Terms of use

1. General

1.1. These Terms of Use (the "Terms") govern the use of the Dorohoyu ride-sharing service: the website dorohoyu.com, the Telegram bot @dorohoyu_bot and related services (together, the "Service").

1.2. The Service is provided by individual entrepreneur (FOP) Bohdan Petrenko ("we", the "Operator"). Contact: [email protected].

1.3. These Terms are a public offer within the meaning of Arts. 633 and 641 of the Civil Code of Ukraine. By creating an account and confirming acceptance of the Terms, you conclude an agreement with the Operator on these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1.4. Processing of personal data is described in the Privacy Policy (dorohoyu.com/privacy), which forms part of these Terms for information purposes.

1.5. Definitions:

• Visitor — a person who uses the website without an account.
• User — a person who has created an account.
• Driver — a User who publishes a Trip in their own or lawfully used car.
• Passenger — a User who books a seat in a Trip or publishes a Request.
• Trip — a Driver's listing of a journey they make for their own purposes, with free seats.
• Request — a Passenger's listing of a need for a ride on a given date.
• Booking — a Passenger's request for seats in a Trip, which the Driver confirms or declines.
• Cost contribution — the amount the Driver asks the Passenger to pay as a share of the actual costs of the Trip.

1.6. Sections 10, 13 and 14 apply to everyone who uses the website, including Visitors.

2. What Dorohoyu is and is not

2.1. The Service is an information platform that helps Drivers and Passengers going the same way to find each other and agree on a shared ride with cost sharing.

2.2. The Operator is not a carrier. It does not provide transport, taxi, vehicle rental or transport brokerage services, is not a party to any arrangement between a Driver and a Passenger, and does not act as an agent or representative of either. The ride-sharing agreement (if any) is concluded directly between the Driver and the Passenger.

2.3. The Driver makes the Trip for their own purposes: the Trip would take place without Passengers. The Service must not be used for professional or commercial passenger transport, including transport for profit, regular on-demand routes or taxi activity.

2.4. The Service is free of charge. The Operator charges no commission to Drivers or Passengers.

3. Account

3.1. The Service may be used by persons with full legal capacity aged 18 or over. By creating an account you confirm that you are 18 or older. Trips and Requests can be viewed without an account.

3.2. An account is created by signing in with Google, or with an email address and a password you set via the link in our email. One person — one account.

3.3. You must provide truthful data (name, photo, phone number, vehicle details), keep it up to date and not impersonate anyone. Your profile photo must show you. The Operator may ask you to confirm your data, including by providing vehicle documents and an insurance policy, where needed to handle a report or check compliance with the Terms.

3.4. You are responsible for keeping safe your password and access to the email and Telegram you use to sign in or verify your number. Tell us immediately about any unauthorised access.

3.5. Phone numbers are verified via the Telegram bot @dorohoyu_bot. A manually entered number is treated as unverified. Without a verified number the following limits apply: a Passenger may hold no more than 3 pending booking requests at once, and a Driver no more than 3 upcoming published Trips; a Driver may restrict their Trip to Passengers with a verified number.

3.6. The "verified" label only means that the number has passed our verification procedure via Telegram. The Operator does not check Users' identity, documents, driving licence, insurance, reputation or criminal record, so treat a fellow traveller with the same caution as you would a stranger.

4. Cost contribution and payments

4.1. No money passes through the Service. The Driver and the Passenger settle directly, in the way they agree (cash, bank transfer, etc.). The Operator does not accept, hold, guarantee or refund any money.

4.2. The cost contribution is intended only to cover a share of the actual costs of the Trip (fuel, road tolls, etc.) and must not generate a profit for the Driver.

4.3. When a Trip is published, the Service recommends a contribution range calculated from distance, fuel type and average consumption, and warns the Driver if the amount is above the cap: the total for all seats should not exceed the estimated full cost of the Trip. The Driver is responsible for the amount of the contribution.

4.4. The declared contribution is a maximum. The Driver may not demand from a Passenger more than the amount shown in the Trip at the time of the booking request, or any other reward, including in kind. Breach of this rule is a ground for banning the account.

4.5. The Driver is solely responsible for their tax status and for complying with the law regarding the money received, and for ensuring their activity does not fall under the regulation of commercial passenger transport.

4.6. The Driver must cover their own share of the costs of the trip: the Driver bears vehicle depreciation, their own time, the risks of the trip and insurance. Passengers' contributions cover only fuel and toll roads, are intended only to share the costs and must not generate a profit for the Driver.

5. Driver's obligations

The Driver warrants and undertakes that they:

• hold a valid driving licence of the appropriate category and the right to drive the car;
• use a car that is roadworthy, registered and covered by valid compulsory motor third-party liability insurance; the Driver checks personally that the policy is valid and covers passengers, including abroad (for example, the "Green Card"). The Operator does not insure Trips and does not state that the Driver's policy covers passengers;
• provide truthful and up-to-date Trip and vehicle details (route, time, points, seats, licence plate);
• do not carry more passengers than permitted and obey traffic rules;
• do not demand more than the declared contribution (section 4) and do not demand payment before the Trip starts: settlement is no earlier than boarding and no later than drop-off;
• drive as announced, promptly tell Passengers about a delay or change, and stay reachable by phone;
• wait for the Passenger at the pickup point for at least 15 minutes after the stated time;
• on an international Trip, hold the documents needed to cross the border and are responsible for their own documents and right of entry;
• answer booking requests promptly and notify Passengers of cancellations through the Service.

6. Passenger's obligations

The Passenger undertakes to:

• book only seats they intend to use and cancel unneeded bookings in good time;
• arrive at the pickup point on time, wait for the Driver at least 15 minutes after the stated time, and stay reachable by phone;
• pay the Driver the declared contribution in the agreed way — no earlier than boarding and no later than drop-off; the Passenger need not pay in advance, and a demand for prepayment is grounds for a report;
• on an international Trip, hold the documents needed to cross the border and be solely responsible for them and for the right of entry;
• book seats only for people: a Passenger booking several seats is responsible for their companions and tells the Driver who is travelling; minors travel only accompanied by an adult from the same Booking; pets and large luggage only with the Driver's consent in chat; carrying parcels or animals without an accompanying person is prohibited; child seats follow traffic rules and are the parties' responsibility;
• behave safely and respectfully towards the Driver and other passengers and follow traffic rules (including seat belts);
• not carry prohibited items and agree in advance with the Driver on large luggage and pets.

7. Trips, Requests and Bookings

7.1. Publishing. The Driver publishes a Trip with departure, arrival and intermediate places, map points, time, number of seats and contribution amount. A Passenger may publish a Request; Drivers see Requests along their route, and the Passenger is notified when a matching Trip appears (in Telegram — no more than 3 messages per Request per day).

7.2. Visibility. Trips and Requests are visible to everyone, including guests and search engines, with points rounded to about 1 km. Exact points, the licence plate and the phone number become available only after a Booking is confirmed (section 7.5).

7.3. Booking request. The Passenger requests a number of seats for a section of the route. A seat is secured only once the Driver confirms. The Driver can confirm or decline in the app, and also with the "Confirm / Decline" buttons in the Telegram bot's message.

7.4. Response time. If the Driver does not respond, the request expires automatically after 24 hours or 2 hours before departure, whichever comes first (if less than 2 hours remain, at departure). If, after another request is confirmed, there are not enough seats left, the request is declined automatically.

7.5. After confirmation the other party receives your phone number: the Driver's number is shown to the Passenger of the confirmed Booking; the Passenger's number is shown only to a Driver with a verified number; a manually entered number is never shown to anyone. Exact pickup and drop-off points and the vehicle's licence plate also become available. Before confirmation, the Service does not allow phone numbers, links and usernames in chat and comments.

7.6. Chat. The Driver and the Passenger can message each other in the Trip chat. Messages are stored in the Service and may be reviewed by a moderator if reported.

7.7. Completion. A Trip is automatically treated as completed 3 hours after the estimated arrival time (if the duration is unknown — 12 hours after departure).

8. Cancellations

8.1. The Driver may cancel a Trip, and either party may cancel a Booking before departure. Passengers and the Driver are notified of cancellations. Cancellation is not possible after departure.

8.2. Since no money passes through the Service, the Operator charges no cancellation fees and makes no refunds. The Driver may not demand prepayment (section 5); if a Passenger nevertheless pays in advance, they do so at their own risk and the Operator takes no part in such payments.

8.3. Cancellations (in particular less than 24 hours before departure) and no-shows are recorded in the account history and taken into account by moderation. A no-show means a party did not appear at the pickup point and could not be reached within 15 minutes after the stated time. The Driver may mark a Passenger as a no-show within 24 hours after the Trip is completed; the Passenger may dispute the mark.

8.4. After the Driver declines, a repeated request for the same Trip is not possible; after cancelling themselves, a Passenger may request again once.

8.5. Cancellation because of a safety threat (air-raid alert, curfew, checkpoints, road closures, other martial-law restrictions) is not a breach of the Terms. The parties are themselves responsible for complying with martial-law restrictions.

9. Reviews

9.1. After a Trip is completed, each party of a confirmed Booking may, within 7 days, answer whether the trip happened and leave a review with a rating from 1 to 5 and text — including where the trip did not happen (such a review is labelled).

9.2. Reviews are published "blind": when both parties have left a review or when 7 days have passed. Until then the other party cannot see the review. A submitted review cannot be edited by its author.

9.3. A review must be honest, relate to the specific trip and contain no insults, personal data (including phone numbers and links), advertising or false statements. Reviews are public and remain after the author's or the subject's account is deleted, without their name.

9.4. The Operator may hide a review that breaches these Terms. The Operator does not verify reviews and is not responsible for their content.

10. Rules of conduct

It is prohibited to:

• provide false information, impersonate another person, or create multiple accounts;
• use the Service for commercial transport, reselling seats, advertising or spam;
• demand more than the declared contribution or any other reward;
• insult, threaten, harass or discriminate against other Users, or send obscene material;
• drive dangerously or endanger passengers;
• publish other people's personal data, or publish your own contacts in open fields to get around the rules of section 7.5;
• scrape the Service, overload it, or circumvent limits and protections;
• break the law, including by carrying prohibited items.

11. Reports, blocks, moderation

11.1. You may block another User. Bookings between you on future Trips are cancelled in both directions, and you no longer see each other in Trip and Request search.

11.2. You may report a User, Trip, Request, Booking or message, giving a reason: abuse, harassment, impersonation, dangerous driving, spam, "demanded more than declared" (including demanding prepayment). Reports about reviews and photos go to [email protected]. The Operator does not resolve disputes about amounts, except demands above the declared contribution.

11.3. Profile photos are published immediately and reviewed by a moderator afterwards; the moderator may remove a photo that breaches the Terms and notify its owner.

11.4. For breaches of the Terms the Operator may hide content, restrict features or ban the account. Signs of commercial use may be grounds for review and a ban: frequency and regularity of Trips, number of passengers, a contribution exceeding the costs; the Operator may ask for vehicle documents and an insurance policy. On a ban, the User's future Trips and active Bookings are cancelled, and their profile and photo are hidden from others. A ban is decided by a human moderator and its reason is recorded. You may appeal a ban at [email protected]; an appeal is reviewed within 14 days.

11.5. The Operator is not obliged to check all Users and all content and does not check documents, insurance or criminal records (section 3.6), but responds to reports within a reasonable time.

12. Notifications

12.1. The Service sends notifications in the app, to the Telegram bot (if connected) and — for booking events — by email (if enabled). Telegram and email notifications can be turned off in the profile; service messages of the bot required for phone verification cannot be turned off.

12.2. Emails are sent to confirm sign-up, reset a password and, if enabled, for booking notifications. The Service sends no marketing emails.

13. Your content

13.1. You keep the rights to the content you publish (texts, photos, reviews). You grant the Operator a free, non-exclusive, worldwide licence to use that content solely to operate the Service: storing it, showing it to other Users and visitors, including in search engine results, and technical processing (resizing photos, etc.) — for as long as the content exists in the Service, and for reviews — for as long as they are kept under section 9.3.

13.2. You warrant that you hold the rights to your content and that it does not infringe third-party rights.

13.3. The Service, its design and software belong to the Operator. Map data is provided under its sources' licences (OpenStreetMap — ODbL, GeoNames — CC BY 4.0, etc.); see the "Data sources" page.

14. Liability

14.1. The Service is provided "as is". The Operator makes reasonable efforts to keep it running but does not guarantee the absence of failures, errors, outages of third-party services (Telegram, email, maps, routing), or that you will find a Trip or a Passenger.

14.2. As the Operator is not a party to arrangements between Users, the Operator is not liable for:

• whether a Trip takes place, its time, route and conditions;
• Users' conduct, the accuracy of their data, or their ability to pay; the "verified" label is not a check of identity, documents or insurance (section 3.6);
• cancellation or changes of a Trip because of a safety threat (section 8.5);
• harm to life, health or property during a Trip — such liability is governed by law and the parties' insurance;
• payments between Users;
• content published by Users.

14.3. Distances, durations and recommended contributions calculated by the Service are estimates.

14.4. To the extent permitted by law, the Operator's liability is limited to direct damage caused by its intentional acts or gross negligence. Nothing in these Terms limits consumer rights that cannot be limited by contract under applicable law.

14.5. The User shall compensate the Operator for losses caused by the User's breach of these Terms or the law.

15. Account deletion and termination

15.1. You may delete your account at any time in profile settings. Deletion is immediate and irreversible: future Trips, active Bookings and Requests are cancelled and profile data is anonymised. Reviews, trip history with other people and messages in other participants' chats (for the period stated in the Policy) remain without your name. Details — Privacy Policy, section 9.

15.2. The Operator may terminate the agreement with a User for breach of the Terms (section 11) or if the Service is discontinued, giving 30 days' notice, except for bans for breaches.

16. Changes to the Terms

16.1. The Operator may change the Terms. We will announce material changes in the app and/or by email at least 14 days before they take effect.

16.2. On your next sign-in after a new version takes effect, the Service will ask you to accept it on screen. Until you accept the new version, you cannot continue to use the Service. If you disagree, you may delete your account.

17. Governing law and disputes

17.1. These Terms are governed by the law of Ukraine. If you are a consumer residing in the EU, you keep the protection of the mandatory rules of the law of your country of residence.

17.2. The parties will try to settle disputes by negotiation — write to [email protected]. If a dispute is not settled within 30 days, it is heard by a court in accordance with the legislation of Ukraine.

18. Contacts

Operator — see clause 1.2.

Email: [email protected]