Terms of Service for Telegram Stars

Telegram · Official agreement

32 of 55 blocks carry cards. 35 cards.

Terms of Service for Telegram Stars

These Terms of Service for Telegram Stars (“these Terms”) govern your usage of Telegram Stars, as defined below. For the purposes of these Terms, ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ refers to Telegram, and ‘you’ refers to you, the user of Telegram Stars.

1. Introduction

[Telegram Stars](https://telegram.org/blog/telegram-stars) are virtual items that allow users to purchase digital goods and services from bots and mini apps inside the Telegram ecosystem, send gifts to content creators on the Telegram platform, and more.

Telegram uses third-party payment processors to facilitate secure and effortless purchases of Telegram Stars.

2. Payment

Stars can be acquired via in-app purchases on the Telegram apps for iOS and Telegram for Android, as well as via [@PremiumBot](https://t.me/premiumbot) on the [direct version](https://telegram.org/android) of Telegram for Android, as well as Telegram’s [Web](https://telegram.org/apps#web-apps) and [Desktop](https://telegram.org/apps#desktop-apps) apps. Telegram does not process these transactions, therefore, any issues or concerns regarding Star purchases should be addressed to the respective payment processor.

2.1. Taxes and Conversion Rates

While we do not anticipate frequent changes to the purchase price of Telegram Stars, we reserve the right to alter it at any time, to reflect factors such as changes to our business, different product offerings, or new economic conditions.

Users in certain regions may be required to pay local taxes, which will be calculated and added to the total cost of a purchase. Payment providers may apply their own commissions and conversion rates to payments in various currencies, as agreed between you and them. This is outside of Telegram’s control.

2.2. Stars Purchased via Third Parties

When you purchase Telegram Stars via a [third party](https://telegram.org/tos/third-party-payments) (e.g., Apple In-App Purchase), your purchase may be further subject to the third party's terms as agreed between you and the third party, and your billing relationship will be directly with the applicable third party.

2.3. Compliance with Local Laws

Telegram’s ability to facilitate the purchase of and engagement with Stars may be subject to additional restrictions in certain jurisdictions or for a subset of users, based on local laws and regulations.

This is outside of Telegram’s control. Accordingly, if local laws or regulations force us to prevent you from purchasing Stars or using those you have already purchased, Telegram will not be liable and will not offer any form of compensation.

3. Refunds

All sales of Telegram Stars are final and Telegram does not issue refunds for unwanted or unintentional purchases of Stars. Should you decide to delete your account or otherwise lose access to it for any reason, your remaining Star balance will be considered forfeit.

3.1. Disputing Purchases

If a bot or mini app fails to deliver your purchase as advertised and within the agreed-upon timeframe, the respective third-party developer has the ability to refund your Stars at no penalty. Bots should be able to provide payment support if you send them the command /paysupport.

Should the developer refuse to process a legitimate refund following a /paysupport request, you can retrieve the relevant transaction ID from Settings > Your Stars and submit a report [here](https://t.me/BotFather?start=starsdispute).

3.2. Refunding Stars Obtained Through Third Parties

By issuing a chargeback or refund request for Telegram Stars paid for through a third party, such as Apple or Google, you agree to allow Telegram to release necessary data to that third party regarding your account status and Telegram Star purchases.

4. Balance

Stars you purchased are kept in a personal balance on your account. Once Stars have been added to this balance, you are free to use them to purchase digital goods and services from bots and mini apps, access paid media, donate to content creators or send Telegram gifts. You may not sell, withdraw, transfer or use Stars in your personal balance for any other purpose than those explicitly outlined in these Terms.

Stars accrued from incoming [paid messages](https://telegram.org/website/blog-star-messages-gateway-2-0-and-more) and [converted Telegram gifts](https://t.me/TelegramTips/476) are subject to the [Terms of Service for Content Creators](https://telegram.org/tos/content-creator-rewards) where applicable, such as [section 4](https://telegram.org/tos/content-creator-rewards#4-rewards).

5. Abuse of the Services

Telegram retains the right to temporarily withhold or permanently debit Stars from your personal balance in response to refunds of in-app purchases or violation of these Terms or any other terms or regulations which govern your usage of Telegram, including but not limited to local laws and applicable third-party store terms. In such cases, Telegram will not issue any form of refund or compensation for the debited Stars or any adverse consequence their removal may have caused, such as the loss of previously purchased digital goods, services and subscriptions.

6. Scope

6.1. Using Stars

The benefits and services you can access by purchasing and spending Stars are outlined below. You may not attempt to sell, redistribute, or use Stars for any other purpose than those expressly set out in these Terms.

Future updates may add further functionality to Telegram Stars. Conversely, we may discontinue support for some or all of these benefits and services if we are no longer able to provide them for legal or technical reasons. In addition, some of them may become free of charge for all Telegram users in the future.

6.2. Availability

Telegram strives to make its services available for all users all the time, but occasional technical or regulatory issues may occur, temporarily preventing us from delivering services to our users, including access to your Star balance or associated perks. Telegram will not compensate you for any direct or indirect loss resulting from our temporary inability to provide any free or paid services.

Access to your Star balance and all necessary integrations to spend it within the Telegram ecosystem are available on major Telegram clients, such as the official iOS and Android apps. Some Telegram apps made by Telegram or by third parties may not cover the aforementioned services immediately after they are launched or at all.

6.3. Purchasing Digital Goods and Services

The Telegram platform offers digital goods and services that can be purchased with Telegram Stars, such as Telegram gifts and gift subscriptions to Telegram Premium. Third-party bots and mini apps may also allow you to purchase other digital goods and services with Stars.

If you believe that a bot or mini app is not operating in good faith, make sure you have contacted the bot using the command /paysupport to resolve the issue. If this is unsuccessful, you can submit a [report](https://t.me/BotFather?start=starsdispute) using our bot.

6.4. Rewarding Creators

Stars may also be awarded as gifts to creators who release content on the Telegram platform. Such creators and their respective communities may set up certain perks attached to sending them gifts – such as the ability to view or comment on specific posts, join an exclusive group or subscribe to an exclusive channel.

When users send Stars in payment for goods and services or as rewards for content published on Telegram, developers or creators will see a separate balance on the pages of the respective bots or channels. See the [Bot Developer Terms of Service](https://telegram.org/tos/bot-developers) and the [Content Creator Terms of Service](https://telegram.org/tos/content-creator-rewards) for more details.

6.5. Sending Messages

Users can enable messaging fees for their private chats or in groups they own. When enabled, other users must pay a specified amount of Stars for each message they send in the chat. In private chats, a user’s contacts are always able to message them feely. Private chats also support additional exceptions, allowing certain users to privately message the user free of charge. Similarly, group members with specific roles, such as admins, can be exempted from messaging fees in group chats.

Users or who enable messaging fees for their chats set the amount of Stars required to send each message. Those users receive 85% of the Stars paid to send each message. Should the user wish to, they may refund the sender of paid messages, returning the full amount of Stars paid to originally send the messages.

6.6. Integration with Telegram

Stars are seamlessly integrated within the Telegram ecosystem and may gain new functionality at any time, such as the ability to enable subscriptions, unlock exclusive perks and features, acquire or gift virtual items and more.

7. Termination

7.1. Compliance with the Terms

Failure to comply with the Telegram Terms of Service may result in a temporary or a permanent ban from Telegram or some of its services. If your Telegram account is terminated, your remaining Star balance will be considered permanently forfeit and we will not compensate you for this loss.

7.2. Unilateral Termination

Telegram can decide to stop offering Stars or supporting some or all of their related functionality at any time for some or all users, including in response to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, or to comply with a legal requirement.

8. Changes

We will review and may update these Terms from time to time. Any changes to these Terms will become effective when we post the revised Terms on this page https://telegram.org/tos/stars. Please check our website frequently to see any updates or changes, a summary of which we may set out below.