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Community Guidelines & Safety Tips
The standards everyone on BoliApp is expected to follow, practical safety tips for buying and selling in Pakistan, and what happens when the rules are broken.
1. Why these guidelines exist
BoliApp is operated by BOLIAPP Private Limited, a company incorporated in Pakistan and based in Lahore, Punjab. Everyday deals between strangers — whether it is a used phone, a car, a flat on rent or a job — depend on trust. These guidelines explain how we expect buyers, sellers, store owners and job posters to behave on BoliApp so that every deal starts on an honest footing.
They apply to everything you do on BoliApp: listings, offers and bids, auctions, chat messages, store pages, reviews and your profile. They work alongside our Terms of Service (/legal/terms-of-service), Prohibited Items Policy (/legal/prohibited-items) and Privacy Policy (/legal/privacy-policy). If something is not allowed under Pakistani law, it is not allowed on BoliApp either.
2. Treat everyone with respect
Disagreements over price or condition are normal; abuse is not. Be polite in chat, accept a “no” gracefully, and keep negotiations focused on the deal.
- No harassment, bullying, stalking, repeated unwanted messages, or contacting someone again through another account after they have blocked you.
- No threats of violence, intimidation, blackmail or pressure to complete a deal.
- No hate speech or abuse targeting a person’s religion, sect, ethnicity, caste, language, province, gender, disability or any similar characteristic.
- No sectarian, blasphemous or religiously offensive content, and no content that violates the Pakistan Penal Code or any other law of Pakistan.
- No sexually explicit content, sexual harassment or unsolicited sexual messages.
- No discriminatory listings or job posts that exclude people on the basis of religion, sect, ethnicity or gender.
3. Honest listings
Buyers make decisions based on what you show them. Every listing must describe a real item, property, job or service that you are actually able to sell, rent or offer.
- Use your own recent photos of the actual item, not stock images or photos copied from other listings or websites. Image enhancement tools, including BoliAI, may improve lighting and clarity but must not be used to hide defects or change what the item looks like.
- State the true condition, including scratches, repairs, replaced parts, water damage or missing accessories.
- Show the real price in PKR. Do not advertise a fake low price to attract buyers and then ask for more.
- Choose the correct category and location, and post each item only once.
- Do not list prohibited or restricted items. See our Prohibited Items Policy at /legal/prohibited-items.
- In auctions, do not bid on your own listings, use other accounts to push the price up (shill bidding), or back out of a winning bid without a genuine reason.
4. Genuine reviews and BoliTrust
Reviews and your BoliTrust score help other people decide who to deal with. They only work if they are honest.
- Only review someone after a real interaction or deal with them.
- Do not write fake reviews, buy or sell reviews, or swap positive reviews with friends or other sellers.
- Do not use negative reviews to threaten, punish or pressure someone, and do not offer or demand anything in return for removing a review.
- Do not try to manipulate a BoliTrust score through fake accounts, fake deals or coordinated activity.
5. No spam, scams or fraud
BoliApp uses automated checks, including BoliAI moderation of listings and chat, together with human review to detect spam and fraud. You must not:
- Send bulk or repetitive messages, unrelated advertising or chain messages.
- Post listings for items, properties, jobs or services that do not exist or that you do not control.
- Ask for advance payments, “token money”, registration fees or delivery charges as part of a deception.
- Share phishing links, fake payment confirmations, or links designed to collect passwords, OTPs or banking details.
- Use BoliApp for money laundering, pyramid or “double your money” schemes, or any other unlawful financial activity.
6. Keep conversations on BoliApp
Use BoliApp chat for your negotiations, especially in the early stages. Messages on BoliApp help us detect scams, and they give our team a record to review if you report a problem.
Be careful if someone insists on moving to WhatsApp, Telegram, a phone call or email straight away, or sends you links to other websites to “complete the deal”. This is one of the most common signs of a scam. Payments made outside BoliApp are not protected by BoliApp, and we may not be able to help you recover them.
7. Privacy, impersonation and fake accounts
Respect other people’s privacy and be honest about who you are.
- Do not post other people’s phone numbers, addresses, CNIC details, photos or other personal information without their permission.
- Do not dox anyone. Collecting or publishing someone’s personal details to harass, shame or threaten them is strictly prohibited.
- Use personal information you receive through a deal only for that deal.
- Do not impersonate any person, business, brand, government body or BoliApp staff member. BoliApp staff will never ask for your password or OTP.
- Do not create multiple accounts to get around limits, suspensions or bans, or to deceive other users.
- Do not post fake documents, edited screenshots or forged certificates.
8. Safety tips: meeting and paying
Most deals on BoliApp are completed directly between buyer and seller. Unless BoliApp-held checkout with buyer protection is available for your deal, payment and handover happen between you and the other person, so follow these tips every time:
- Meet in a busy public place in daylight, such as a shopping mall, outside a bank branch or in a well-known market. Avoid isolated locations and late-night meetings.
- Take a friend or family member with you, and tell someone where you are going and who you are meeting.
- Inspect and test the item carefully before you pay. For electronics, check that it switches on, charges and works as described.
- Never pay an advance or “token money” to a seller you have not met, no matter how good the deal looks.
- Pay only when the item is in your hands. As a seller, confirm that the money has actually arrived in your own account before you hand over the item.
- Do not carry more cash than you need, and keep valuables out of sight.
- If something feels wrong, walk away. A genuine buyer or seller will understand.
9. Safety tips: phones, vehicles, property and jobs
Some categories need extra checks before any money changes hands:
- Mobile phones: confirm that the phone is PTA-approved. Dial *#06# to see the IMEI, match it with the box and the phone’s settings, and check its status through PTA’s DIRBS service (for example, by sending the IMEI by SMS to 8484). Ask for the box and purchase receipt, and be careful with phones that are locked to someone else’s account.
- Vehicles: match the registration book, chassis number and engine number with the vehicle itself, and verify the registration, ownership and any outstanding tax through the provincial Excise & Taxation department’s online verification service. Have the vehicle checked by a mechanic you trust, and complete the ownership transfer through the proper official process.
- Property: ask to see the original ownership documents, such as the registry, fard or allotment letter, and verify them with the relevant land record office or housing authority. Check that a housing society is approved by the relevant development authority. Visit the property in person, never pay a booking or “token” amount before verification, and consider consulting a qualified lawyer.
- Rentals: visit the property before paying any advance rent or security deposit, confirm that the person showing it is the owner or is authorised by the owner, and sign a written tenancy agreement.
- Jobs: a genuine employer will not ask you to pay for an interview, registration, training, visa processing or uniforms. Be wary of offers that promise very high pay for little work, or that ask for a copy of your CNIC and your bank details before any interview.
- Services: agree on the work and the price in writing (BoliApp chat is ideal for this) and avoid paying the full amount upfront.
10. Common scams to watch for
Scammers often reuse the same tricks. Learn to recognise them:
- Fake payment messages: a “buyer” sends an SMS or screenshot claiming they have paid through JazzCash, EasyPaisa or a bank transfer. Messages and screenshots are easy to fake. Always check your own account balance or banking app before handing anything over.
- OTP and account takeover: no genuine buyer, seller, bank, mobile wallet or BoliApp team member needs your OTP, PIN, password or card CVV. Never share them, even if the caller claims to be from BoliApp, PTA, a bank or a prize scheme.
- CNIC misuse: do not send pictures of your CNIC, cheques or bank cards to people you meet online. They can be misused to register SIMs, wallets or accounts in your name.
- Courier and “advance delivery charges”: a seller in another city asks you to pay delivery, packing or customs charges first and promises to send the item by courier. The item never arrives.
- Overpayment: a buyer “accidentally” sends more than the agreed price and asks you to return the difference. The original payment turns out to be fake or is reversed, and you lose the money you sent back.
- Prizes, lotteries and fake job offers that ask you to pay a fee before you receive a reward or salary.
- Prices far below the market value combined with pressure to decide quickly. BoliAI scam checks may warn you about some suspicious patterns, but they cannot catch every scam, so always use your own judgement as well.
11. Reporting problems and getting help
If you see a listing, message or user that breaks these guidelines, use “Report listing” or “Report user” in the app. You can also block a user to stop them from contacting you. Reports are reviewed by BoliApp’s moderation team.
For any other help, visit boli-app.com/help/contact or email info@boliapp.pk.
If you have been a victim of online fraud, harassment, blackmail or another cybercrime, file a complaint with the FIA Cyber Crime Wing (cybercrime complaints are now handled by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency, NCCIA) through its official online complaint portal. Keep screenshots of the chat, payment records and the listing link as evidence. If you are in immediate danger, call the police emergency helpline 15.
12. How we enforce these guidelines
When we find a breach, we act in proportion to how serious it is, the harm caused and the account’s history. If you believe a decision about your account or content was a mistake, you can ask us to review it through boli-app.com/help/contact.
Serious cases, such as fraud, threats, extortion or sexual exploitation, may lead to an immediate permanent ban without an earlier warning. Depending on the case, we may:
- Send a warning explaining what needs to change.
- Remove or edit a listing, review, message or other content.
- Limit features such as posting, chatting, bidding or making offers.
- Temporarily suspend the account.
- Permanently ban the account and any linked accounts.
- Lower the account’s BoliTrust score or remove badges.
- Preserve records and cooperate with law enforcement agencies, including where required under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (PECA) and other laws of Pakistan.