Terms of use

Black Diamond Energy is an online marketplace and technology platform that introduces registered, document-checked sites / buyers and service providers of fuel to one another, renders the agreement they sign, and records what is delivered against it.

Black Diamond Energy is not a fuel trader, wholesaler, broker, carrier or agent for either side. It does not buy, sell, own, store, blend or transport any product, and it never takes title to any product.

The contract of sale is concluded directly between the site / buyer and the service provider. Black Diamond Energy is not a party to it. What the Platform provides is the agreement both parties accept, the delivery record, and the settlement breakdown the bank acts on.

You must be at least 18, able to contract, and authorised to act for the business you register. One mobile number is one account, and one account holds one role — site / buyer or service provider, never both. You are responsible for everything done under your account and for keeping your number and device secure.

Your account details must be true and current. Registering on behalf of an entity you are not authorised to represent, or sharing an account, ends your access.

We review the documents an applicant submits — company registration, the identity document of the authorised signatory, and a wholesale fuel license where one is held — as a screening measure before access is granted.

That review confirms only that documents were presented and appeared valid at the time of vetting. It is not a warranty of anyone’s honesty, solvency, competence, product quality or continued licensing, and we do not monitor or renew anybody’s license afterwards. The decision to trade with a particular counterparty remains yours.

• give accurate volumes, collection and delivery points, and site access information.
• hold the authority and any permit needed to receive and store the product.
• fund the escrow with TradeSafe on the agreed terms.
• inspect each load at offload and sign it off honestly.

• hold and maintain every license and permit the product and the volume require.
• list only volume you actually have and a price you are able to honour.
• supply product meeting the applicable South African specification for that fuel.
• dispatch lawfully — a compliant vehicle, a licensed driver, and correct documentation for the load.
• issue a driver link only to the driver actually moving that load.

A service provider sets their own price. Black Diamond Energy adds a per-litre Black Diamond Energy fee, determined by the order volume, and the site / buyer is quoted a single all-in rate and total. That all-in figure is what the agreement is written against. Black Diamond Energy (Million Thrive (Pty) Ltd) is VAT-registered: VAT at 15% is charged on the Black Diamond Energy fee, on top of that total, and the site / buyer pays it. It is shown as its own line with every price and stated in the agreement. The full breakdown — service provider net and Black Diamond Energy fee — is disclosed to the service provider on every deal they are party to, and to TradeSafe.

Black Diamond Energy never holds your money. The site / buyer pays TradeSafe directly. TradeSafe confirms receipt, tells the service provider the funds are secured, and releases them against signed-off deliveries. Black Diamond Energy operates no client account, has no payment gateway, and has no access to escrowed funds at any point. Anything the Platform shows you about escrow status is a record of what TradeSafe has confirmed, not an instruction to it.

The escrow partner is TradeSafe Escrow (Pty) Ltd, a registered South African escrow provider. Money you pay into escrow is held by TradeSafe under TradeSafe’s own Terms of Service and privacy policy, which govern their part in any deal done here and apply in addition to these terms. Where the two differ on the handling of escrowed money, TradeSafe’s terms govern the money and these terms govern the Platform.

Black Diamond Energy fee rates and the VAT rate may change, but a change applies only to new calculations. The figures on a deal are fixed at the moment the site / buyer requests it.

When a service provider accepts a request, the Platform renders the sale agreement from the current template and stores it as an immutable snapshot, together with its SHA-256 hash. Each party’s acceptance is recorded with the date, time and network address it came from.

That snapshot is the document that governs the trade. It is never re-rendered, so a later edit to the template cannot alter an agreement two parties have already accepted. Where this page and an accepted agreement differ on the terms of a particular sale, the agreement governs.

A service provider splits an order into loads. Each load carries its own link for the driver, which requires no login and shows no prices. The driver marks the trip started; at offload, the person receiving the fuel types their full name to sign the load off.

That sign-off is evidence of delivery between the parties and is what a release is paid against. It cannot be edited afterwards. Disputes about quality or quantity are between the site / buyer and the service provider and, where relevant, the escrow partner.

A driver link is a credential. Anyone holding it can mark that load delivered, so treat it as you would a key and send it only to the driver.

Each deal carries a message thread between its two parties. It opens when the service provider accepts and becomes read-only once the deal closes. Messages cannot be edited or deleted by anyone, including us, and a Black Diamond Energy administrator can read the thread — deliberately, so that a dispute can be settled by reading what was actually agreed. Do not use it for anything you would not put in writing.

• transacting off-platform to avoid the fee, or soliciting another member to do so.
• listing volume you do not have, or product you are not licensed to sell.
• fraud, impersonation, false or altered vetting documents.
• sharing an account, or operating more than one account for the same business.
• forwarding a driver link to anyone other than the driver moving that load.
• attempting to access data you are not entitled to, or to disrupt the Platform.

The Platform is provided “as is” and “as available” without warranties of any kind, express or implied. We do not warrant that it will be uninterrupted or error-free, that any listing will attract a site / buyer, or that any counterparty will perform.

To the maximum extent the law permits, Black Diamond Energy is not liable for any loss, short-delivery, contamination, non-delivery, non-payment, delay, injury or death arising from the sale or transport of fuel or from the conduct of any member. Those risks lie between the contracting parties and, as to funds, with TradeSafe.

We are not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss, including loss of profit or business. Where Black Diamond Energy is nonetheless found liable, its total aggregate liability to you is limited to the greater of the Black Diamond Energy fee (excluding VAT) Black Diamond Energy earned on the transaction giving rise to the claim or R1,000. Nothing here excludes liability that cannot be excluded under South African law.

You indemnify Black Diamond Energy, its directors and its employees against any claim, loss, damage, penalty or expense (including reasonable legal costs) arising from your use of the Platform, your breach of these terms or of any law, the product you list or buy, or any dispute between you and another member.

We may refuse, suspend or withdraw access to any account that breaches these terms, poses a risk to another member, or is reasonably suspected of fraud — with or without notice, and we will tell you why where we can. You may close your account at any time. Obligations that by their nature survive — payment, liability, indemnity, and the record of concluded deals — continue.

A dispute about a sale is primarily between the site / buyer and the service provider. Black Diamond Energy may, at its discretion, assist by providing the records it holds — the accepted agreement, the message thread, the delivery sign-offs and the settlement breakdown — but is not obliged to resolve or arbitrate, and is not an arbitrator.

How we collect, use, share and protect personal information, and your rights under POPIA, are set out in our privacy policy, which forms part of these terms.

Black Diamond Energy is not liable for a failure or delay caused by events beyond its reasonable control, including network, provider or infrastructure outages, load-shedding, fuel supply interruption, industrial action, natural events or civil disruption.

These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa, and you consent to the jurisdiction of the South African courts. If any provision is found unenforceable, the rest continues in force.

We may amend these terms. Material changes will be notified by SMS or in the platform, and continued use after the effective date is acceptance of them.