and the Stripe/scheme dispute fee; if won, the amount is returned (the dispute fee may or may not be refunded per scheme rules). Fraudulent-transaction losses on the Merchant's sales are the Merchant's risk under the direct-charge model. CIQRA does not add a separate dispute-handling surcharge beyond the Stripe/scheme dispute fee, unless stated on the pricing page. ``

B.4 Excessive disputes. High or rising chargeback ratios may trigger card-scheme monitoring programs and consequences. As an indicative internal threshold, a Merchant approaching or exceeding a ~0.75% chargeback-to-transaction ratio (or the then-current Visa/Mastercard dispute-monitoring thresholds), or with disproportionate fraud/refund rates, may be placed under review and subject to a risk-based reserve (Part C), increased fees, additional verification, suspension, or termination, including where required by Stripe/card schemes. [Approach: Visa VDMP / Mastercard ECM ~0.9%/100-dispute + Stripe early-warning thresholds.]

B.5 Backstop / pre-emptive refunds. To prevent or resolve disputes, reduce chargeback exposure, comply with consumer law, or meet Stripe/scheme requirements, CIQRA (or Stripe) may, in defined circumstances, issue or require a refund on a transaction — including where the Merchant is unresponsive to a valid Customer complaint or dispute — and debit the corresponding amount from the Merchant's balance/reserve. CIQRA will act reasonably and, where practicable, consult the Merchant first. [Approach: Paddle/Lemon Squeezy MoR + Stripe platform backstop-refund pattern.] ``

C. Risk-based reserve

C.1 Conditional, not default. CIQRA applies a reserve only where risk warrants it; low-risk Merchants have no reserve by default. Triggers include: elevated/rising chargeback, refund or fraud rates; high-risk or long-fulfilment models (pre-orders, deposits, tickets, travel, subscriptions); sudden volume spikes; verification gaps; investigations; or a requirement from Stripe/a bank/scheme/authority.

C.2 Reserve types.

Rolling reserve — typically up to 10% of processed volume held for a rolling 90 days, then released (exact percentage/period set to the assessed risk and disclosed). [Approach: Stripe/PayPal rolling-reserve norm ≈5–10% / 90–120 days.]
Fixed/minimum reserve — a set amount held.
Up-to-100% hold — on specific funds where fraud/serious risk is suspected.

C.3 Notice & transparency. When a reserve is imposed/changed, CIQRA tells the Merchant the type, amount/percentage, trigger, and expected release conditions — except where notice would undermine fraud prevention or breach law/scheme rules.

C.4 Purpose & release. The reserve secures the Merchant's obligations (refunds, chargebacks, reversals, fees, negative balance, indemnities). Funds are released when the risk period lapses and no offsetting liability remains. No interest accrues unless legally required. ``

C.5 Post-termination tail. After termination, CIQRA may retain a reserve/hold for up to 180 days to cover late chargebacks/refunds before final release. [Approach: card-scheme chargeback windows (≈120–180 days).]

D. Negative balance & recovery

If refunds, chargebacks, reversals, fees or reserves exceed the Merchant's available balance, the balance may go negative and the Merchant must repay promptly. CIQRA/Stripe may recover by offsetting current/future payouts and sales, drawing on the reserve, charging the linked payment method/bank, and, if unrecovered, pursuing the debt with reasonable costs and statutory interest (Merchant Agreement §7). ``

E. CIQRA's own subscription refunds (CIQRA → Merchant)

E.1 CIQRA subscription fees are billed in advance and are generally non-refundable; cancellation takes effect at period end with no pro-rata refund (ToS §3.5). E.2 Where a Merchant is itself a consumer and a mandatory statutory withdrawal right applies to the subscription purchase, that right is honoured as required by law. ``

F. Customer-facing summary (for inclusion on Storefronts)

Your purchase is a contract with the store (the Merchant), who is the seller. Refund and return requests, and consumer rights such as the 14-day right of withdrawal (where it applies), are handled by the store under its published refund policy and applicable law. Payments are processed securely via Stripe; the store — not CIQRA — is responsible for the goods/services and refunds.

End of Refund/Chargeback/Reserve Policy (draft). See: Merchant Agreement · Terms of Service · TR overlay.