Terms of Service

The purpose of these Terms of Service, hereinafter the “Terms”, is to define the conditions under which users may access and use the DriveCost Monster service.

DriveCost Monster is a digital service that automates, facilitates and prepares the calculation of mileage expenses from data provided or validated by the user, in particular events from their calendar, addresses, trips, vehicles and the applicable reimbursement settings.

Use of the service implies full and unreserved acceptance of these Terms.

In these Terms, the terms below have the following meaning:

Application: means the web application, the mobile application or any other digital environment giving access to the DriveCost Monster service.

Account: means the personal space created by the user to access the service.

Access year: means paid access to the service for a given calendar year, from 1 January to 31 December of that year, acquired through a one-off purchase with no renewal.

DriveCost Monster or the Service: means the digital service that helps calculate, prepare and export mileage expenses.

Publisher: means the company operating the DriveCost Monster service, namely Sudo Software, a SAS (French simplified joint-stock company) with a share capital of 1,000 euros, registered with the Paris Trade and Companies Register (RCS) under SIREN number 902 520 188, whose registered office is located at 15 rue des Halles, 75001 Paris, France.

User: means any natural or legal person using the service, whether a customer, a prospect, a beneficiary of the free plan or a mere visitor.

Customer: means any user who has purchased at least one access year.

Data: means all the information entered, imported, generated or validated by the user as part of the use of the service.

Export: means any document, file, spreadsheet, report or supporting document generated by the service from the user's data.

The user accepts these Terms when creating their account, when buying an access year, or more generally when using the service.

If the user does not accept these Terms, they must immediately stop using DriveCost Monster.

The user declares that they have the legal capacity required to accept these Terms. When using the service on behalf of a company, an association, a public body or any other organization, they declare that they hold the powers required to bind that entity.

DriveCost Monster is an automation and assistance tool intended to help the user identify potentially business-related journeys, calculate distances, apply reimbursement rules or scales, prepare reports and generate exports that can be used for administrative, accounting or tax follow-up.

The service may in particular allow:

• connecting to a calendar or importing events;
• identifying events that contain addresses;
• estimating road distances;
• linking trips to a vehicle;
• applying a reimbursement scale or configuration;
• generating monthly, periodic or annual reports;
• exporting documents intended for the user, their company, their accountant or any third party of their choosing.

The features actually available may vary depending on the plan purchased, the country, the applicable regulations, the integrations enabled, the access rights granted by the user and changes made to the service.

DriveCost Monster is a technical tool that helps prepare mileage expenses. The service does not replace a chartered accountant, a tax adviser, a lawyer, a payroll manager, an administrative department or any competent authority.

The calculations, reports, alerts, suggestions, exports or information generated by the service are provided as assistance and must be checked by the user before any official, accounting, tax, social security or administrative use.

The user remains solely responsible for:

• the business or personal classification of their journeys;
• the accuracy of the addresses, distances, dates, vehicles and reasons entered;
• the choice of the applicable reimbursement scale or rule;
• the compliance of the exports sent to their company, their accountant, the tax authorities or any other third party;
• keeping the necessary supporting documents;
• any declaration, accounting entry, reimbursement claim or tax deduction made on the basis of the data produced by the service.

DriveCost Monster does not guarantee that an export will be accepted by a company, an accountant, a tax authority, the URSSAF, a supervisory authority or any other body.

To access certain features, the user must create an account or log in through a compatible third-party service.

DriveCost Monster is primarily intended for self-employed workers, company directors, independent professionals, sole traders and, more generally, users wishing to prepare their own mileage expense reports.

Each user account corresponds to an individual and personal access. Unless otherwise agreed in writing by the publisher, an account may not be shared between several people, nor used to manage the mileage expenses of several distinct users.

The user undertakes to provide accurate, complete and up-to-date information. They are responsible for the confidentiality of their credentials and for any activity carried out from their account.

The user must inform the publisher without delay in the event of unauthorized use of their account, compromise of their credentials or suspicion of a security breach.

The publisher may later offer plans intended for companies, associations or organizations wishing to make the service available to several employees, collaborators or members. Those plans may be subject to specific terms, in particular regarding user management, administration roles, the liability of the organization, billing, data protection and termination arrangements.

As long as no business plan is expressly offered or accepted by the publisher, these Terms apply solely to individual access.

The publisher reserves the right to suspend or delete an account in the event of fraudulent, abusive or unlawful use, use contrary to these Terms, or use likely to harm the service, other users or third parties.

DriveCost Monster may allow the user to connect third-party services, such as online calendars, Google, Microsoft or Apple accounts, or any other compatible service.

The user remains free to authorize or refuse these connections. Some features may nevertheless depend on access to those third-party services.

When the user connects a third-party service, they authorize DriveCost Monster to access the data necessary for the operation of the service, within the limits of the rights granted and of the purposes described in the privacy policy.

The user can generally withdraw these authorizations from DriveCost Monster or from the interface of the third-party service concerned.

DriveCost Monster is not responsible for the unavailability, limitations, modifications, errors, interruptions or changes of conditions imposed by the connected third-party services.

The user is solely responsible for the data they enter, import, modify, validate or export in the service.

It is up to them in particular to check:

• that the imported events do correspond to business or reimbursable journeys;
• that the departure and arrival addresses are accurate;
• that the calculated distances are consistent;
• that duplicate, personal, cancelled or non-reimbursable trips are deleted or excluded;
• that the vehicle associated is the right one;
• that the scale or rate applied matches their situation;
• that the final report is accurate before export or transmission.

DriveCost Monster may offer automations, pre-filled entries, suggestions or calculations. These never relieve the user of a human validation.

The distances calculated by DriveCost Monster may rely on mapping, geocoding, routing or estimation services provided by third-party suppliers.

These distances may vary depending on the source used, the route selected, traffic, the calculation method, the exact address, the driving settings or changes made to the third-party services.

DriveCost Monster may offer statutory, indicative, custom or company-specific scales. The user must check that the scale used does correspond to their country, their situation, their status, their vehicle, their company and the period concerned.

When the user uses a custom scale, they acknowledge that this scale may differ from the applicable tax, social security or statutory scales. It is up to them to make sure that this configuration is accepted by their company, their accountant or the competent authority.

DriveCost Monster makes it possible to automate the calculation and preparation of mileage expense reports according to the rules, scales or settings available for certain countries.

As at the date of publication of these Terms, the service supports the official mileage scales of several countries, in particular France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and the United Kingdom. The publisher may progressively add other countries; the actual availability of supported countries is indicated directly in the service interface.

The service also allows the user to define a custom scale (one rate per distance unit and per vehicle category). The rates entered in this way are the sole responsibility of the user: it is up to them to check that they match the rules applicable to their situation (employer, collective agreement, or tax and social-security regulations), and documents generated on the basis of a custom scale do not constitute a certification that an official scale was applied.

The rules applicable to mileage expenses, travel allowances, supporting documents and their tax or accounting treatment may vary depending on the country, professional status, collective agreements, internal company policies and changes in regulations.

Consequently, the calculations, exports and reports generated by DriveCost Monster constitute assistance in preparing mileage expenses, but do not replace verification by the user, their employer, their chartered accountant or their tax adviser.

The user is solely responsible for checking that the exported data complies with the rules applicable to their personal, professional, tax and geographical situation.

Where the user's country is not yet officially supported by DriveCost Monster, or where the local settings are not available in the application, the user must not consider the results generated to be compliant with local regulations.

DriveCost Monster can generate exports in various formats, in particular PDF, CSV, Excel or any other available format.

The user must check each export before using, sending or archiving it.

Unless otherwise stated, DriveCost Monster is not a digital safe, an evidential archiving service or a retention solution with legal value.

The user remains responsible for keeping their supporting documents, reports, calendars, accounting records, invoices, expense claims, proof of travel and any item required by their company, their accountant or the authorities.

DriveCost Monster offers a free plan giving the user access to all of the service's features, with no cap on the number of calculated trips, for data dated within a window of three calendar months: the month preceding registration, the month of registration and the following month.

That window is determined once, when the account is created, and is not renewed. The free plan carries no limit on how long it may be used, however: once the window has elapsed the account remains accessible and the user keeps the ability to view, edit and export, without any time limit, the data dated within the window. Data dated outside the window remains visible but cannot be calculated, validated or exported.

The conditions of the free plan, the extent of the window, the features available, any limitations and the conditions for moving to a paid plan are specified on the website or in the application at the time of registration.

Unless otherwise stated, the free plan does not create any obligation to buy an access year.

The publisher reserves the right to modify, suspend or withdraw the free plan for the future, without unjustified retroactive effect, save in the event of abuse, fraud or manifestly improper use.

Beyond the free plan, access to the service is acquired by buying an access year: a given calendar year, from 1 January to 31 December of that year.

Buying an access year is a firm, one-off purchase. It is not a subscription: it entails no renewal, no minimum term and no subsequent charge.

The access year purchased opens access to the data dated within that calendar year, for viewing, calculation, review and export. Data dated outside that year, and outside the free plan window, stays visible but cannot be calculated, reviewed or exported.

Each access year is independent. The user may buy several years, including a year that has already ended, among the years offered for sale at the time of purchase. Buying one year has no effect on the years already acquired.

The years offered for sale and their prices are shown in the application at the time of purchase. The price may vary from one year to another and depending on the date of purchase, the user's country, the applicable taxes, any discounts, promotional codes or any other commercial offer made by the publisher.

The applicable price is the one displayed on the website, in the application or in the payment interface at the time of purchase. It is stated in euros, excluding or including tax as the case may be, in accordance with the information provided when placing the order.

Promotional codes, discounts or special offers must be used under the conditions indicated when they are issued. They may be limited in time, reserved for certain users, applicable only to a first purchase or subject to specific conditions.

The price is payable in a single instalment, at the time of purchase. Access to the year purchased is opened as soon as the payment is actually received.

Payment is handled by an external payment provider, in particular Stripe. By proceeding with payment, the user accepts, where applicable, the conditions applicable to that provider. Card details do not pass through the publisher's servers and are not stored there.

A “My invoices” button is made available on the “My Account” page. It gives access to the secure interface of the payment provider, where the user can view and download their invoices. As nothing renews, there is nothing to cancel there.

The access acquired is individual and personal. Any collective or shared use, or use on behalf of several people, requires the prior agreement of the publisher.

In the event of payment failure, rejection, non-payment or suspected fraud, the publisher may suspend or limit access to the service until the situation is resolved.

Buying an access year entails no renewal. At the end of the calendar year purchased, no automatic renewal takes place, no new period is opened and no amount is charged.

The publisher keeps no recurring payment mandate in respect of the purchase of an access year. The user therefore has nothing to terminate and nothing to cancel in order to avoid a later payment.

To access the data of another calendar year, the user buys that year, on their own initiative, at the price displayed at the time of that purchase. The publisher does not guarantee that a given year will be offered for sale permanently.

Access to data dated within a year already purchased is not limited in time: once that calendar year has elapsed, the user keeps the ability to view, edit and export that data for as long as their account exists, subject to these Terms and to the availability of the service.

Users who, before access years were introduced, took out a subscription with automatic renewal remain governed, for that subscription, by the conditions communicated to them when they subscribed, until it ends or is cancelled.

As buying an access year is firm and carries no renewal, there is no termination and no cancellation of renewal to carry out: the access purchased applies to the calendar year concerned, with no further formality.

The user may stop using the service at any time. Stopping use does not give rise to a refund of the years already purchased.

Account deletion. Deleting the account at the user's initiative results in the loss of access to the service and in the deletion or anonymization of the data, under the conditions described in the privacy policy.

When the user deletes their own account after buying one or more access years, that deletion amounts to waiving, by their own action, the corresponding access. In that case, access to the service stops immediately and the years already purchased are not refunded, subject to the right of withdrawal recalled below and to the applicable mandatory legal provisions.

These consequences are recalled to the user in the service interface, before they confirm the deletion of their account.

A refund may be requested within fourteen days of the purchase of an access year, subject to the applicable legal provisions, in particular those relating to the consumer right of withdrawal recalled in the next section. That period is assessed purchase by purchase.

Beyond that fourteen-day period, no refund is due, save where required by law or by an exceptional commercial decision of the publisher.

Before deleting their account, the user is invited to export the data of which they wish to keep a copy, in accordance with the arrangements described in the “Data Retention Periods” section of the privacy policy.

Where a user acts as a consumer and enters into a distance contract with the publisher, they benefit from a right of withdrawal under the conditions provided for by the French Consumer Code.

The statutory withdrawal period is fourteen days from the conclusion of the contract. Each purchase of an access year is a separate contract: the period runs from each purchase and is assessed separately for each of them.

The free plan involves no payment and therefore carries no right of withdrawal: the user may stop using it or delete their account at any time.

As access to the year purchased is opened immediately after payment, at the user's request, the user may be required, in the event of withdrawal, to pay an amount proportionate to the service actually provided up to the point at which they communicate their decision to withdraw, where regulations allow this.

To exercise their right of withdrawal, the user sends the publisher an unambiguous statement, through the contact form on the website or by post to the registered office address given in the “Definitions” section. Any refund due is made using the same means of payment as the one used for the purchase, unless the user agrees otherwise.

From the applicable dates of entry into force, the publisher will put in place the online withdrawal features required by regulations for contracts concluded remotely through an online interface.

DriveCost Monster may offer promotional offers, welcome discounts, discount codes or temporary benefits.

These offers are valid only under the conditions indicated when they are presented: duration, discount amount, eligible beneficiaries, offer concerned, whether they may be combined, expiry date and applicable restrictions.

The publisher reserves the right to refuse to apply a promotion in the event of fraud, abusive use, artificial multiple accounts or an attempt to circumvent the rules of the offer.

Unless otherwise stated, promotional offers are neither exchangeable, refundable nor convertible into cash.

The publisher makes reasonable efforts to ensure access to the service. However, DriveCost Monster is provided under a best-efforts obligation.

The service may be temporarily unavailable due to maintenance operations, updates, technical incidents, limitations of third-party services, security constraints, force majeure events or any other cause beyond the publisher's control.

The publisher may make the service evolve, add, modify or remove certain features, in particular to improve the user experience, strengthen security, comply with a legal obligation, optimize technical costs or adapt the service to observed usage.

Where such changes substantially affect a paid plan in progress, the publisher informs the users concerned under the conditions provided for by the applicable regulations.

The user undertakes to use DriveCost Monster fairly and in compliance with these Terms, the applicable laws and regulations and the rights of third parties.

They must not, in particular:

• use the service for fraudulent, unlawful or misleading purposes;
• deliberately generate false expense claims or false supporting documents;
• impersonate a third party;
• attempt to access the accounts, data or systems of other users;
• disrupt, circumvent, abusively test or compromise the security of the service;
• carry out unauthorized mass data extraction;
• use the service to develop a competing product through unauthorized copying or reverse engineering;
• harm the image, rights or interests of the publisher, of other users or of third parties.

Any breach may lead to the suspension or deletion of the account, without prejudice to any action or claim for damages.

The publisher may suspend or delete access to the service, immediately and without notice where the situation warrants it, in particular in the event of:

• breach of these Terms;
• non-payment;
• fraud or attempted fraud;
• abusive or abnormal use of the service;
• risk to the security, stability or integrity of the service;
• a request from a competent authority;
• conduct likely to engage the liability of the publisher.

Where reasonably possible, the publisher informs the user of the reasons for the suspension or deletion, save where prevented by a legal obligation, a security risk or the need to preserve an investigation.

The publisher is liable under the conditions of ordinary law, subject to the limitations set out in these Terms and to the applicable mandatory legal provisions.

The publisher cannot be held liable for:

• errors, omissions or inaccuracies arising from the data provided or validated by the user;
• the consequences of an incorrect classification of journeys;
• the refusal of a reimbursement, a deduction or an export by an employer, an accountant, an administration or a third party;
• errors arising from third-party mapping, calendar, payment or authentication services;
• data losses caused by the user or by a third-party service;
• indirect damage, loss of business, loss of turnover, loss of opportunity, loss of data not attributable to the publisher or indirect commercial harm;
• use of the service outside its normal purpose.

For professional users, save in the event of gross negligence or wilful misconduct, the total liability of the publisher in respect of the use of the service is limited to the amount actually paid by the customer during the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the damage.

No limitation of liability applies where the law prohibits it, in particular in the event of personal injury, gross negligence, wilful misconduct or mandatory statutory liability.

The user is responsible for their use of the service, for the data they enter, for the exports they generate and for the consequences of their transmission or use.

They shall indemnify the publisher against any claim, demand, penalty, loss, damage or cost resulting from a use of the service contrary to these Terms, to the applicable laws or to the rights of third parties.

The DriveCost Monster service, its name, its logo, its mascot, its interface, its texts, its graphic elements, its architecture, its databases, its features, its code, its algorithms, its documentation and, more generally, all the elements of which it is composed are protected by the applicable intellectual property rights.

These Terms do not entail any transfer of ownership to the user.

The user benefits only from a personal, non-exclusive, non-assignable, non-transferable and revocable right to access and use the service, for the duration of their authorized access.

Any unauthorized reproduction, representation, adaptation, extraction, modification, distribution, decompilation or exploitation of the service or of its elements is prohibited.

Using DriveCost Monster involves the processing of personal data, in particular account data, calendar data, addresses, trips, vehicles, reports and the technical data necessary for the operation of the service.

This processing is described in a Privacy Policy separate from these Terms, accessible from the DriveCost Monster website or application.

Personal data is kept for a period proportionate to the purposes for which it is processed, specified in the “Data Retention Periods” section of the privacy policy.

The data necessary to manage the account is kept for the entire period during which the service is used.

Calendar data is used solely to identify journeys likely to give rise to a mileage expense calculation. It is kept solely to allow the user to view, edit and export their reports. Events that are not necessary for the calculation are deleted or are not kept.

Deleting the account erases the data that identifies the user as well as all of their trips, vehicles, addresses, payments and support requests. It leaves in place a technical record devoid of identifying data, including in particular a one-way fingerprint of the erased email address — an irreversible calculation from which the address cannot be recovered — and the corresponding authentication identity.

This record is kept without any time limit: it is what prevents a deleted account from signing up again straight away to benefit from a new free plan. The details of what is erased, of what is kept and of the grounds for that retention are set out in the “Data Retention Periods” section of the privacy policy.

Accounting records, in particular invoices, are kept for ten years in accordance with the applicable legal obligations.

Data used for commercial prospecting purposes is kept for three years from the end of the commercial relationship or from the last active contact of the prospect.

Technical and security logs are kept for a rolling period of between six months and one year, save where a specific need arises in connection with a security incident, an investigation, fraud prevention or a legal obligation.

Depending on the case, the publisher may act as data controller for the processing necessary to provide and manage the service, or as data processor where the service is used by a company to process data on its own behalf.

The user undertakes to connect to the service only data that they are authorized to process and, where necessary, to inform the data subjects concerned.

The publisher implements appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect the data processed, without being able to guarantee absolute security.

The publisher implements reasonable measures intended to preserve the security, confidentiality and integrity of the service and of the data.

The user must also adopt appropriate security measures, in particular use strong credentials, protect access to their account, not share their access and revoke unnecessary connections to third-party services.

In the event of a suspected security incident, the user must inform the publisher without delay at the following address: support--[@]--drivecost.monster (anti-spam display: please replace --[@]-- with an @).

To provide the service, the publisher may call on subprocessors and technical service providers involved in particular in hosting, the database, payment, sending emails, user support, calendar services, distance calculations, mapping, audience analytics, security or maintenance.

As at the date of the last update of these Terms, the main categories of providers used by DriveCost Monster are the following:

• Hosting and database: Google Cloud, with servers located in Europe, in an infrastructure aiming for a high level of security, availability and GDPR compliance and, where possible, a reduced carbon footprint;
• Payment and invoicing: Stripe, for the secure handling of payments, payment methods and invoices;
• Analytics and audience measurement: Google, for the technical and statistical analysis of the use of the service;
• Transactional emails, communications and support: Brevo, for sending emails related to the service, certain user communications and support management.

These providers are involved only to the extent necessary to provide the service and under appropriate commitments regarding confidentiality, security and the protection of personal data.

The detailed list of providers, their roles, the categories of data concerned, the places of processing and any transfers outside the European Union are specified, where applicable, in the Privacy Policy separate from these Terms.

The publisher may change its technical service providers, in particular to improve the service, strengthen security, reduce costs, ensure business continuity or comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.

The publisher may offer user support under the arrangements indicated on the website or in the application.

Save for a specific commitment provided for in a paid plan, support is provided under a best-efforts obligation, with no guarantee of response or resolution time.

Support is not intended to provide personalized accounting, tax, legal or social security advice.

The publisher may amend these Terms in order to take account in particular of changes to the service, to regulations, to commercial practices, to technical constraints or to security requirements.

Users are informed of substantial changes by any appropriate means, in particular by email, by notification in the application or by posting on the website.

Where regulations so require, changes applicable to contracts in progress will be subject to the information, notice or acceptance conditions provided for by law.

Continuing to use the service after the new Terms come into force constitutes acceptance of them, save where otherwise provided by law or where refusal is expressed under the conditions indicated by the publisher.

The publisher cannot be held liable for any failure or delay in the performance of its obligations resulting from a force majeure event within the meaning of French law and of the applicable case law.

The following are in particular likely to constitute force majeure events or legitimate causes of unavailability: natural disaster, fire, major network outage, cyberattack, service interruption at an essential provider, administrative decision, external labor dispute, war, epidemic, regulatory restriction or any event reasonably beyond the control of the publisher.

The user accepts that electronic exchanges, notifications, emails, connection logs, validations in the application, technical data and computer records may be used as evidence under the conditions provided for by law.

It is up to the user to maintain a valid email address that is checked regularly.

The publisher may assign, transfer or contribute all or part of its rights and obligations under these Terms to an affiliated company, a buyer, an acquirer, a successor or any entity succeeding to the rights of the publisher, in particular in the event of a merger, an acquisition, a restructuring, a sale of the business or a transfer of activity.

The user may not assign their rights or obligations under these Terms without the prior written agreement of the publisher.

If a clause of these Terms is declared void, unenforceable or deemed unwritten, the other clauses remain applicable to the fullest extent permitted by law.

The parties will endeavor to replace the clause concerned with a valid clause producing an economic and legal effect as close as possible to the initial intention.

These Terms are governed by French law, subject to the mandatory rules that are more protective and applicable to consumers residing in another country.

In the event of any difficulty, the user is invited to contact the publisher at the following address: support--[@]--drivecost.monster (anti-spam display: please replace --[@]-- with an @).

The publisher and the user will endeavor to resolve amicably any dispute relating to the use of the service.

For consumer users, the information relating to the competent consumer mediator will be specified here once the publisher has appointed a mediator listed by the CECMC.

Failing an amicable resolution, disputes will be submitted to the competent courts under the conditions of the applicable law.

For professional users, save for any mandatory legal provision to the contrary, exclusive jurisdiction is granted to the courts of Paris, including in the event of summary proceedings, multiple defendants, third-party proceedings or emergency proceedings.

For any question relating to these Terms, the user may contact the publisher:

Sudo Software

Address: 15 RUE DES HALLES, 75001 PARIS, FRANCE

Support email: support--[@]--drivecost.monster (anti-spam display: please replace --[@]-- with an @)

Personal data email: support--[@]--drivecost.monster (anti-spam display: please replace --[@]-- with an @)

Website: https://drivecost.monster