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User Agreement

Last Update: November 03, 2022

GERMANY

THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING LIME!

These terms (“Terms”) govern your use of our various products, services, apps and software we offer (collectively, our “Services”). They are provided to you by: (i) until 1 January 2023, Lime Electric Ireland Limited; and (ii) with effect from 1 January 2023 onwards, LimeBike Germany GmbH. In order to use our Services, you must consent to these Terms, including that you are at least 18 years of age and have authority to agree to these Terms. Please read them carefully. If you don’t agree to these Terms, you may not use our Services.

We may amend these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of any such changes to the terms by providing a revised version highlighting any changes. The amended terms will become effective 2 weeks after you have received such a notification, provided that you do not object to the changes and we have informed you about the consequences of you not objecting to the changes at the beginning of the 2 week period. If you do object to the changes, we reserve the right to terminate your use of the Services immediately. In order to object to the changes please email us at [email protected]. Once effective, the revised Terms will supersede any previous versions. You may of course stop using our Services at any time, and we may terminate these Terms or your use of any Services, or generally cease offering the Services in whole or in part, at any time, but any such termination will only become effective once you finish any current rental.

Please note that your home city may also have additional terms and conditions that you should be aware of when you use our Services – please check this list to see if there are any for your city.

  1. What Lime Offers

Lime was founded on the simple idea that all communities deserve access to smart, affordable mobility. Our Services help make this idea a reality. We are continually evolving our Services, and as of the date above, they include electric and non-electric bikes along with their respective parking locations and electric scooters. In these Terms, we often refer to these as a “Product” or all them collectively as “Products”. Our Services also include our mobile application (the “App”), all other related equipment, maintenance, charging, personnel, our websites, and any other information, technology and services provided or otherwise made available to you in our discretion. We offer our Services as a convenience to those who are able and qualified to operate them, and alternative means of public and private transportation are available to you and the general public.

  1. Your Lime User Account

  • Account Set Up. You need an account to use our Services, which requires a valid debit or credit card or other approved payment method with expiration date (which is passed to our third party payment processor – we do not receive or store this information ourselves) as well as other requested information depending on the Product. The provision of this information is necessary in order to provide the Services to you. Alternative account creation and payment methods are available for some of our products and services if they are available in your area, such as LimeAccess. What you provide us must be true, accurate, complete and updated as necessary to remain accurate. Create a username and a strong password and don’t share either with anyone – your account is personal to you and not intended for anyone else, and you are responsible for all activity that occurs under it if you don’t keep it safe. Let us know immediately if you suspect unauthorized use of your account. For more information about how we use your personal information, please see our Privacy Notice which you can access at li.me/privacy.

  • A Note on Fraud. We take it seriously, both for your protection and ours. You may only use a payment method that you have the legal right to use and you authorize us to charge this payment method for any charges you incur. If we suspect that any information you’ve provided is inaccurate, incomplete or fraudulent, we may suspend or terminate your account if and until the issue is resolved. During that time, you will lose access to some or all of our Services, either temporarily or permanently.

  1. Using the App and our Services

You can use the App to locate, reserve and rent our available Products. Please understand that for supply and related reasons, we reserve the right to accept or reject your reservation requests. Your order will be deemed accepted by us upon our delivery of Services that you have ordered. You agree that, if we reject your request, your sole and exclusive remedy is either that (a) we will not charge your payment method at all or (b) in the case that your payment method has been charged, we will issue a credit to that payment method in the amount charged for such Services.

  • A Few Essential Rules.

  • You are at least 18 years of age.
  • You must be the only user of our Services. This means that you may not let anybody else operate or otherwise ride a Product we provide to you as part of our Service.
  • You are able to operate our Products in a competent manner. You know how to use them and are physically able to do so. You understand that adverse weather conditions can impact safety and you are able to respond accordingly (like adjusting your braking distance in the rain, for example). This may also mean not using certain Products at all if and when you are unable to operate them in a safe and controlled manner. Also note that we don’t provide routing directions or advice, so the route you choose is up to you.
  • While we do our best to educate you on local laws governing how to use our Products, please ensure that you have familiarized yourself with these laws as well, which you must follow when you use our Services. Don’t use our Services in prohibited areas, and make sure you understand the laws on sidewalk use, parking (don’t obstruct or block pedestrian traffic, for example) and alcohol/drug use during operation. Specifically, the following rules apply: (i) our Products may only be used on bike lanes, combined sidewalks and bike lanes, or bike roads; (ii) only if the options in (i) are unavailable may Products be used on roads; and (iii) our Products must not be used on sidewalks or in other traffic areas unless specifically allowed by the following sign:
  • Don’t tamper with, vandalize or try to gain unauthorized access to our Services.

  • Safety First! – Helmets and Safety Checks.

We recommend that you wear a helmet any time you use any of our Products that is approved under DIN EN 1078 (CE). It should be sized, fitted and fastened per manufacturer instructions. Helmets and other protective gear are no guarantee against personal injury. Helmets are required by law in some areas, so definitely wear one if the law applies to you. If you choose not to wear a helmet and are injured, we are not responsible (unless something we did or didn’t do was the actual cause of such injury).

We do our best to keep each Product in good condition, but they get a lot of use serving all of our customers’ mobility needs. For your own safety, perform a safety check on the Product before you use it, including all of these:

  • Check its general condition for any obvious defects that could affect the safe operation of the Product.
  • Do its brakes and lights work?
  • Is the license plate visible (the law requires that it be)?
  • Are the seat, pedals and basket properly attached if it’s a bike?
  • Is the battery charged if it’s electric?
  • Is there any other obvious sign of damage, unusual or excessive wear or is maintenance needed?


Something could have happened to the Product since its condition was last checked, and we ask you to tell us if something isn’t working properly if you notice it before we do. Please tell us as soon as possible by contacting us at [email protected]. If you notice any issue that could affect the safe use of a Product before your use, don’t use it. Reserve another one instead. If you notice something during use, stop your trip as safely as you can and as soon as possible.

  • Additional Rules for Electric Products.

  • We don’t have unlimited amounts of electric Products and they aren’t always available (this actually goes for our non-electric Products too).
  • Electric Products require periodic battery charging to operate. Their level of charge power will decrease with use over both time and distance. They lose their battery charge for various reasons, including due to weather, road conditions, Product type and other factors.
  • It is your responsibility to be aware of the level of charge power in the Product you are renting and use your judgment to decide whether it will get you where you intend to go with its current battery level. As part of our Services, we work diligently to ensure that our Products have adequate charge for your general use, but we don’t know where you intend to go and we can’t guarantee the electric Product you rent has enough charge power to get you there.

  1. Be Safe When Using Our Products!

We want a safe experience for you and those around you in your community, and that means we have some rules. Aside from simply exercising caution and good judgment, you shouldn’t carry any items (like a briefcase or a bag) or use any device (like a cell phone or other portable device) if they impair or hinder safe use (no texting while using our Services, for example). There will not always be a designated place for you to ride, such as a bike lane, so exercise caution when riding around cars and other traffic (we aren’t responsible for the actions of drivers). You may not use our Services while under the influence of alcohol, drugs or other substances. Don’t carry other people or animals while using our Services. Please don’t lock up any Product with a lock that isn’t ours, because then we can’t unlock it (!). Please don’t leave a Product in a manner or location which we can’t access (if everyone did that, there would be no Products to use). We may charge you up to EUR 350, depending on our costs incurred in retrieving any Product due to your actions (but you retain the right to prove that our damages were less than EUR 350).

You are also not permitted to use our Services to participate in activities beyond a particular Product’s intended use. Some of these are obvious, but for example, no racing, mountain riding, stunts or trick-riding, and don’t take a Product off-road or through massive amounts of water (beyond normal urban riding, of course). All of these uses can damage our Products. You may not use our Services for hire, reward or for any other commercial use (like advertising, ride-sharing or food delivery). And of course, do not use our Services in connection with the violation of any law.

  1. Treat Our Products Like They Were Your Own!

  • Proper Use. If all customers treat our Products with respect, more of them will be available to use and in better condition. Our Products are unfortunately not indestructible, so please take good care of them when they are in your possession. They have weight limitations – 136 kg for all Products (but 8 kg pounds for cargo in a bike’s front basket). We expect you to use the Products safely, including when you carry cargo in general. For example, don’t carry cargo in a bike’s front basket if it blocks your visibility.

  • Damage. We expect that other than normal wear and tear, you’ll return (meaning locking up and deactivating) a Product in the same condition in which you received it. If you damage it (negligently or intentionally), or fail to properly return it and damage occurs, you’ll be responsible for the associated costs. This can get expensive – up to EUR 460 for bikes and up to EUR 1,340 for scooters - these amounts are determined based upon the costs of repair or replacement of the relevant Product, but you retain the right to prove that our damages were lower. The same charges will apply for any Product negligently or intentionally not returned within 48 hours of rental, which we consider lost or stolen and, depending on the circumstances, we may need to file a police report against you. We also reserve the right to take any action against you that the law allows, including holding you liable for the value of the Product.

  • Rental Periods. You can rent a Product for up to 24 hours. You need to return it within that time period, and after that, you can rent again. Each Product has a maximum 24-hour rental fee of EUR 200 After 24 hours we will consider the Product lost or stolen if you have not informed us about the whereabouts of the Product.

  • Product Pick-Up.

    If you are unable to return a Product to a valid area (for example, you have to leave it on private property, in a locked community or an otherwise unreachable area), and you ask that we pick that Product up, we may charge you a pick-up fee of up to 100 Euro. If you abandon a Product outside the operating area, you’ll be responsible for all associated fees until it’s recovered, plus a service charge of up to 100 Euro, depending on the time and effort associated with recovering the Product. The operating area, and whether you are in it, is displayed in the Lime app at all times. If you disagree with any charge, you may contact us at [email protected] to dispute it.

  • Accidents or Damage to Products Generally. You must report any accident, crash, damage, personal injury, or a stolen or lost Product to us as soon as possible. If an accident involves personal injury, property damage or theft, you must file a report with the local police department within 24 hours.

  1. Financial Terms

  • Pricing & Payment.

We will charge you according to the prices and price calculation applicable prior to the beginning of your rental. Our pricing is inclusive of taxes (such as indirect taxes) and other applicable governmental charges. Please note that we may change pricing for our Services as we deem necessary or appropriate for our business. However, price changes only apply for the future and not any current rental. Prices will be charged to your preferred payment method designated in your account based on your use. We will automatically charge and withhold the applicable taxes if required by law. All payments to us are made through a third-party payment processor in the form of payment accepted by them. If you disagree with any charges we have made to your account, you must let us know as soon as possible after you have become aware of the issue. To resolve any disputed charges, we will need certain trip information, including the date and approximate start and end times of your trip. As a policy, we do not offer refunds for your use of our Services, and any exceptions to this policy are in our sole discretion.

  • Promotional Codes.

At various times we provide promotional codes for discounted trips, which may be subject to additional terms presented to you in connection with a particular promotion that you’ll need to carefully review and agree to if you’d like to take part in it. Please understand that these are one-time offers, are only redeemable via the App and we may modify or cancel them at any time. We limit these to 1 per user and account, they can’t be combined with other offers, they will expire in accordance with their terms and are not transferable or permitted to be resold.

  • Subscriptions.

If available in your area, you may use our Services by purchasing a periodic subscription. Your subscription will be subject to additional terms and conditions, which we’ll make available to you to review before you purchase, and also make available on our website.

  • Fines and Fees.

When you are using our Services, you must comply with the laws that apply to you. If you receive a ticket or a fine, cause a Product to be towed and/or impounded or receive any other penalties or fees, you’ll be responsible for the associated costs. We cooperate with all governmental officials in their enforcement of the applicable laws, and for expediency we may pay amounts you owe on your behalf and provide any necessary information requested or required by the applicable government agencies. If we do so, you are required to pay us back plus a reasonable administrative fee plus any applicable costs associated with third party collection or administrative agents if we have to use them to resolve the issue. By agreeing to these Terms, you agree that we may charge these amounts to your preferred payment method indicated in your account, and we may need to contact you for additional information. Please note that in the event of multiple tickets or fines, we may elect, or we may be required in some cases, to pass along your information to the proper authorities rather than paying for any such costs, in accordance with our Privacy Notice.

  1. Limitation of Liability

Any liability of (i) Lime, its parent and related companies, our affiliates and subsidiaries, our and their respective owners, managers, officers, employees, directors, agents, representatives, successors, assigns, licensees, distributors, vendors and third parties with whom we authorize or otherwise partner with to distribute, market or otherwise commercialize the Services and, (ii) to the extent you access the Services using a third party application, website, content, product or service, that third party and all of its affiliates and subsidiaries and each of their respective owners, managers, officers, employees, directors, agents, representatives, successors and assigns (provided and to the extent that (i) to (ii) provide services to Lime necessary to fulfill any obligations under this Agreement with regard to the Services) (the “Released Parties”) is limited to cases of intent or gross negligence. In cases of slight negligence, the Released Parties are only liable if an essential contractual duty, whose violation endangers the purpose of the contract or whose performance is required to achieve this purpose and in whose performance the consumer trusts (so called “cardinal duties”) has been violated. In this case, the liability is limited to damages, which are typical and foreseeable. This limitation of liability does not apply to claims under product liability law and in the case of bodily harm or death.

  1. Your responsibilities

Subject to section 7 above, you agree that you are responsible for any and all claims, actions, costs, damages, penalties, fines, demands, losses, liabilities and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees and court costs) arising out of or in connection with your negligent or intentional breach or violation of any of these Terms or any applicable law, or your negligent or intentional violation of the rights of any third party. You agree that the obligations in this Section 8 will survive any termination of these Terms, your user account or your access to our Services generally.

  1. Your Personal Information

We collect, use and store your personal information to the extent necessary and reasonable to provide the Services to you. For example, we process information such as your name, contact details and payment details so that you can register for an account with us and use our Services. It is also necessary for us to process information about you, such as information about your trips in order to provide our Services. For more information about how we use your personal information, please read our Privacy Policy which you can access at www.li.me/privacy.

  1. Intellectual Property
    • Our Limited License to You

Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, revocable, non-transferable license to access and use the App and our related software and services on your personal device solely for your use of our Services. Such rights are for your personal, noncommercial use only. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved by us and our licensors. You are not allowed to copy, modify, distribute, sell or lease any part of our Services or included software, nor may you reverse engineer or attempt to extract the source code of the Services or software, unless laws prohibit these restrictions or you have our written permission to do so. Don’t do anything that places an unreasonably large load on our Services’ infrastructure, use any robots, spiders, scrapers or other automated means to access our Services, try to interfere with the proper working of our Service or attempt to bypass any of our security measures to access the Services.

  • Ownership

The Services are our exclusive property, and your use of them does not transfer any ownership rights to you. Using our Services does not give you ownership of any intellectual property rights in our Services or the content you access, and except for the limited license granted to you above, all rights therein (including all intellectual property) belong to us or our licensors. You may not use content from our Services without our express prior permission or as otherwise permitted by law. These Terms do not grant you the right to use any trademarks, branding or logos used in our Services or otherwise, including in any advertising or publicity or to imply our endorsement in any way. Please do not obscure or alter any legal notices displayed in, along with or in connection with our Services.

  1. Content Provided by You

You may at times be invited (but not obliged) to submit content to us (like a comment to a blog post, to participate in our communities or provide user tips). You retain ownership of this content but we ask that you make sure you have the right to submit it to us in the first place, because when you submit it, you give us a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works, communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute it as well as your name, voice and/or likeness for the purposes of marketing, providing a user profile, blog entries or any other app based services. This license continues even if you stop using our Services. However you retain the right to revoke your consent at any time. If you submit feedback or suggestions about our Services, we may use your feedback or suggestions without obligation to you. Any content you submit is deemed non-confidential.

Do not submit any content that is defamatory, libelous, hateful, violent, obscene, pornographic, unlawful or otherwise offensive. The same goes for “spam” or unsolicited advertising. Submission of any of the following may result in suspension or termination of your user account, including where required by law. We have the right, but not the obligation, to review, monitor or remove your content at any time for any reason without notice, subject to applicable law.

  1. Third Party Services and Content

The Services may be made available or accessed in connection with services and content (including advertising) controlled by third parties with different terms of use and privacy policies. We don’t endorse these third party services and content and we are not responsible or liable for any of their products or services. Additionally, Apple Inc., Google, Inc., Microsoft Corporation and/or BlackBerry are not parties to these Terms and are not responsible for the provision or support of the Services in any manner. Your access to the Services using these applications or devices is subject to terms set forth in their respective terms of service and privacy policies.

  1. Network Access and Devices

You are responsible for obtaining the data network access necessary to use the Services. Your mobile network's data and messaging rates and fees may apply if you access or use the Services from your device. You are responsible for acquiring and updating compatible hardware or devices necessary to access and use the Services (including the App) and any updates thereto. We do not guarantee that the Services, or any portion thereof, will function on any particular hardware or devices. In addition, the Services may be subject to malfunctions and delays inherent in the use of the Internet and electronic communications.

  1. General

    You may not assign these Terms without our prior written approval. Any purported assignment in violation of this paragraph is void. No joint venture, partnership, employment or agency relationship exists between you and us as a result of these Terms or your use of our Services. If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, that provision shall be struck and the remaining provisions shall be enforced to the fullest extent under the law. Our failure to enforce any right or provision in these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision unless we acknowledge and agree to it in writing, and it is not a waiver of our right to do so later. Force majeure events may prevent us from providing the Services. Provisions that by their nature are intended to survive the termination of these Terms or your use of the Services will survive.