Terms of Service

Plain-language summary (not part of the legal terms). Ryde connects you with independent taxi drivers and independent rental companies across Belize. Ryde does not own the vehicles or employ the drivers. Ryde charges taxi drivers nothing and adds nothing to your fare. Ryde earns a commission from rental companies on bookings made through Ryde, and from businesses that pay to be shown in the app.

1. Who we are and what these terms cover

1.1 Ryde Belize is the website at ryde.bz and Ryde's two apps for iPhone and Android: Ryde, for riders and rental companies, and Ryde Driver, for taxi drivers (together the Service). It is operated by Ryde Tech, a business registered in Belize on 30 September 2026 (BCCAR No. 000059715), trading as Ryde (Ryde, we, us). Principal place of business: San Pedro Town, Belize, C.A. Head office: Orange Walk Town, Belize, C.A. Contact: [email protected], WhatsApp +501 613 5737.

1.2 These terms are an agreement between you and Ryde. By creating an account, booking as a guest or using the Service you accept them. If you do not accept them, do not use the Service.

1.3 The Service has separate products:
(a) Rides: booking a licensed taxi from an independent driver, for yourself or for someone else;
(b) Rentals: booking a vehicle you drive yourself from an independent rental company: golf carts, ATVs and motorcycles where they are rented, and cars, SUVs, vans and pickups; and
(c) Tours: booking a tour, or a private boat with its captain, from an independent licensed tour operator. The Tour Terms apply to them as well as these terms.
Sections 5 and 6 apply to the product you use. Everything else applies to all of them.

2. What Ryde is, and is not

2.1 Ryde is a technology platform and marketplace. We introduce riders to drivers and renters to rental companies.

2.2 Drivers and rental companies are independent businesses. They own, insure and operate their own vehicles. They are not employees, agents or partners of Ryde. The contract for the ride or the rental is between you and the driver or company. Ryde is not a carrier, a rental company or an insurer.

2.3 Ryde does not own any vehicle. Vehicles rented through Ryde are for self-drive rental only. They are never dispatched to carry paying passengers, and the Service does not allow it.

2.4 What Ryde checks. Before a driver can accept rides, Ryde asks for the taxi's certificate of title (registered as a taxi), its vehicle licence, a public service vehicle driver's licence and insurance that covers passengers. Before a rental company's vehicle can be booked, Ryde asks for the company's trade licence and business registration and the vehicle's permit and insurance. Each paper is given to Ryde as a photo. The details are read from the photo, a person at Ryde checks it before the paper counts, and a paper stops counting when it runs out. A renewed paper, and the papers of a vehicle a company adds later, count only once Ryde has checked their photo; until then the paper they replace, if it is still in date, keeps counting. Ryde relies on the documents shown and does not guarantee them beyond these checks.

2.5 Sponsored. Businesses may pay Ryde to be shown more prominently: a rental company first in the rental list, or a card from a local business on the Ride screen, in the place search, while you wait for your taxi or among rental results, or in a driver's panel while the taxi is standing still (never while it is moving with a rider aboard). Anything paid for is marked Sponsored. Ryde never changes a price or a fare because something is sponsored.

3. Your account

3.1 You must be 18 or over. The account types are rider, driver, rental company (shop) and administrator. A driver or a shop may also switch to riding. You may book once as a guest with a name and a phone number; a guest booking is covered by these terms in the same way.

3.2 Give true information and keep it up to date. A visitor's own phone number, including a United States or Canada number, is accepted. Keep your password private and tell us at once at [email protected] or on WhatsApp +501 613 5737 if you think someone else has used your account. You are responsible for what happens through your account until you tell us.

3.3 You may delete your account in the app at any time. Section 8 of the Privacy Policy explains what stays on record afterwards and why.

4. Prices, currency and tax

4.1 Prices are shown and charged in Belize dollars (BZ$). Rental and tour prices also show the amount in US dollars, for guidance only, at the fixed rate of BZ

to US
.

4.2 GST. A rental or tour price is the company's own price, and any General Sales Tax (GST) the company owes is already inside it: Ryde adds nothing on top. Taxi fares carry no GST line.

4.3 Taxi fares. The fare is shown before you book.
(a) In San Pedro, trips between the areas Ryde has set have a set fare. North of the bridge, where no set fare applies, the trip is metered from the pickup at BZ

0.00 per mile with a BZ
0.00 minimum.
(b) On the mainland, fares are metered at BZ$3.00 per mile with a BZ$7.00 minimum, between any two places in Belize a taxi can drive to.
(c) Late at night, from 10pm to 6am Belize time, BZ$5.00 is added to every ride.
(d) The drive to you. When the nearest free taxi is more than 2 km from your pickup, its drive to you is added at the same per-mile rate. Only a taxi on the same island as your pickup, or on the mainland when you are on the mainland, and no more than 20 km away, is counted.
(e) Stops and riders. Each stop on the way adds BZ$7.00, up to 2 stops, and each rider after the first adds BZ$5.00, in San Pedro and on the mainland alike.
(f) The price of gas. Fares were set when regular gas cost BZ
4.28 a gallon. When the government's pump price is higher or lower, each mile the taxi drives for your ride (the trip, its stops, and any drive to you that is charged) carries the difference, worked out at 25 miles a gallon, added or taken off and rounded to the half dollar. It is part of the fare you are shown before you book, and your receipt shows it as its own line. A fare is never lower than BZ
.00.
(g) Ride options are priced from the standard Ryde fare: Wait & Save 15% less, Priority 20% more, Comfort 25% more, Ryde XL 35% more and Lux 75% more. The late-night amount, the drive to you, stops, riders and the gas price are added after, and are not changed by the option.
(h) Where no set or metered fare applies, the fare is marked as an estimate, and the driver confirms it before you set off.
(i) The fare you are shown when you choose a ride is quoted by Ryde and holds for two minutes; after that you are shown a fresh one.
(j) Busy times. When Ryde has busy-time pricing switched on and more rides are being requested near your pickup than there are free taxis near it, the fare may be higher, never more than a limit Ryde sets. You are told before you book, and the extra goes to the driver like the rest of the fare.
These are Ryde's current settings and may change on notice shown in the app. Each part of a fare is shown before you book. A ride receipt may say roughly how much of the fare went on fuel; that line is an estimate for your information, and is never added to what you pay.

4.4 Rentals. Each rental company sets its own rates. The total for your dates is shown before you book, and longer hires are priced at the company's longer rates. Extras, cover, one-way and border fees are the company's own prices, shown before you book and paid to the company.

5. Rides

5.1 Who is offered your ride. When you request a ride, Ryde offers it first to the nearest free taxis within 5 km of your pickup, one at a time for a few seconds each, and then to any free taxi within that distance. If no free taxi is that close, the request reaches just past the nearest one, up to 20 km away. The first driver to accept is assigned. A driver may decline. A request nobody accepts within 5 minutes ends by itself, and costs nothing. A taxi goes only where a road goes: Ryde does not book a ride to a place across the water from your pickup, such as from the mainland to Ambergris Caye or from San Pedro to a caye with no road, and points you to the boat instead.

5.2 Ride options. You may choose an option before you book. Wait & Save waits 3 minutes before any driver is asked, and a driver may pass on it at no cost to them. Comfort and Lux are taken only by taxis Ryde has approved for them, and are offered only while such a taxi is near. You must tell us how many people are riding, up to 6, before you book; only options with room for them are offered.

5.2A Seats. A taxi is offered your ride only if it seats everyone riding: the seats its driver gave Ryde, never more than the passengers its insurance covers. An ordinary taxi seats 4. A larger group rides in Ryde XL, a taxi that seats 6, or books two taxis. A driver whose taxi does not seat your group cannot accept your ride.

5.3 Stops on the way. You may add up to 2 stops when you book. The driver takes you through them in order, and waits a reasonable time at each; the route and the fare include them. Stops cannot be changed once the ride is booked.

5.4 Booking for someone else. You may book a ride for another person. Their name and phone are given to the driver, the ride stays on your account, and you are responsible for it as if you were riding.

5.5 Ryde's fee on a card ride. You pay the fare shown, plus any tip you choose to give. A ride paid by card carries a service fee of BZ

.50, and a taxi booked ahead and paid by card a booking fee of BZ$4.00 in its place. The fee is shown before you book and charged with the fare when the ride ends. It is Ryde's, and the driver still receives the whole fare. There is no fee when you pay in cash, and no booking fee when your own driver (one you have ridden with and asked first) takes a ride booked ahead. A tip in cash is handed to the driver; a tip by card is paid in the app. Every tip goes to the driver in full.

5.6 Payment. You pay the driver in cash at the end of the ride, or by card in the app where card payment is offered. A card fare is collected by Ryde through Belize Bank and paid to the driver in full: Ryde takes nothing from it. A card fare is charged when the ride ends; nothing is held on your card before then. If your card is declined, you pay the driver in cash. A fare left unpaid, by card or in cash, must be paid before you can book another ride. If a driver accepts a card on their own terminal, that is between you and the driver.

5.7 Ryde takes no commission from drivers. This is a founding commitment of the Service. Ryde may change it only by the process in the Driver Agreement (60 days' written notice).

5.8 At the pickup. Check the taxi's plate and the driver's name in the app before you get in. The driver asks for your pickup code before the trip starts. Once the driver has arrived they wait at least 5 minutes. After that, if you are not there, they may end the ride as a no-show. Ryde charges nothing for a no-show ride; it is recorded, and a driver offered your next request may see that you have recent no-shows.

5.9 Cancelling a ride is free: see the Refunds and Cancellations policy. If your driver's phone has not been heard from for some minutes after accepting, the app lets you find another taxi at no cost.

5.10 You must wear a seat belt where one is fitted, treat the driver with respect, and not carry unlawful items. A driver may refuse or end a ride for your safety or theirs.

5.11 Trip routes are recorded while a driver is on a trip, for safety, dispute resolution and fare accuracy. See the Privacy Policy.

6. Rentals

6.1 Licence and age. You must be 18 or over to rent anything on Ryde, and show a valid driving licence at handover. What the licence must cover depends on the vehicle, and the booking screen says so before you book:
(a) a golf cart: class A, H (golf cart) or ALL on a Belize licence, or a car licence from your home country, in date;
(b) an ATV: a driving licence of any class, from Belize or from your home country, in date;
(c) a motorcycle: a licence that covers motorcycles, which on a Belize licence is class D or ALL, or the motorcycle class on your home licence. A helmet comes with every motorcycle rented through Ryde, and you must wear it;
(d) a car, SUV, van or pickup: class A or ALL on a Belize licence, or a car licence from your home country.
A rental company may set a higher minimum age, never a lower one, and may ask a younger driver for a larger deposit; both are shown before you book. A company must refuse handover if your licence is missing, expired or does not cover the vehicle.

6.2 The rental period. A rental day is 24 hours, and your time starts at handover. Where a company delivers, delivery and collection are included in the rate, and for golf carts on Ambergris Caye so is the bridge pass. You choose where it is brought: a hotel, a house or any spot you search for or pin on the map, in the company's town, where the company delivers. Where a company does not deliver, you collect the vehicle from the place it shows. Fuel and damage are not included.

6.3 Requests and confirmation. A booking is a request until the company confirms it, except a listing marked Instant book, which is confirmed the moment you book. A request the company has not answered within 6 hours is declined automatically and costs nothing. A company may block dates, keep opening hours and ask for notice; the app tells you when a time cannot be booked, and why.

6.4 The company's rules. Each company may set its own rules for renters: minimum age, a younger driver's deposit, a late-return fee and its grace period, how the fuel should come back, cleaning and smoking fees, where a vehicle may be left, and whether it may cross a border. They are shown before you book, and by booking you accept them. A company may not charge you under a rule it did not show before you booked.

6.5 Payment. Today, payment is cash to the company at handover: the hire and any extras. When card payment goes live, a booking will charge you a reservation fee equal to Ryde's commission, and you pay the rest of the hire, any extras and any deposit to the company in cash. The reservation fee is not a deposit and is not deducted from what you owe the company.

6.6 Extras and cover. A company may offer extras (for example decorations or prepaid fuel) and cover for the vehicle. They are the company's own, priced and paid to the company, and the company alone is responsible for providing them. A company may require cover for a short hire; the booking screen says so.

6.7 Deposit. A company may take a refundable deposit at handover: BZ

00.00 by default, or the company's own amount. Where Ryde lets companies choose, a company may instead take it as a card swipe on its own card machine, or take none; the booking screen says which, and how much, before you book. Ryde never holds a deposit. When the vehicle comes back it is settled line by line: for example the hire still owed, the company's published late-return fee, missing fuel, new damage, or its published cleaning or smoking fees. Each amount the company keeps, and its reason, is recorded in the app and shown to you, and the rest is returned to you.

6.8 Returning on time. The app shows when the vehicle is due back and how long you have left. To keep it longer, ask the company in the app; if it agrees, the extra time is priced at the same rates. A late return may cost the company's published late fee.

6.9 Cancellation and no-shows. See the Refunds and Cancellations policy, which forms part of these terms. In short: always free while the company has not confirmed; once it has, free more than 24 hours before handover and one day's rate after that; one day's rate for a no-show. Where Ryde lets companies choose, a company may instead offer Moderate (free more than 72 hours before handover) or Strict (no free time once confirmed); the fee after the free time is always one day's rate. The choice that applies to your booking, and what cancelling would cost, are shown on the booking screen before you commit.

6.10 Your responsibilities. Every vehicle rented through Ryde, golf carts included, is a motor vehicle under the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act, Cap. 230. Every road rule applies to you. Do not drive after drinking alcohol or taking drugs. Carry no more people than there are seats. Do not take a vehicle off its island, out of its permitted area or across a border unless the company allows it. You are responsible for damage, loss and traffic fines during the rental, other than fair wear and tear.

6.11 Insurance. A company must carry third-party insurance as the Motor Vehicle Insurance (Third Party Risks) Act, Cap. 231 requires. That cover normally does not cover damage to the vehicle itself, theft, or injury to you or your passengers. Cover a company offers at booking is the company's, on its terms. Ask the company what cover applies before you drive away. Ryde does not insure you.

6.12 If something goes wrong. If a vehicle breaks down or is in an accident, call 911 first if anyone is hurt, then the company. The app can send the company where you are.

6.13 A vehicle not returned. A vehicle not returned within 24 hours of the end of a rental, with no word to the company, may be reported to the police as stolen. You are responsible to the company for the vehicle, its loss and the cost of getting it back. Ryde will give the police the booking, your account details and the records it holds, will close your account, and is not responsible for the vehicle or its loss.

7. Conduct

7.1 You must not use the Service to break the law, harass or endanger anyone, give false information, interfere with the Service or its security, or take bookings or payments outside the Service in order to avoid a lawful fee that you owe.

7.2 We may suspend an account, for a set time or until we lift it, or remove it, when it breaks these terms, puts people at risk, or repeatedly fails to honour bookings. A suspended account cannot sign in or book. We will say why unless the law or safety stops us, and you may ask us to review it.

8. What Ryde is and is not responsible for

8.1 Ryde is responsible for providing the platform with reasonable care and skill.

8.2 Ryde is not responsible for the acts, omissions, vehicles, licences, insurance, extras or cover of any driver or rental company. If something goes wrong with a ride or rental, the claim lies between you, the driver or shop, and their insurer. We will give the booking, trip, handover and condition records we hold to anyone with a proper reason to ask. Ryde may help with a dispute between you and a driver or rental company, but it is not a party to it and does not decide it.

8.3 The Service is provided "as available". We do not promise it will be uninterrupted or error-free, and features may change. Where your phone has no signal, the app says so, and what you asked for is sent when the signal returns.

8.4 Limit of liability. To the extent the law allows, Ryde's total liability to you arising from the Service is limited to the greater of (a) the amount you paid to Ryde in the 12 months before the claim and (b) BZ$500. This does not limit liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything that cannot lawfully be limited.

8.5 Nothing in these terms removes any right you have under Belize law that cannot be removed by agreement.

8.6 Your responsibility to Ryde. You agree to cover Ryde's reasonable losses and costs, legal costs included, from a claim by anyone else that arises from your breaking these terms or the law, your conduct on a ride or with a rented vehicle, or a booking you made for someone else.

8.7 Crime and other people's acts. Ryde is not responsible for the criminal or wrongful acts of riders, renters, drivers, rental companies or anyone else, on or off the Service. Report a crime to the police (911) first, then to Ryde. Ryde cooperates with the police and gives them the records it holds when the law requires or allows it.

9. Complaints and disputes

9.1 Tell us first: [email protected] or WhatsApp +501 613 5737 (messages only), 8am to 8pm daily. We will reply within 3 working days and try to settle it.

9.2 These terms are governed by the laws of Belize. The courts of Belize have jurisdiction.

9.3 Before starting a court claim against Ryde, you agree to write to us and give us 30 days to settle it.

9.4 A claim against Ryde must be started within one year of what it is about, unless Belize law gives you longer.

10. Changes

10.1 We may change these terms. We will show notice in the app at least 14 days before a material change takes effect, and for changes to our commission commitment, 60 days (see the Driver Agreement). If you keep using the Service after the date, you accept the change. If you do not accept it, delete your account.

11. General

11.1 If part of these terms is unenforceable, the rest stays in force. Our failure to enforce a right is not a waiver. You may not transfer your account. These terms, with the Privacy Policy and the Refunds and Cancellations policy, are the whole agreement between you and Ryde about the Service.

11.1A Events outside our control. Ryde is not responsible for a failure or delay caused by something outside its reasonable control: weather, hurricanes, floods, a power, internet or phone outage, a government order, a strike, or a failure of a bank, map or hosting provider.

11.2 Contact: [email protected], WhatsApp +501 613 5737. Emergencies: 911.