Terms of use & payment terms

TrotroLive Terms & Conditions and Privacy Notice

Last updated: 14 October 2026 (version 2026-10-14)

1. Introduction

TrotroLive ("the App", "we", "us") is a mobile application operated by Urban Africa that helps you find trotro (minibus) routes and stations, see live vehicle locations, and pay your fare in-app through TrotroPay. Urban Africa is based at Plot 7, Osu Close, Osu, Accra, Ghana. These Terms & Conditions, together with the Privacy section at the end, govern your use of the App. By creating an account you agree to them.

2. Eligibility & Your Account

You must be able to form a binding agreement to use the App. You create an account with your phone number, verified by a one-time code (OTP) we send you by SMS, and a name. You're responsible for keeping your phone number and account access secure, and for all activity under your account. Tell us promptly if you lose access to your phone number or suspect unauthorized use.

3. How the Service Works

The App shows you nearby stations, trotro routes and fares, and (where available) the live location of vehicles on your route, so you can plan and track your trip. Route, fare, and live-location data comes from a mix of our own records, driver devices, and passenger reports - we do our best to keep it accurate and current, but trotro routes and fares in Accra change informally and sometimes faster than we can confirm, so always treat in-app information as a helpful estimate, not a guarantee.

4. Fares, Payments & TrotroPay

TrotroPay lets you pay your fare in-app, by mobile money, instead of cash. Payments are processed by Hubtel, a licensed Ghanaian payment service provider - we never see or store your full mobile money PIN. Charging your mobile money account requires either your one-time confirmation on your phone (Hubtel's Receive Money prompt) or, on the web, a phone number you've just re-verified by OTP - either way, a payment only goes through with your active confirmation of that specific charge. Fares shown in-app are our best current estimate for that route; the amount you're charged is the fare confirmed by the driver or vehicle at the time of your trip.

No refunds. A payment you have confirmed or approved is final: it cannot be reversed or refunded, so check the driver and the amount before you approve. If a charge fails, the money never reaches us and nothing is deducted from your account. If a charge is pending, you approve it yourself from your mobile money menu. If you believe something went wrong with a payment, contact support (Section 12) with the payment reference and we will look into it; looking into a payment is not a promise of a refund.

5. User Conduct

Don't: use the App to harass drivers, mates, or other passengers; submit false fare or route reports; attempt to pay with a mobile money number you don't control; interfere with the App's operation (scraping, reverse engineering the API beyond what's needed for normal use, attempting to bypass payment or OTP verification); or use the App for any unlawful purpose. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate this section.

6. Intellectual Property

The App, its design, and its content (excluding third-party map/routing data and user-submitted fare reports) belong to Urban Africa. You may not copy, resell, or create derivative apps from the App or its content without our written permission.

7. Disclaimers & Limitation of Liability

The App is provided "as is." We don't operate the trotro vehicles, employ the drivers, or set official fares - we help you find and pay for a service provided by independent drivers and vehicle owners. To the fullest extent permitted by Ghanaian law, Urban Africa is not liable for delays, route changes, fare disputes with a driver, or losses arising from your use of a trotro vehicle itself; our liability for issues arising from the App or TrotroPay is limited to the amount of the specific transaction in question.

8. Suspension & Termination

You may stop using the App and request account deletion at any time (Section 12). We may suspend or close an account that violates Section 5, that we reasonably suspect of fraud (including payment fraud), or as required by law.

9. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms as the App evolves. Material changes will be reflected in a new version date above, and continued use of the App after that update constitutes acceptance - for significant changes affecting how we use your personal data, we'll ask you to re-confirm your acceptance in-app rather than relying on continued use alone.

10. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Ghana, including the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) for anything data-related below.

11. Data Collection & Privacy

This section explains what personal data we collect through the App, why, and for how long - consistent with the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843), which requires your consent (or a contractual necessity, such as needing your phone number to send you an OTP) before we process your personal data.

What we collect:

• Account data: phone number, name, and preferred language.
• Location: your device location when you open the App (to understand which areas/stations our users travel from and to, so we can plan where to improve coverage), and during an active trip if you use live tracking.
• My movement (optional): if you switch on My movement, the App also records your location, your physical activity (walking, in a vehicle, still) and your phone's step count in the background, a few times an hour, to build your journey history and fare recap. My movement is off unless you turn it on, and you can switch it off at any time in the App. Providing location is optional: the App still works, with fewer features, if you decline location permission.
• Location while you ride: while you are in a vehicle with My movement on, the App may use a foreground location service to record your trip more precisely. Android always shows a visible notification while it runs, and it stops when the ride ends or you switch My movement off.
• How movement data is used for analytics: when we use movement, location or step data for analytics, it is anonymised and aggregated first. No individual rider, position or trip is ever shared, and any figure covering fewer than 10 riders is hidden. The only purpose is to know which areas are active so public transport can be improved; we may share these figures with transport authorities and partners, but only in that anonymised, aggregated form.
• Payment/transaction data: TrotroPay transaction records (amount, timestamp, the driver/vehicle paid, and a reference from Hubtel) - not your mobile money PIN, which Hubtel handles directly and we never receive.
• Device & usage data: how often you open the App, basic device/app version info, and crash/error logs, used to fix bugs and understand overall usage patterns.
• Session recordings: once you are signed in, the App may record how you use its screens (taps, scrolls and which screen you are on) so we can see where riders get stuck and make the App easier to use. Recordings are made of periodic captures of the App's own screens (never other apps, never audio or your camera). They can show what is on those screens, such as your first name, the places you search for or save, and your Ananse messages. Payment details are blacked out on your phone before anything is sent: amounts, fees and balances, mobile money numbers, PINs, driver codes and receipts. The map with your position is blacked out too, and sign-in screens are never recorded. Recordings are kept for no more than 90 days, used only by the TrotroLive team to improve the App, and never sold or shared with partners.

Why we collect it: to provide the App's core features (route search, live tracking, TrotroPay payments), to detect and prevent fraud on payments, to improve route/fare/coverage data over time, and to understand where demand is so we can plan where to expand or test new features.

Legal basis: processing your phone number for OTP login and your payment data for TrotroPay is necessary to provide the service you've asked for (contractual necessity). Location collection on app-open and any secondary use of your data for demand-planning analytics relies on the consent you give by checking the box at signup, which you may withdraw at any time by contacting support (this will not affect data already aggregated in a form that no longer identifies you).

Retention: we keep your account data for as long as your account is active, and for up to 24 months after you delete your account, in case of fraud investigations or legal obligations - except TrotroPay transaction records, which financial recordkeeping obligations may require us to keep for up to 6 years. Location and movement data are kept linked to your account while your account is active. When you switch off My movement and ask us to forget it, or delete your account, we erase your journey history and permanently remove the link between you and the raw movement records. Those de-identified records may be kept to improve routes, fares and coverage, and are never linked back to you.

Who we share it with: Hubtel (to process TrotroPay payments), and our mapping/routing provider (to show maps and calculate routes) - both only receive what they need to perform their part of the service, and are themselves bound to protect it. Product analytics and the session recordings above are processed by PostHog (EU servers) on our behalf. We may also share aggregated mobility statistics with partners, such as how many riders were active or looking for transport in a neighbourhood at a given hour, or the most requested trips between two areas. These statistics never include your name, phone number, account, or individual trips or positions, and any figure based on fewer than 10 riders is withheld. We do not sell your personal data.

Your rights: you can ask us to show you the personal data we hold about you, correct it, or delete your account and associated data (subject to the retention exceptions above), by contacting us using the details below. You can also lodge a complaint with Ghana's Data Protection Commission (dataprotection.org.gh) if you believe we've mishandled your data.

12. Contact

The App is operated by Urban Africa, Plot 7, Osu Close, Osu, Accra, Ghana.

Questions about these Terms, a payment, or your data: support@trotro.live or build@trotro.digital. For a payment, please include its reference.