Telegram Terms of Service

This is Telegram's Terms of Service, which sets the rules for using the Telegram messaging app, including its paid Premium subscription and virtual currency (Stars). The most important thing to know is that Telegram Premium subscription fees are nonrefundable — if you cancel early, you keep access until the billing period ends but receive no money back, and deleting your account does not cancel your subscription. Check your app store (Apple or Google) subscription settings to make sure your Telegram Premium subscription is actually cancelled if you no longer want it.

This document constitutes Telegram's Terms of Service governing use of the Telegram messaging platform, including the base service, Telegram Premium subscription, Telegram Stars, and associated features, with legal basis rooted in contractual agreement upon sign-up and acceptance of linked sub-terms. The most significant obligations include user prohibitions against spam, illegal content, violence promotion, and child abuse material on public channels, alongside user financial obligations for recurring Premium subscription payments that are explicitly nonrefundable except in cases of Telegram-initiated unilateral termination. Notable deviations from industry standard include the absence of any arbitration clause or dispute resolution mechanism, a strict no-refund policy for cancelled subscriptions (including no pro-rata credit), and a provision that data may be released to third-party payment processors upon chargeback initiation. The document engages consumer protection frameworks including EU consumer rights directives (particularly regarding subscription cancellation and refund rights under Directive 2011/83/EU), GDPR in relation to data disclosure triggered by chargeback requests, COPPA and analogous age-restriction regimes (minimum age 18 in EU, UK, and Australia), and FTC Act Section 5 regarding potentially unfair practices in the no-refund policy. Material compliance considerations include the jurisdictionally variable minimum age requirement, the data-sharing trigger embedded in the chargeback clause, and the delegation of legal compliance responsibility for giveaway features entirely to channel administrators without Telegram indemnification.