Terms of Use

1. Introduction & acceptance

These Terms of Use ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the Trade Caravan website (tradecaravan.co.za), our free tools, and the Real-View SCM container-tracking application (together, the "Service"). By creating an account or otherwise using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

2. Definitions

• Service — the Trade Caravan website, tools, content and the Real-View SCM application.
• Subscriber — a person or business with a paid Real-View plan.
• User — anyone who accesses the Service, including sub-users invited by a Subscriber.
• Account — your registered login.
• Vessel Data — vessel position, voyage, ETA and related shipment-tracking data sourced from third parties.

3. Who we are & how to contact us

The Service is operated by Trade Caravan ("we", "us", "Trade Caravan").

General enquiries: [email protected]. For privacy/POPIA matters, contact our Information Officer at [email protected].

4. Account terms

• You must provide accurate registration information and keep it up to date.
• You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure and for all activity under your Account, including any sub-users you invite.
• You must be at least 18 and able to enter into a binding contract.
• One person or business per Account unless we agree otherwise in writing.

5. Subscriptions & billing

Real-View is offered on Free, Starter, Growth and Pro plans. Paid plans are priced in South African Rand (ZAR), billed monthly, and charged through PayFast using recurring billing/tokenisation. By subscribing you authorise us to charge the recurring fee for each billing cycle until you cancel.

• Auto-renewal: paid plans renew automatically each month until cancelled. You can cancel at any time from your account or via PayFast; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing cycle.
• Price changes: we will give you at least 30 days' notice by email before any price increase takes effect.
• Failed payments: if a charge fails we may retry and may suspend paid features until payment succeeds.
• VAT: prices are inclusive of VAT where applicable.

Full billing, cancellation and refund details are in our Billing & Refunds policy.

6. Free trials

Where we offer a free trial of Real-View, the trial runs for the stated period (for example 14 days). Unless you cancel before it ends, the trial may convert to a paid plan and the applicable fee will be charged. We will tell you the trial length and what happens at the end when you start it.

7. Acceptable use

Your use of the Service must comply with our Acceptable Use Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

8. Intellectual property

Trade Caravan and its licensors own the Service, including its software, design, content and trademarks. We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use the Service for your internal business purposes while these Terms are in force. You may not copy, resell, or create derivative works from the Service except as permitted by law.

9. Your data & data ownership

You retain ownership of the data you put into the Service (for example your shipments and contacts). You grant us a limited licence to process that data solely to provide and improve the Service. How we handle personal information is set out in our Privacy Policy and, for business customers, our Data Processing Addendum.

10. Third-party data & tracking disclaimer

Vessel Data and ETAs come from third parties (including AIS providers such as MarineTraffic, shipping lines and port/terminal feeds). This data is provided "as is", without warranty of accuracy, completeness, currency or timeliness. Positions and arrival times are estimates that change frequently and can be delayed, incomplete or wrong. You must not rely on the Service alone for time-critical decisions (for example arranging transport, storage or customs clearance); always confirm with your carrier, forwarder or terminal. We are not liable for any loss arising from reliance on Vessel Data. The same applies to the free calculators and tools on tradecaravan.co.za, which give indicative guidance only — see our General Disclaimer.

11. Service availability

We aim to keep the Service available but do not guarantee uninterrupted access. Uptime commitments and service credits for paid Real-View plans are set out in our Service Level Agreement.

12. Warranties & disclaimers

Except as expressly stated and to the maximum extent permitted by South African law, the Service is provided "as is" and we disclaim all implied warranties, including merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits rights that cannot be excluded under the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) for consumers it protects.

13. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability to you arising out of or relating to the Service is limited to the fees you paid us in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss, or loss of profit, revenue, data or use. These limits do not apply to liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

14. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify us against claims, losses and costs arising from your misuse of the Service, your unlawful content, or your breach of these Terms.

15. Suspension & termination

We may suspend or terminate your access for non-payment or breach of these Terms. You may terminate by cancelling your plan and closing your Account. On termination we will give you a reasonable window to export your data, after which we may delete it subject to any retention required by law (see the Privacy Policy).

16. Consumer disclosures (ECTA section 43)

This section, together with sections 3, 5 and 13 above and our Billing and Privacy policies, is intended to give the disclosures required by section 43 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act (ECTA): who we are and our legal status; how to contact us and serve documents; a description of the Service and its full price including taxes; the manner of payment (PayFast); the terms of the agreement and how to store them (this page can be saved or printed); the minimum duration for recurring plans (one month, auto-renewing); our return/refund policy; and the security and privacy procedures for payments and personal information. Where you transact as a natural person and end user, you may have a 7-day cooling-off right under ECTA section 44 — see the Billing & Refunds policy. This right generally does not apply to business/juristic Subscribers.

17. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will post the updated version here with a new "last updated" date and, for material changes, notify Subscribers by email. Continued use after changes take effect means you accept them.

18. Governing law & jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, and you submit to the jurisdiction of the South African courts.

19. Dispute resolution

If a dispute arises, we will first try to resolve it in good faith. If that fails, the dispute may be referred to mediation or arbitration. Consumers protected by the CPA may also refer matters to the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud, and privacy complaints may be made to the Information Regulator (see the Privacy Policy).

20. General

If any provision is found unenforceable, the rest remains in force. You may not assign these Terms without our consent; we may assign them to a successor. These Terms (with the policies they reference) are the entire agreement between us. Neither party is liable for failure caused by events beyond its reasonable control (force majeure).