Contract Clauses in Taxi Software: Term, Termination, Data Export

In this chapter: term and termination · what happens to the data on termination · data ownership and export · ongoing ancillary obligations in the fine print · the clauses that rarely appear in public.

The costliest mistake

Thinking about the data export only at the farewell. Anyone switching providers needs their trip, billing and taximeter data out — complete, readable and audit-proof — and must keep it available for ten years under the GoBD (Germany’s principles for proper electronic bookkeeping and record retention), even when the old contract was terminated long ago. Whoever fails to settle this beforehand negotiates from the weakest position imaginable.

The contract is the part of the purchase you see least and feel longest. Features can be tried out, prices recalculated; the term and data clauses show their effect only once you want out again. This chapter goes through the clauses that decide whether a later switch is easy or expensive.

Chapter 1 — Term and termination

The range is wide, and it rarely sits in the shop window. At one end there is real flexibility: Fahrdienst Software is, by its own account, cancellable monthly, as is the cloud hosting via maja.cloud, and TAXIKOMM24 requires no minimum term at all — you pay only while a vehicle is registered for dispatch. At the other end is commitment: Seibt & Straub’s cloud TSE — the certified recording unit for the taximeter — runs, per the order form, with a minimum term of two years; DMRZ names twelve months for its taxi and hire car tariffs — remarkable, because older communications from the provider still advertised “neither minimum volume nor minimum contract term” (as of 07/2026).

Purchased licences are a category of their own. TAXI-Experte sells the software outright, but ties it to a service contract with a twelve-month minimum term, a four-week notice period to the end of the term, and automatic renewal. TaxAb is likewise bought as a licence; its terms and conditions contain no term provision of their own, but updates are a separate purchase. Many providers — among them HALE, MPC/TARIS, SuE/TaMi, fms/Austrosoft and the dispatch software from Taxi.de — make no public statements on term and termination because they quote individually.

Remember

Two details belong in writing in every contract: the notice period and the date on which the contract renews. Automatic renewal is no problem as long as you know the deadline — and a problem the moment you overlook it.

Chapter 2 — What happens to the data on termination

Two worlds part ways here. With cloud systems, your data sits on the provider’s server, and termination raises the question of what happens to it afterwards. Seibt & Straub shows this openly: after deregistering the TSE, continued access to your own data costs a €3 monthly portal fee, a later reactivation around €49 (as of 07/2026). Taxi.de stipulates in its billing terms that archiving and backing up the data lies solely with the customer and that personal data is generally deleted 60 days after the trip. These are not outliers, but the normal questions to ask before signing.

With locally installed systems, the data sits physically on your premises. MPC/TARIS explicitly advertises that “your data remains in your house”, SuE/TaMi that “all data stays in your business”; TaxAb and TAXI-Experte also run locally. The advantage is obvious — nobody can lock you out. The price is responsibility: backup, storage location and the long-term readability of the formats are on you.

Chapter 3 — Data ownership and export

The GoBD — Germany’s principles for the proper keeping and retention of books and records in electronic form — require tax-relevant data to be retained for ten years and kept available for an audit. That continues to apply long after you have switched providers. Which is why the export question is the most important one in the entire contract.

For day-to-day operations, most systems offer exports into accounting: DMRZ to DATEV, Sage, Agenda, Lexware and others, HALE from the Business package tier via a DATEV interface, MPC/TARIS to DATEV, SAP and billing services, fms/Austrosoft to common accounting software. For the taximeter data, the DSFinV-TW export is the decisive format, because it keeps the data readable independently of any provider — making it not just an audit obligation but also your insurance against lock-in.

The gap lies elsewhere. An express commitment to hand over the complete data set when switching providers is publicly given by hardly any provider; HALE, MPC/TARIS, DMRZ and fms make no statements on it, and Fahrdienst Software documents only partial exports — the order log as PDF or CSV, staff data as CSV — but no complete export of all master data and trips (as of 07/2026). An example of which clauses are really worth reading comes from GefoS’s terms and conditions: they contain a prohibition on reverse-engineering the software and a liability exclusion for data loss — but no export or term provision.

Remember

Don’t assume that an “export” in the brochure is the complete export at the farewell. Have four things written into the contract: in which format, in what scope, within what period after termination and at what cost you receive your data.

Chapter 4 — Ongoing ancillary obligations in the fine print

Some obligations sit not in the monthly price but in the terms. The TSE cards carry a BSI-limited validity (BSI: the German Federal Office for Information Security) and must be replaced when it expires — expressly noted at HALE, and inherent to every hardware TSE. GefoS recommends a maintenance contract and grants a twelve-month warranty. TAXI-Experte makes the service contract a condition of use. Seibt & Straub charges a fee for reactivation after a deregistration. None of these clauses is unfair in itself; they only become expensive when you didn’t see them at signing.

Chapter 5 — The clauses that rarely appear in public

The pattern of this chapter is clear: term, termination and data export are precisely the points many providers do not disclose publicly. That is not unusual in the software business and, taken by itself, not a bad sign — it is simply the reason you must ask these questions actively and in writing instead of hoping for a brochure line. Four questions are enough to bring the silent clauses to light: How long am I bound? Until when, and how, do I terminate? What do I receive on termination, and in which format? And what does access to my own data cost afterwards?

Checklist for the contract review

• How long is the minimum term, and does the contract renew automatically?
• How long is the notice period, and by which date must I terminate?
• On termination, do I receive my complete data set — in which format and within what period?
• Does access to my data after the contract ends cost anything, and is data deleted after a set period?
• Can taximeter data be taken along as a DSFinV-TW export, so I can keep it readable for ten years?
• Which recurring ancillary obligations — TSE card replacement, maintenance or service contract — sit in the fine print?

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Continue in the handbook: Legal obligations · Cost traps · back to the overview.

Last updated: July 11, 2026. This chapter explains typical clauses and is no substitute for legal advice; reviewing a specific contract belongs in the hands of a lawyer. Statements on individual systems come from their public manufacturer documentation and terms and conditions and carry their as-of date.