Community rules

The short rules everyone on Ryde follows: riders, renters, taxi drivers and rental companies. They put the Terms of Service, the Driver Agreement and the Shop Agreement in plain words; where they differ, those documents decide.

For everyone

• Be respectful. No harassment, threats, violence or discrimination, by anyone, against anyone.
• Be honest. Use your own name and your own phone number, and give true information. Book for someone else only with their say-so.
• Keep Ryde bookings on Ryde. Do not move a booking made through Ryde outside it to avoid a fee that is owed.
• Follow the law. Every road rule in Belize applies on every ride and every rental, golf carts included. Nothing unlawful in any vehicle.
• In an emergency, call 911 first. Then tell the driver, the company or Ryde.

Riders

• Say how many are riding, up to 6. Ryde offers your ride only to a taxi that seats everyone: an ordinary taxi seats 4, Ryde XL seats 6, and a bigger group books two taxis.
• Check before you get in. Match the taxi's plate and the driver's name with the app. Belize taxis carry a green plate.
• Give your pickup code. The driver asks for it before the trip starts. Do not set off without it.
• Be at the pickup. Your driver waits at least 5 minutes after arriving. After that they may end the ride as a no-show. Ryde charges nothing for it, but it is recorded, and a driver offered your next ride may see recent no-shows.
• Stops are booked, not added on the way. Add up to 2 when you book; they cannot be changed once the ride is booked.
• A taxi goes only where a road goes. For an island or a caye with no road from your pickup, the app points you to the boat.
• Pay the fare shown, and Ryde's fee if you pay by card. A tip is your choice, and all of it goes to the driver.
• Cancelling a ride is free. If your driver's phone goes quiet after accepting, the app lets you find another taxi at no cost.
• Wear your seat belt, and treat your driver with respect. A driver may refuse or end a ride for their safety or yours.

Renting a vehicle

• Be 18 or over, or the company's own higher age, and bring a driving licence that covers the vehicle. The booking screen says which licence before you book. A company must refuse handover if your licence is missing, expired or does not cover the vehicle.
• The company's rules are part of your booking. Late-return fee, fuel, cleaning, smoking, where the vehicle may go: each is shown before you book. A company may not charge you under a rule it did not show.
• Look the vehicle over with the company at handover and at return. Fuel and damage are noted both times.
• A deposit comes back when the vehicle returns as it went out. Anything kept is listed in the app, line by line, with its reason. Ryde never holds a deposit.
• Bring it back on time. The app shows how long you have left. Need longer? Ask the company in the app before your time runs out.
• A rented vehicle is never a taxi. Do not carry passengers for money.
• Wear the helmet that comes with every motorcycle, and carry no more people than there are seats. Children ride inside the vehicle, never on a lap or the back step.
• Keep it where it belongs. Do not take a vehicle off its island, out of the area the company allows, or across a border unless the company says so.
• Something wrong? On your booking, tap Problem with the golf cart? (or the car, ATV or motorcycle) and the company hears what happened and where you are. After an accident, call 911 first if anyone is hurt.

Taxi drivers

• Your papers are photos a person at Ryde checks: the certificate of title showing the vehicle is a taxi, its vehicle licence, your driver's licence with class C1, C or ALL, insurance that covers passengers, and your green taxi plate. In the Cayo District, the town council's taxi trade licence too. A renewal counts once its photo is checked.
• When a paper runs out, you cannot go online until its renewal is checked. Renew before then with a photo of the new paper.
• Five photos of your taxi, once a year: front, back, both sides, and the back seat with the seat belts showing. A person at Ryde checks that the belts work front and back, the doors open from inside, the windscreen in front of you is not cracked, the lights work, and the taxi is clean with no torn seats. Riders may ask for new photos through their ratings.
• Every paper must be genuine and yours. A false document means removal from Ryde, and it is reported to the authorities.
• Accept only rides you will finish. Repeated cancelling may lead to suspension.
• Seat no more than your taxi holds. You are offered only riders your taxi seats; never carry more passengers than its seats.
• Arrive before you say so. Tell the app you have arrived only at the pickup, ask for the rider's code before the trip starts, and wait at least 5 minutes before ending a ride as a no-show.
• Take the stops in order, wait a reasonable time at each, and mark each one done.
• Drive a reasonable route, and complete the trip in the app when the rider gets out, so the fare is recorded.
• Charge the fare in the app, nothing more, and record cash honestly: paid when it was paid, not paid only when it was not.
• Only real rides. Never complete a ride that did not happen, for the ride bonus or anything else.
• Never drive after drinking alcohol or taking drugs. Keep the taxi clean, roadworthy and safe.
• A golf cart is never a taxi. Ryde gives you no way to dispatch one, and a rented vehicle never carries paying passengers.
• A rider's details are private. Share them with no one except as the law requires.

Rental companies

• Your papers are photos a person at Ryde checks: your trade licence, your business registration, and every vehicle's permit and third-party insurance. A vehicle is offered to renters only while its papers and yours are in date and checked.
• Photos and descriptions are of your own vehicles. Say truthfully what each one is and seats.
• The price you set is the price renters pay. Ryde adds nothing on top. Put your rules, extras and cover in the app so renters see them before booking, and charge only what you showed.
• Answer requests promptly. A request not answered within 6 hours is declined by itself. Give a reason when you decline, and honour what you confirm: repeated cancelling may cost you your listing.
• Check the licence at every handover covers the vehicle, and record its number and expiry. Hand a helmet over with every motorcycle.
• Note fuel and damage at handover and at return, and settle the deposit in the app line by line, with the reason for every amount kept.
• Delivery goes where the renter chose, in your town, if your listing delivers.
• Walk-ins and your own booking link carry no Ryde commission. Do not ask a renter who booked through Ryde to cancel and rebook either way to avoid it.
• Renter notes stay fair: true, about renting, and never about a person's race, religion, health or private life.
• Your team is yours. You answer for everyone you add to your delivery team or send a delivery link to.

The law in Belize, in brief

• Seat belts: everyone in the vehicle wears one where it is fitted, front and back. Most golf carts have none.
• Drink-driving: the limit is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. Over it, a driver can be fined, jailed and banned from driving. In San Pedro the traffic department breath-tests drivers and keeps the vehicle until a sober licensed driver collects it.
• Golf carts on Ambergris Caye: no one under 18 drives one, a cart carries no more people than its seats, and the town speed is 15 mph, 10 mph near schools and homes. A cart without its permit can be fined and impounded.
• Motorcycles: a helmet on every person, and no more than one passenger, on a proper seat behind the driver.
• Emergencies: call 911 for police, fire or ambulance, anywhere in Belize.

If a rule is broken

Ryde may warn an account, suspend it for a set time or until we lift it, or remove it. A suspended account cannot sign in or book. We tell you why, unless the law or someone's safety stops us, and you can reply and ask us to review it. A driver or company may be suspended or removed at once for a false paper or for putting people at risk. Otherwise a partner hears from us first, with a reason, and can ask for a review.

Report anything unsafe from your trip or booking, or to Ryde: email [email protected] or WhatsApp +501 613 5737.