Transport Operator Partner Terms

These terms must be individually accepted by each participating licensed Operator, together with its Operator Schedule, before any of its inventory is published. Operators are onboarded by RYDZ; there is no public self-sign-up, and RYDZ records the version of these terms each Operator accepts and when. A bus company appearing on a waitlist, in a pilot, or expressing interest is not an executed commercial partner. Where there are separate fleet owners, route licensees and transport operators, identify the legally responsible carrier for each service.

This agreement is between RYDZ Technologies Limited and the legal business or individual identified in the signed Operator Schedule ("Operator"). RYDZ provides access to an electronic channel to list selected routes and departures, manage or receive booking data, sell or facilitate tickets, validate credentials, reconcile collections and handle customer support. No other product, grant of exclusivity, financing or guarantee of sales is implied.

The Operator is the actual carrier of record for its listed services unless the law and a distinct signed agreement expressly establish otherwise. The Operator must maintain all required route, vehicle, passenger-transport, terminal, staff and insurance permissions and meet applicable timetable, roadworthiness, capacity, fare-table and safety obligations. RYDZ may request supporting licences and retain their expiry dates. An Operator must not advertise a service that it is not legally qualified to provide.

The Operator is responsible for keeping departure times, stops, route status, classes, price and seat inventory current and true, with a reliable record of cancellations, substitutions and sold seats. The platform guards against overselling by holding seats during checkout and releasing them when payment is not completed in time. The Operator must notify RYDZ promptly of a delay, change, suspension, change of boarding point, breakdown, overbooking or legal interruption. It may not silently alter a confirmed itinerary without the applicable passenger consent or remedy.

A listing is an offer to book subject to displayed restrictions and confirmed inventory. The Operator must honor valid paid tickets issued for its service, verify QR or booking codes through approved methods, have a safe backup procedure for network outages, avoid duplicate redemption and correct errors promptly. The Operator should not demand unadvertised add-on charges at boarding. It must provide reasonable boarding assistance and respect the published check-in process and lawful baggage policy.

RYDZ may receive a ticket service fee or negotiated Operator distribution fee, but no universal percentage or amount is set by these terms. The signed Operator Schedule must specify which party charges each fee, the taxable base, handling of VAT where applicable, pass-through payment-provider fees, settlement dates, refunds, disputes, chargebacks, promotional subsidies and any subscription amount (if offered). Only charges accepted in the Schedule and disclosed to consumers as required are enforceable. RYDZ's standard 15% ride commission is not automatically a ticket fee.

The parties must record each issued ticket, payment authorization/settlement, Operator entitlement, RYDZ fee, tax, failed/duplicate charge, refund and payout. Unmatched sums must be investigated and cannot be arbitrarily reallocated. The Operator must fund legally owed refunds for its cancellation/non-performance as allocated by actual liability; RYDZ must promptly correct its own failed issuance or double-charge errors. Passengers may contact RYDZ for platform support even when the underlying carriage is provided by the Operator. Cash handling, if enabled, requires a signed procedure. RYDZ checks the Operator's payout account against the Operator's documents before paying settlements to it, and may hold settlements while it reviews payments; the Operator can see the status of each settlement.

The Operator must supply sufficient pre-purchase terms describing prices, departure time, place, baggage, minors, accessibility, boarding identification, cancellation, changes, no-shows and refunds; RYDZ must publish those terms before sale and keep evidence of the accepted version. The Operator must not impose a term that unlawfully limits Malawi consumer protections. Complaints must be handled fairly with available transaction evidence; reasonable alternative travel or statutory refunds should not be withheld solely because the Operator and platform dispute settlement liability between themselves.

The Operator is responsible for trained and licensed staff, lawful passenger capacity, inspections, vehicle safety, regulatory reporting, adequate insurance and emergency response. It must notify RYDZ of material incidents affecting booked passengers and cooperate with support and lawful investigations. Operators must not conceal a major transport incident, change a vehicle without appropriate suitability, or fail to notify stranded passengers about interrupted services.

The Operator receives only necessary customer details; it must use them solely for ticket issuance, carriage, reconciliation and lawful obligations; protect manifests and ticket codes; and delete them when no longer justified. The parties must document their controller/processor roles, lawful bases, data-sharing mechanism, incident escalation, subcontractors and cross-border transfers before the Operator's services go live on RYDZ. The Operator must notify RYDZ without undue delay of relevant customer-data breaches so each party can satisfy its statutory duties. A data-protection addendum and technical integration controls may be required.

The Operator must maintain secure credentials, least-privilege staff roles and accurate inventory integrations where applicable. No shared general admin passwords, scraping of customer records, unauthorized code access or use of platform branding without consent. RYDZ may change APIs or technical specifications on reasonable notice. Incident containment or suspension of a compromised integration is permitted as reasonably needed for public safety and security.

Each party owns its pre-existing technology, marks and content. The Operator grants RYDZ the limited licence needed to display approved route listings, logo and customer-facing service information during the agreement. RYDZ may not describe the Operator as a formal partner before signing, and neither side may imply government certification or sponsorship not actually awarded.

Service commences on acceptance and activation of the Operator Schedule; ordinary termination requires the agreed notice period. Immediate suspension may be needed for serious illegality, unsafe vehicles, lack of insurance, repeated consumer loss, confirmed fraud or material cybersecurity risk. On termination, the parties must honor existing paid tickets or arrange lawful equivalent remedies, settle reconciled sums, preserve legally required records and provide a controlled consumer support transition. A change of platform relationship cannot strand paid passengers without remedy.

Each party remains responsible for its legally attributable acts, misrepresentations and breaches. A negotiated commercial indemnity, insurance minimum, liability allocation, cap and dispute process should appear in a separately signed Schedule; nothing in it should cut across passengers' mandatory rights. Malawi law applies and competent courts/regulators retain statutory jurisdiction. Operational disputes are escalated through designated commercial representatives, separate from passenger complaints.

Each Operator's Schedule is completed and signed with that Operator before its inventory is published, and records:

• Legal carrier name, company registration/tax identifiers, ownership and authorised signatory.
• Route/operator permits, passenger insurance, fleet/vehicle and terminal details.
• Fare publication owner, inventory authority, capacity and cutoff/hold rules.
• Ticket/service fees, taxes, allocation of refunds and settlement cycle.
• Cancellation rules for each ticket fare family; delay/no-show/boarding rules.
• Data protection and incident contacts, security and integration requirements.
• Start date, term, termination notice, applicable governing documents, signature.