General Terms and Conditions (T&C)

§ 1 Scope and provider

(1) These General Terms and Conditions (hereinafter "T&C") apply to all contracts between

(hereinafter "provider" or "vergabefix") and the customer (hereinafter "customer" or "user") concerning the use of the Software-as-a-Service platform vergabefix (hereinafter "platform" or "service").

(2) The platform is aimed exclusively at entrepreneurs within the meaning of § 14 BGB (B2B). An entrepreneur is a natural or legal person or a partnership with legal capacity who, when concluding a legal transaction, acts in the exercise of their commercial or independent professional activity.

(3) Deviating, conflicting or supplementary general terms and conditions of the customer only become part of the contract if the provider has expressly agreed to their validity in writing.

(4) The current version of the T&C can be viewed on the platform under the menu item "T&C".

§ 2 Subject matter of the contract and description of services

(1) The subject matter of the contract is the provision of the web-based Software-as-a-Service platform vergabefix for searching, filtering and managing public tenders from sources such as TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) and Bund.de.

(2) The platform offers in particular the following functions:

• Search and filtering of public tenders
• Preparation of the eligibility criteria and key facts for each tender
• Notifications about new relevant tenders (alert system)
• Management of company profiles and documents
• AI-supported features such as semantic search and summaries

(3) The precise range of functions depends on the plan chosen by the customer. The current plans and their scope of services can be viewed on the platform under "Pricing".

(4) The provider makes the platform available within the scope of its technical and operational possibilities. There is no entitlement to uninterrupted availability. The provider is entitled to carry out maintenance work that may lead to temporary restrictions. Scheduled maintenance work will be announced in good time.

(5) The provider is entitled to further develop and improve the platform. The customer has no entitlement to the retention of a specific range of functions, provided that the essential functions of the booked plan are maintained.

§ 3 Conclusion of contract and registration

(1) The contract is concluded through the customer's registration on the platform and the acceptance of these T&C. By using the platform, the customer declares their agreement with these T&C.

(2) Truthful and complete information is required for registration. The customer warrants that they are authorised to represent the company specified.

(3) Each customer may only create one user account. Passing on access data to third parties is prohibited, unless they have been added as authorised users within the scope of the booked plan.

(4) The provider reserves the right to reject registrations without giving reasons.

§ 4 Plans and user accounts

(1) The platform is currently offered in a single plan (the "Pioneer plan"). Prices and billing are set out in § 6.

(2) A person may only use one user access at a time. The shared use of a user account by several persons is not permitted.

(3) The first month of use is free of charge (see § 6). After the free period expires, the subscription continues on the terms set out in § 6, unless it has been cancelled beforehand.

§ 5 Introductory phase and beta features

(1) The platform is in an introductory or pioneer phase. Special introductory conditions may apply to early-joining customers ("Pioneers"), which are stated on the platform under "Pricing" or are communicated separately upon conclusion of the contract.

(2) The beta phase may take place in several stages. New features may initially be provided free of charge as beta features before being transferred to the regular range of functions.

(3) After an introductory or beta phase has been completed, an automatic transition to regular operation at the then-applicable regular conditions takes place. The customer will be informed of this in good time by email. Cancellation must be actively carried out by the customer.

(4) Pioneer or introductory customers may receive special conditions or discounts. The applicable conditions are stated before the contract is concluded.

(5) During the beta phase, features may be limited or subject to change. The provider does not warrant the full functionality of all features.

§ 6 Prices and payment terms

(1) The platform is offered in the Pioneer plan. Pricing is tiered: the first month is free of charge, the following two months cost 129 € each (plus statutory VAT); from the fourth month onwards, the regular price of 249 € (plus statutory VAT) per month applies. The current prices can additionally be viewed on the platform under "Pricing".

(2) Billing takes place monthly in advance. Payment is due at the start of the respective billing period. Annual billing is currently not offered.

(3) Payment processing is handled by our payment service provider Stripe. The following payment methods are accepted:

• Credit card
• SEPA direct debit
• PayPal
• Bank transfer (purchase on account)

(4) With monthly billing, payment for the following month must be made during the current month. If payment is not made on time, access to the platform is automatically terminated at the end of the paid period.

(5) In the event of default in payment, the provider is entitled to block access to the platform until the outstanding amounts have been settled.

(6) The provider reserves the right to change prices. Price changes are communicated to the customer at least 30 days before they take effect by email or via the internal mailbox function. In the event of a price increase, the customer is entitled to a special right of termination. Termination must take place before the end of the current billing period. The current billing period will still be billed at the old price.

§ 7 Contract term and termination

(1) The minimum contract term is one (1) month. The contract can be terminated at any time with effect from the end of the current billing month.

(2) Annual billing with a corresponding minimum contract term is currently not offered.

(3) The contract is automatically extended by the respective billing period (month or year), unless it is terminated before expiry.

(4) Termination can be carried out via the account settings on the platform or by email to info@vergabefix.de.

(5) The right to extraordinary termination for good cause remains unaffected. Good cause exists in particular if:

• the customer breaches material contractual obligations and fails to remedy this breach within a reasonable period despite a warning;
• the customer uses the platform for unlawful purposes;
• the customer is in default of payment of more than two monthly amounts.

(6) Amounts already paid for periods not used will not be refunded in the event of ordinary termination, unless the termination is due to a price increase or material limitation of services by the provider.

§ 8 Customer obligations

(1) The customer is obliged to keep their access data (username and password) secret and to protect it from access by third parties. If misuse is suspected, the customer is obliged to inform the provider immediately and to change the password.

(2) The customer is responsible for the accuracy and currency of the data stored in their profile.

(3) The customer is responsible for all activities carried out under their user account.

(4) The customer undertakes to use the platform only for lawful purposes within the scope of their business activities.

(5) The customer is responsible for creating regular backups of their data themselves.

§ 9 Prohibited uses

(1) The customer is prohibited from:

• copying, modifying, deriving from, decompiling, reverse-engineering the platform or parts thereof, or otherwise attempting to extract the source code;
• making the platform available to third parties for use, reselling or sublicensing it;
• carrying out automated access (bots, scrapers) to the platform, unless expressly authorised;
• using the platform in a way that impairs its functionality or security;
• distributing unlawful, offensive, defamatory or otherwise objectionable content via the platform;
• passing on access data to unauthorised third parties;
• removing or altering the copyright notices or other proprietary notices.

(2) In the event of violations of these provisions, the provider is entitled to block access to the platform with immediate effect and to terminate the contract without notice.

§ 10 Data storage and deletion

(1) The customer's data is stored on servers in Germany.

(2) After termination of the contract, the customer's data is retained for a period of 30 days in order to give the customer the opportunity to export their data. After this period has expired, the data is irrevocably deleted.

(3) The customer can request an export of their data at any time by email to info@vergabefix.de. The export is provided in a common format (e.g. CSV, JSON).

(4) If the customer account is deleted at the customer's request, all personal data and company data is completely deleted, unless statutory retention obligations conflict with this.

(5) The processing of personal data takes place in accordance with the separate Privacy Policy, which can be viewed under "Privacy" on the platform.

§ 11 AI features and third-party providers

(1) For certain features (e.g. semantic search, automatic summaries), the platform uses AI services from third-party providers (OpenAI).

(2) Only non-critical data such as search terms and publicly available tender texts is transmitted to these services. Sensitive company data (e.g. financial data, insurance information, bank details) is not passed on to third-party providers.

(3) The results of AI-supported features serve merely as assistance and do not replace an independent review by the customer. The provider does not warrant the accuracy, completeness or topicality of AI-generated content.

(4) The payment service provider Stripe is used for payment processing (for details, see the Privacy Policy, section 11). Data processing takes place in accordance with the conditions described there.

§ 12 Intellectual property and rights of use

(1) All rights to the platform, including the source code, the user interface, the documentation and all associated intellectual property rights, remain with the provider.

(2) For the duration of the contract, the customer receives a non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the platform within the scope of the booked plan.

(3) The data and content entered by the customer remain the property of the customer. The customer grants the provider the rights of use necessary to provide the services.

(4) The provider is entitled to use anonymised and aggregated usage data for statistical purposes and to improve the platform.

§ 13 Warranty

(1) The provider warrants that the platform essentially corresponds to the described functions.

(2) The provider does not warrant:

• the accuracy, completeness or topicality of the tender data displayed on the platform, as this originates from external sources (TED, Bund.de);
• the results of the AI-supported preparation or other AI features;
• the uninterrupted availability of the platform;
• the suitability of the platform for a particular purpose of the customer.

(3) The customer must report defects to the provider immediately upon discovery. The provider will endeavour to remedy reported defects promptly.

(4) Minor deviations from the description of services that do not significantly impair usability do not constitute a defect.

§ 14 Liability

(1) The provider is liable without limitation for damage arising from injury to life, body or health as well as for damage based on intent or gross negligence of the provider, its legal representatives or vicarious agents.

(2) In the case of slightly negligent breach of material contractual obligations (cardinal obligations), liability is limited in amount to the foreseeable damage typical for the contract, but at most to the total of the remuneration paid by the customer in the last 12 months before the damaging event.

(3) Any further liability for slight negligence is excluded.

(4) The provider is not liable for:

• lost profits, lost contracts or other indirect and consequential damage;
• damage based on the inaccuracy or incompleteness of tender data from external sources;
• damage arising from incorrect or incomplete information provided by the customer;
• damage caused by force majeure or by circumstances outside the provider's sphere of influence;
• damage arising from unauthorised use of the customer's access data.

(5) Liability under the German Product Liability Act (Produkthaftungsgesetz) remains unaffected.

§ 15 Indemnification

(1) The customer indemnifies the provider against all third-party claims based on unlawful use of the platform by the customer or with their approval, or arising from data protection, copyright or other legal disputes connected with the use of the platform.

(2) The customer bears the reasonable costs of the provider's necessary legal defence, including court and lawyer fees in the statutory amount. This does not apply if the customer is not responsible for the infringement.

§ 16 Changes to the T&C

(1) The provider reserves the right to change these T&C with effect for the future, provided that this is objectively justified and does not unreasonably disadvantage the customer.

(2) Changes are communicated to the customer by email or via the internal mailbox function of the platform. The changes are deemed approved if the customer does not object within 30 days of receipt of the notification. The provider will specifically point out this legal consequence in the change notification.

(3) In the event of an objection, both parties have a right to terminate at the end of the current billing period.

§ 17 Support

(1) The provider offers support by email: info@vergabefix.de

(2) Support requests are generally answered within two working days. There is no entitlement to compliance with specific response times.

(3) Support covers answering questions about the use of the platform and receiving fault reports. It does not include training, individual consulting or adaptation of the software to customer requests.

§ 18 Confidentiality

(1) Both parties undertake to treat all confidential information of the other party obtained within the framework of the contractual relationship as confidential and to use it only for the purposes of this contract.

(2) This obligation continues to exist even after termination of the contract.

(3) The confidentiality obligation does not apply to information that is or becomes publicly known without this being based on a breach of this agreement.

§ 19 Final provisions

(1) The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).

(2) The exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from or in connection with this contract is Osnabrück, provided that the customer is a merchant, a legal person under public law or a special fund under public law.

(3) Should individual provisions of these T&C be or become invalid or unenforceable, this does not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. The parties undertake to replace the invalid or unenforceable provision with a valid provision that comes as close as possible to the economic purpose of the invalid provision.

(4) Amendments and supplements to this contract require text form. This also applies to the cancellation of this text form requirement.

(5) The assignment of rights and obligations under this contract by the customer requires the prior written consent of the provider.

Contact

If you have any questions about these T&C, please contact: