Whot Arena by Versestudios
In respect of any transactions entered into on the Whot Arena Platform, including making a payment to participate in skill-based competitions hosted by Versestudios, the Users agree to be bound by the following payment terms. You acknowledge that Whot Arena is a platform for skill-based contests where the outcome depends predominantly on the user's strategic and tactical performance.
Subject to these Terms and Conditions, all amounts collected from the User are held in separate non-interest earning escrow bank account. From these bank accounts, the payouts can be made to (a) Users (towards their withdrawals of Competition Rewards or Wallet Balance); (b) Versestudios (towards its Platform Fees); to (c) to the Government (towards applicable taxes on amounts won). The Escrow account shall receive and hold the amounts of the Users in trust as a trustee of and for the benefit and use of the Users.
Versestudios receives only its share of the Platform Fees through the said Escrow account and has no control over the User funds held by the Escrow account in the dedicated non-interest earning escrow account.
Versestudios reserves the right to charge a Platform Fee, which would be specified and notified by it, prior to a User's joining of a competition. The Platform Fee (inclusive of applicable tax thereon) will be debited from the User's account balance and Versestudios shall issue an invoice for such debit to the User.
The User may participate in a competition wherein the User has to contribute a pre-specified contribution towards the Competition Pool of such competition, which will be passed on to the Winner(s) of the competition after the completion of the competition as per the terms and conditions of such competition. The amount to be paid-in by the User towards the Competition Pool would also be debited from the User's account balance maintained with the Escrow Agent.
Each time a User participates in any Competition on Whot Arena platform, the Contribution shall be debited in the User's account. The Contribution for each User shall be first debited from the Wallet Balance and thereafter, any remaining amount of such Contribution shall be debited from the Competition Rewards.
Any User availing services are provided with following categories of accounts for the processing and reconciliation of payments:
a) Wallet Balance – comprises of money contributed by the User through payment gateway
b) Competition Rewards – comprises of the money won by the Users by winning the competition
In case there is any amount remaining to be paid by the User in relation to such User's participation in any Competition(s), the User will be taken to the designated payment gateway to give effect to such payment which shall also be credited to the Escrow account. In case any amount added by the User through such payment gateway exceeds the remaining amount of the Contribution, the amount in excess shall be transferred to the Wallet Balance and will be available for use in participation in Competitions or for withdrawal in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.
Debits from the Wallet Balance for the purpose of enabling a User's participation in a competition shall be made in order of the date of credit of amounts in the Wallet Balance, and accordingly, amounts credited into Wallet Balance earlier in time shall be debited first.
In order to request a withdrawal of any amount standing in the Wallet Balance, the User must first complete Whot Arena's identity verification, and bank account verification, which will also require submission of User's NIN/PAN card and bank account details. Such withdrawal of any amount standing in the Wallet Balance may be made by way of a request to Whot Arena giving complete details along with reasons for withdrawal over email. Whot Arena shall cause an online transfer to the User's bank account on record with Whot Arena by instructing the Escrow Agent on behalf of the User (to which the User expressly consents), within a commercially reasonable period of time. Such transfer will reflect as a debit to the User's Wallet Balance. Whot Arena may, in certain exceptional circumstances and at its sole and absolute discretion, refund the amount to the User after deducting applicable cancellation charges and taxes.
Further, withdrawal of any amount standing to the User's credit in the Competition Rewards may be made by way of a request to the Escrow Agent through Whot Arena, but shall in any event occur automatically upon completion of 180 days from the date of credit of such amount in the User's Competition Rewards. In either case, Whot Arena shall cause an online transfer to the User's bank account on record with Whot Arena by instructing the Escrow Agent on behalf of the User (to which the User expressly consents), within a commercially reasonable period of time. Such transfer will reflect as a debit to the User's Competition Rewards. Whot Arena shall not charge any processing fee for causing the online transfer of such amount from the Competition Rewards to the User's bank account on record with Whot Arena.
Winners shall be contacted by Whot Arena conducting the competitions to the registered email address of the Users. Users need to complete the verification process in order to raise the withdrawal request. As a general practice, winners will be required to verify their email address & phone number along with following documents:
a) Self-attested photocopy of the User's Government-issued ID (NIN/PAN);
b) User's bank account details and proof of the same.
Whot Arena shall not instruct the Escrow Agent to provide for withdraw of a User's prize(s)/accumulated Competition Rewards/Wallet Balance unless the above-mentioned documents have been received and verified within the time-period stipulated by Whot Arena. Only to those winners who successfully complete the verification process and provide the required documents within the time limit specified by Whot Arena shall the Escrow Agent provide for (at the instructions of Whot Arena on behalf of the User, to which the User expressly consents) withdraw/receive their accumulated Competition Rewards/Wallet Balance (or any part thereof).
Users are requested to note that they will be required to provide valid photo identification and address proof documents for proof of identity and address in order for Whot Arena to process the withdrawal request. The name mentioned on the User's photo identification document should correspond with the name provided by the User at the time of registration on Whot Arena, as well as the name and address existing in the records of the User's bank account as provided to Whot Arena.
In the event that no bank account has been registered by the User against such User's account with Whot Arena, or the User has not verified his/her User account with Whot Arena, to Whot Arena's satisfaction and in accordance with these Terms and Conditions, Whot Arena shall provide such User with a notification to the User's email address as on record with Whot Arena at least 30 days prior to the Auto Transfer Date, and the User shall register a bank account with his/her User Account and/or to verify his/her User Account by the Auto Transfer Date.
Bonus Credits cannot be withdrawn and are automatically transferred to Wallet Balance when a User loses a Competition.
Whot Arena shall scrutinize all documents submitted and may, at its sole and absolute discretion, disqualify any winner from withdrawing his accumulated Competition Rewards (or any part thereof) on the following grounds:
a) Determination by Whot Arena that any document or information submitted by the User is incorrect, misleading, false, fabricated, incomplete or illegible; or
b) User does not fulfil the Eligibility Criteria; or
c) Any other ground.
Whot Arena shall not permit a Winner to withdraw his/her prize(s)/accumulated Competition Rewards unless the above-mentioned documents have been received and verified within the time-period stipulated by Whot Arena, as described herein.
The User represents and warrants that the documents provided in the course of the verification process are true copies of the original documents to which they relate.
Users are required to provide proper and complete details at the time of registration. Whot Arena shall not be responsible for communications errors, commissions or omissions including those of the Users due to which the results may not be communicated to the Winner.
Where any of the fixtures within a competition are cancelled or abandoned without an official result, all competition entries are considered void and the Contribution shall be duly refunded to User. There are no prize/rewards pay-outs and platform fee charges for these voided Competitions.
If, in a transaction performed by you on the Platform, money has been charged to your card or bank account and respective amount is not added in your Whot Arena Account within 24 hours of the completion of the transaction, then you shall inform us by sending an e-mail from your registered e-mail address. Please include the following details in the e-mail – your mobile number, transaction value, transaction date and transaction ID. Whot Arena will investigate the incident and, if it is found that money was indeed charged to your card or bank account without delivery of the balance in your Whot Arena Account, then you will be refunded the money within 7 business days from the date of receipt of your e-mail. All refunds will be credited to your Whot Arena Account.
Versestudios may withdraw and/or cancel any competition(s) to be conducted or already conducted, without prior notice to any Users or winners of any competition(s). In such an event, Whot Arena shall cause a refund of the amount of Contribution money contributed by each participant to be effected by instructing the Escrow Agent on behalf of the User (to which the User expressly consents).
All prizes shall be subject to deduction of applicable taxes as per the Nigerian tax laws. As of the current date, withholding tax rate prescribed by the Government of Nigeria with respect to any prize money amount that is in excess of ₦10,000.00 is 10% of the total prize money amount for individuals. In case of any revisions by the Government of Nigeria to the aforementioned rate in the future, taxes will be deducted by Whot Arena in accordance with the then current prescribed tax rate. Winners will be provided tax certificates in respect of such tax deductions.
Once a User joins a skill-based competition and the match or tournament session begins, the entry fee or contribution is considered fully consumed. No refunds will be issued for voluntary exits, network disconnections on the user's end, or dissatisfaction with the match outcome, as the service of providing a competitive platform has been delivered.
You agree to contact our support team at versestudios.support@gmail.com to resolve any billing issues before contacting your bank or payment provider to initiate a chargeback or dispute. Abusive or fraudulent chargebacks (initiating a dispute after participating in a competition) are a breach of these terms and will result in permanent account suspension and forfeiture of any remaining balances.
In the event of an approved refund for a failed transaction or cancelled competition, Whot Arena reserves the right to deduct any non-refundable processing fees charged by third-party payment gateways (e.g., Paystack) or banking institutions, as permitted by law.