Terms of use & payment terms

Trotro Terms & Conditions and Privacy Notice

Last updated: 8 October 2026 (version 2026-10-08). This version adds how we collect and use your movement data (location, step count and activity recognition), and how movement insights may be shared with or sold to third parties. Because these are significant changes to how we use your personal data, we will ask you to re-confirm your acceptance in-app.

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, get stop alarms, track your transport spending, and pay your fare in-app through TrotroPay. These Terms & Conditions, together with the Privacy sections that follow, 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. With your permission, it also uses your phone's motion sensors to detect when you are walking, waiting at a station or riding in a vehicle, so it can time your stop alarms, log trips automatically and estimate your walking time between stops.

Route, fare, and live-location data comes from a mix of our own records, driver devices, passenger reports and aggregated movement patterns from App users. 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. Automatically calculated expense totals are estimates based on detected trips and route fare tables, not a record of what you actually paid. If a payment is taken in error, contact support (Section 16) and we will investigate and refund confirmed errors.

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. This includes aggregated and anonymized mobility datasets and insights we create from App usage. 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. Stop alarms and automatic trip detection depend on your phone's sensors, battery and signal, and may occasionally fail or trigger late, so don't rely on them alone.

To the fullest extent permitted by Ghanaian law, Urban Africa is not liable for delays, missed stops, 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 16). 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, share or sell 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 We Collect

We collect the personal data below, 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. "Movement data" in these Terms means your location, step count and activity recognition data together.

Data

What it includes

When it's collected

Leaves your phone?

Account data

Phone number, name, preferred language

At signup and when you edit your profile

Yes, stored on our servers

Location

Your device location on app-open, during active trips with live tracking, and for geofenced stop alarms (including in the background with the screen locked, if you allow it)

Only when you grant location permission

Yes

Step count (android.permission.health.READ_STEPS)

Step counts read from your phone's step counter

Only when you grant the permission

No. Processed on your device only

Activity recognition (android.permission.ACTIVITY_RECOGNITION)

Whether you are still, walking or in a vehicle

Only when you grant the permission

Raw sensor logs: no. Derived trip events (trip start/end, wait time at a station): yes, only with your Mobility Insights consent (Section 12)

Payment data

TrotroPay records: amount, timestamp, driver/vehicle paid, Hubtel reference. Never your mobile money PIN

When you pay with TrotroPay

Yes

Device & usage data

App opens, device/app version, crash and error logs

While you use the App

Yes

Each movement permission is optional. If you decline one, the App still works with reduced features, such as no live tracking, no automatic trip logging or less accurate stop alarms.

Step count and activity data stay on your device. Raw step counts, step history, fitness totals and raw motion sensor logs are processed only on your phone to detect walking, waiting and riding. They are never uploaded to our servers, and never sold or shared with third parties, advertisers or health data aggregators. This applies even if you give Mobility Insights consent.

12. How We Use Your Data & Your Consent Choices

We use your data to run the App, keep payments safe, and, if you agree, to build mobility insights that we may share with or sell to third parties (Section 13).

To provide the App (contractual necessity):

• Phone number for OTP login, and payment data for TrotroPay.
• Fraud detection and prevention on payments.

To provide movement features (your permission for each sensor):

• Last-mile and transfer guidance: measuring walking distance and time between stops, lorry parks and your destination to estimate total commute time.
• Trip detection: confirming when you board, ride and alight, so trips are logged and completed automatically.
• Stop alarms: triggering a vibration alarm about 400m before your destination stop, even with the screen locked or offline.
• Expense tracking: matching detected trips to route fare tables to estimate your daily and monthly transport spending.
• Battery saving: using low-power motion sensors instead of constant GPS.

Mobility Insights (separate, optional consent):

If you tick the Mobility Insights box, we may use your location and derived trip events to create mobility insights. Examples include route speed averages, travel times between stations, station crowding and wait-time indexes, origin–destination demand, and coverage gaps. We use these to improve the App, plan where to expand, and offer them to third parties under Section 13.

Mobility Insights is off unless you turn it on. It is not required to use the App, and declining it won't reduce any feature. You can turn it off at any time in Settings or by contacting support. Turning it off stops future use of your data for insights, but does not affect insights already aggregated in a form that no longer identifies you.

13. Sharing & Sale of Data

We share personal data only with service providers that help run the App, and we may share, license or sell anonymized and aggregated mobility insights to third parties. We do not sell data that identifies you.

Service providers (personal data, only what they need):

Recipient

Purpose

Data shared

Hubtel

Processing TrotroPay payments

Payment data and phone number

Mapping/routing provider

Showing maps and calculating routes

Locations you search or route between

Cloud hosting and analytics providers

Storing data, crash reporting

Account, usage and location data, under contract

These providers may only use the data to perform their service for us and must protect it.

Mobility insights (anonymized and aggregated):

With your Mobility Insights consent, we may share, license or sell mobility insights to third parties. These may include government and city planning bodies (such as transport and road authorities and district assemblies), transport operators and station unions, researchers and universities, and commercial partners such as businesses, advertisers or property developers assessing foot traffic and demand in an area.

Before any insight leaves our systems, we remove your name, phone number, account ID and device identifiers, and combine your data with that of many other users (for example, "average trotro speed on the Circle–Madina route at 7am" or "busiest hours at Kaneshie station"). We only release an insight when it is based on enough users that no individual's trips can be singled out. Buyers must agree in writing not to attempt to re-identify anyone.

What we never sell or share: your identifiable location history or trip records, your step count or physical activity data, your mobile money details, or any data that identifies you, except with service providers listed above or as required by law.

Legal requests and business transfers: we may disclose personal data where required by Ghanaian law or a court order, or to protect users from fraud or harm. If Urban Africa is merged or sold, your data may transfer to the new owner, who must honour these Terms.

14. Retention

Data

How long we keep it

Account data

While your account is active, plus up to 24 months after deletion for fraud investigations or legal obligations

TrotroPay transaction records

Up to 6 years, for financial recordkeeping obligations

Location and derived trip events (identifiable)

Up to 24 months

Step count and raw activity data

Not stored by us. Kept on your device only, for as long as needed for on-device detection

Anonymized, aggregated insights

Indefinitely, as they no longer identify you

15. 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). You can withdraw your Mobility Insights consent or revoke any location, step count or activity permission at any time in your phone's settings or the App's Settings.

You can also lodge a complaint with Ghana's Data Protection Commission (dataprotection.org.gh) if you believe we've mishandled your data.

16. Contact

Questions about these Terms or your data: support@trotro.live