Stars are virtual items for buying digital goods and services and sending gifts
Telegram describes Stars as virtual items. Users can use them to buy digital goods and services from bots and mini apps inside the Telegram ecosystem, to send gifts to content creators on the Telegram platform, 'and more'. The 'and more' leaves the full range of uses open in this passage; section 4 and section 6 list specific uses.
Supporting quotations
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
Qualifications & exceptions
Uses are limited to those these Terms explicitly allow (see the balance card).
Not stated here
'and more' is not specified in this passage.
Charges & Financial Obligations · Company practice
Telegram uses third-party payment processors and does not process Star purchases itself
Telegram says it uses third-party payment processors to handle purchases of Stars. It does not process these transactions itself, so you are told to take any issues or concerns about Star purchases to the respective payment processor rather than to Telegram.
Supporting quotations
Telegram uses third-party payment processors to facilitate secure and effortless purchases of Telegram Stars.
Telegram does not process these transactions, therefore, any issues or concerns regarding Star purchases should be addressed to the respective payment processor.
Qualifications & exceptions
This concerns the purchase transaction; section 3.1 separately covers a bot or mini app that fails to deliver what Stars were spent on.
Not stated here
The processors are not named in this source.
Charges & Financial Obligations · Procedure
Stars can be bought through in-app purchases, PremiumBot on direct Android, Web and Desktop apps
You can acquire Stars through in-app purchases in the Telegram apps for iOS and Android, through @PremiumBot on the direct version of Telegram for Android, and through Telegram's Web and Desktop apps.
Supporting quotations
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.
Qualifications & exceptions
The passage does not say which payment methods each channel accepts.
Charges & Financial Obligations · Company practice
Telegram can change the purchase price of Stars at any time
Telegram says it does not expect frequent price changes but reserves the right to alter the purchase price of Stars at any time. The reasons given are examples: changes to its business, different product offerings, or new economic conditions.
Supporting quotations
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.
Qualifications & exceptions
The listed factors are introduced with 'such as', so they are examples rather than limits.
The statement that frequent changes are not anticipated is an expectation, not a commitment.
Not stated here
No notice period before a price change is stated.
Charges & Financial Obligations · Company practice
Local taxes may be added, and payment providers may add commissions and conversion rates
Users in certain regions may have to pay local taxes, which are calculated and added to the total cost of a purchase. Payment providers may apply their own commissions and conversion rates for payments in various currencies, as agreed between you and them. Telegram says this is outside its control.
Supporting quotations
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.
Qualifications & exceptions
Taxes apply to users in certain regions only; the regions are not listed.
Provider commissions and conversion rates are set between you and the provider, not by Telegram.
Not stated here
Which regions owe local taxes is not stated.
Charges & Financial Obligations · Context
Buying Stars through a third party can add that party's terms and gives you a billing relationship with it
If you buy Stars through a third party such as Apple In-App Purchase, the purchase may also be subject to that third party's terms, as agreed between you and them. Your billing relationship is then directly with the third party.
Supporting quotations
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.
Qualifications & exceptions
The linked Third-Party Payments page is a separate document and is not supplied with this source.
Not stated here
The third party's own terms are not part of this source.
Charges & Financial Obligations · Restriction or exception
All Star sales are final, with no Telegram refunds for unwanted or unintentional purchases
Telegram says all sales of Stars are final and that it does not issue refunds for unwanted or unintentional purchases of Stars. The sentence is about refunds Telegram itself would issue; other parts of the document describe developer refunds for undelivered goods (3.1), refund or chargeback requests made through Apple or Google (3.2), and consequences of refunds for your balance (5).
Supporting quotations
All sales of Telegram Stars are final and Telegram does not issue refunds for unwanted or unintentional purchases of Stars.
Qualifications & exceptions
Developers of bots and mini apps can refund Stars they received if they fail to deliver (3.1).
Third-party store refund or chargeback requests are addressed separately in 3.2 and can trigger the debit right in section 5.
Not stated here
The sentence does not say whether Telegram would ever refund other kinds of Star purchases, such as duplicate charges.
Charges & Financial Obligations · Permission or license
If a bot or mini app does not deliver, its developer can refund your Stars at no penalty
If a bot or mini app does not deliver your purchase as advertised and within the agreed-upon timeframe, the third-party developer is able to refund your Stars at no penalty. The text says bots 'should be able to' provide payment support when you send the command /paysupport. A refund is something the developer has the ability to do; the source does not say the developer must refund.
Supporting quotations
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.
Qualifications & exceptions
Condition: the bot or mini app fails to deliver as advertised and within the agreed-upon timeframe.
'has the ability' and 'should be able' are permissive wording, not guarantees.
Not stated here
The agreed-upon timeframe is set between you and the developer and is not stated here.
If a developer refuses a legitimate refund, you can report it to Telegram with the transaction ID
If a developer refuses to process a legitimate refund after you used /paysupport, you can find the transaction ID in Settings > Your Stars and submit a report through the linked Telegram bot. The text does not say what Telegram will do with such a report, how long it takes, or whether Telegram can order a refund.
Supporting quotations
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).
Qualifications & exceptions
Only available after a /paysupport request to the developer was refused, and the refund must be 'legitimate'.
Not stated here
Who decides whether a refund is 'legitimate' is not stated.
No outcome, response time or remedy is promised for a report.
Charges & Financial Obligations · User right or choice
Purchased Stars sit in a personal balance you can spend on listed things
Stars you purchased are kept in a personal balance on your account. Once added, you are free to spend them to buy digital goods and services from bots and mini apps, to access paid media, to donate to content creators, or to send Telegram gifts.
Supporting quotations
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.
Qualifications & exceptions
The permitted uses are the ones listed; the next sentence bars other uses.
Charges & Financial Obligations · Restriction or exception
You may not sell, withdraw, transfer or use Stars for other purposes
You may not sell, withdraw, transfer or use Stars in your personal balance for any purpose other than those explicitly outlined in these Terms.
Supporting quotations
You may not sell, withdraw, transfer or use Stars in your personal balance for any other purpose than those explicitly outlined in these Terms.
Qualifications & exceptions
Stars accrued from incoming paid messages and converted gifts are subject to the Content Creators terms where applicable (see the next card).
Not stated here
Whether any withdrawal route exists for creators is governed by the Content Creators terms, which are not supplied.
Charges & Financial Obligations · Context
Stars from paid messages and converted gifts fall under the Content Creators terms where applicable
Stars you accrue from incoming paid messages and from converted Telegram gifts are subject to the separate Terms of Service for Content Creators where applicable. The source gives section 4 of those terms as an example. That document is not part of this source, so its rules are not described here.
Supporting quotations
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).
Qualifications & exceptions
Applies 'where applicable', so not every accrued Star is necessarily covered.
Not stated here
The Content Creators terms, including section 4 on rewards, were not supplied and are not analyzed here.
Cross-references
qualifies (model-proposed): You may not sell, withdraw, transfer or use Stars for other purposes — qualifies: The general bar on selling, withdrawing or transferring Stars is qualified for Stars from paid messages and converted gifts, which are subject to the Content Creators terms where applicable. Those terms are not supplied.
Charges & Financial Obligations · Restriction or exception
Debited Stars come with no refund or compensation, including for lost purchased goods
When Telegram debits Stars in these cases, it says it will not issue any form of refund or compensation for the debited Stars. It also does not compensate for adverse consequences, with loss of previously purchased digital goods, services and subscriptions given as an example.
Supporting quotations
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.
Qualifications & exceptions
Applies to the withholding or debit cases described in the preceding sentence.
Charges & Financial Obligations · Restriction or exception
Stars may be used only for the purposes these Terms set out
The benefits and services you can access by buying and spending Stars are outlined in the subsections that follow. You may not try to sell, redistribute or use Stars for any purpose other than those expressly set out in these Terms. This repeats the balance restriction in section 4: no selling, withdrawing, transferring or other use outside the listed purposes.
Supporting quotations
You may not attempt to sell, redistribute, or use Stars for any other purpose than those expressly set out in these Terms.
You may not sell, withdraw, transfer or use Stars in your personal balance for any other purpose than those explicitly outlined in these Terms.
4. Balance
Qualifications & exceptions
The permitted purposes are those set out in these Terms, including the spending uses listed in section 4 and section 6.
Charges & Financial Obligations · Company practice
Telegram may stop supporting some or all Star benefits for legal or technical reasons
Future updates may add more functionality to Stars. Telegram also says it may discontinue support for some or all of the benefits and services that Stars give access to if it can no longer provide them for legal or technical reasons.
Supporting quotations
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.
Qualifications & exceptions
The stated reasons are legal or technical inability to provide the benefit.
Section 7.2 separately lets Telegram stop offering Stars or related functionality at any time.
Not stated here
No notice period is stated, and this passage does not say what happens to Stars already held when a benefit is discontinued.
Cross-references
contrast (model-proposed): Telegram can stop offering Stars or their functionality at any time for some or all users — contrast: Section 6.1 ties discontinuing benefits to legal or technical inability, while section 7.2 lets Telegram stop offering Stars or functionality at any time. Reviewed: 7.2 uses 'including' for its examples, so it reads as broader and its reasons are not limits; the two are not read as contradictory.
Charges & Financial Obligations · Context
Future updates may add functions, and some benefits may become free for everyone
Telegram says future updates may add further functionality to Stars. It also says some of the benefits and services may become free of charge for all Telegram users in the future.
Supporting quotations
Future updates may add further functionality to Telegram Stars.
In addition, some of them may become free of charge for all Telegram users in the future.
Qualifications & exceptions
Both statements are about possible future changes; they do not promise that any will happen.
Charges & Financial Obligations · Context
Stars can buy Telegram gifts, Premium gift subscriptions and goods from bots and mini apps
Telegram offers digital goods and services you can buy with Stars, such as Telegram gifts and gift subscriptions to Telegram Premium. Third-party bots and mini apps may also let you buy other digital goods and services with Stars.
Supporting quotations
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.
Qualifications & exceptions
'such as' and 'may also' make the examples non-exhaustive and the third-party offers optional.
Not stated here
What each third-party bot or mini app sells, and on what terms, is not covered by this document.
Charges & Financial Obligations · Procedure
If you think a bot is not acting in good faith, contact it with /paysupport, then report it
If you believe a bot or mini app is not operating in good faith, you should first contact the bot with /paysupport. If that does not resolve the issue, you can submit a report through the linked Telegram bot. This is the same escalation route as the one described for refunds in section 3.1.
Supporting quotations
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.
Qualifications & exceptions
The report step comes only after contacting the bot with /paysupport has failed.
Not stated here
No outcome or response time for a report is stated here.
Stars can be sent as gifts to creators, who and whose communities may attach perks to gifts
Stars may also be given as gifts to creators who publish content on Telegram. Those creators and their communities may set up perks tied to sending them gifts, for example the ability to view or comment on specific posts, join an exclusive group or subscribe to an exclusive channel.
Supporting quotations
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.
Qualifications & exceptions
The perks are set by creators and their communities, not by Telegram, and the examples are introduced with 'such as'.
Not stated here
The perks and any conditions on them are not specified here.
Charges & Financial Obligations · Context
Developers and creators see a separate balance of the Stars they receive
When users send Stars as payment for goods and services or as rewards for content, developers or creators see a separate balance on the pages of their bots or channels. The source points to the Bot Developer and Content Creator Terms of Service for more details; those documents are not supplied here.
Supporting quotations
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.
Not stated here
The Bot Developer and Content Creator terms were not supplied, so what developers and creators can do with that balance is not described here.
Charges & Financial Obligations · Permission or license
Users can charge Stars to message them, with exceptions for contacts, chosen users and group roles
Users can turn on messaging fees for their private chats or for groups they own. When on, other users must pay a set number of Stars for each message they send. In private chats the user's contacts can always message them free of charge, and the user can allow certain other users to message them free as well. In groups, members with certain roles, such as admins, can be exempted.
Supporting quotations
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.
Qualifications & exceptions
Applies to private chats and to groups the user owns; contacts are always exempt in private chats.
Not stated here
Which roles beyond admins can be exempted is not specified.
Charges & Financial Obligations · Company practice
People who charge for messages keep 85% of the Stars paid and may refund the sender
Users who turn on messaging fees set the number of Stars needed for each message. They receive 85% of the Stars paid to send each message. If they choose, they can refund the sender of paid messages, returning the full amount of Stars paid.
Supporting quotations
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.
Qualifications & exceptions
The refund is the receiving user's choice ('may').
Not stated here
The passage does not say what happens to the remaining 15%.
Section 4 says Stars from incoming paid messages are subject to the Content Creators terms where applicable; those terms are not supplied.
Stars may gain new functions at any time, such as subscriptions and exclusive perks
Telegram says Stars are integrated into the Telegram ecosystem and may gain new functionality at any time. The examples given include subscriptions, exclusive perks and features, and acquiring or gifting virtual items.
Supporting quotations
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.
Qualifications & exceptions
The listed functions are examples ('such as', 'and more') and describe possibilities, not commitments.
Charges & Financial Obligations · Company practice
Telegram can stop offering Stars or their functionality at any time for some or all users
Telegram can decide at any time to stop offering Stars, or to stop supporting some or all of their related functionality, for some or all users. The examples given are unforeseen circumstances beyond its control and compliance with a legal requirement. The passage does not say what happens to Stars already held, and does not give a notice period.
Supporting quotations
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.
Qualifications & exceptions
'including in response to' introduces examples, so these reasons do not limit the right.
Not stated here
Whether held Stars are refunded, kept or lost when Stars are discontinued is not stated in this passage.