📜 Terms of Service
These terms govern access to and use of the API BCE service operated by Espero-Soft Informatiques SRL. By creating an account or making any call to the API, you accept them without reservation.
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1. Purpose#
API BCE (the “Service”) is a REST programming interface that provides structured access to Belgian company data: enterprises, establishments, activity codes, officers and beneficial owners, financial data, VAT validation and related reference data. These terms form the contract between Espero-Soft Informatiques SRL (the “Provider”) and any natural or legal person using the Service (the “Customer”).
2. Acceptance and eligibility#
The Service is intended for professional use by businesses, public bodies and developers acting in the course of their activity. By using the Service, the Customer represents that it is at least 18 years old and has the legal capacity to enter into this contract, in its own name or on behalf of the entity it represents. These terms prevail over any conflicting purchase conditions of the Customer.
3. Account, API keys and security#
Access to the Service requires an account and the generation of credentials (API key, secret and/or OAuth2 tokens). These credentials are strictly personal and confidential. The Customer is solely responsible for keeping them secure and for all activity carried out through them. Any suspected compromise must be reported to the Provider without delay so that the credentials can be revoked.
4. Acceptable use#
The Customer undertakes to use the Service in compliance with applicable law and these terms. In particular, the Customer shall not:
- circumventing, disabling or exceeding the technical limits, quotas or rate limits of the Service, or sharing credentials with unauthorised third parties;
- using the data to send unsolicited commercial communications (spam) or for any purpose contrary to the data-protection rules, in particular regarding natural persons (officers, beneficial owners);
- reconstituting, in whole or in a substantial part, a competing database, or systematically extracting the data for purposes other than its own use of the Service;
- using the data for unlawful discrimination, harassment, or any unfair or deceptive practice;
- attempting to gain unauthorised access to the Service, disrupting its operation, or introducing malicious code.
5. Plans, quotas, prices and payment#
The Service is offered through a free plan and paid plans, each with its own monthly quota and rate limit as described on the pricing page and in the developer portal. Prices are stated exclusive of VAT, which is added at the applicable rate. Paid plans are billed in advance on a recurring basis and renew automatically for successive periods unless cancelled before the end of the current period. Sums due are payable through the payment providers indicated at checkout. Late payment authorises the Provider to suspend access after notice.
As the Service is supplied to professionals for their business activity, the consumer right of withdrawal does not apply. For paid plans, supply of digital content begins immediately upon subscription with the Customer’s express agreement.
6. Data, source and accuracy#
The data is derived from official open and public sources (CBE/KBO, Belgian Official Gazette, National Bank of Belgium) and enriched by the Provider. It is provided for information purposes. The Provider is not the authentic source: only the competent public registers have official evidential value. The Provider does not warrant that the data is complete, accurate, up to date or fit for a particular purpose, and the Customer remains responsible for verifying it against the official sources where a legal or regulatory decision depends on it.
7. Licence to use the Service#
Subject to compliance with these terms and payment of the applicable fees, the Provider grants the Customer a non-exclusive, non-transferable and revocable right to access the Service and to use the data it returns within the Customer’s own applications and business processes. This right does not transfer any ownership of the Service, its software or its underlying database. Re-use of public-sector information remains subject to the conditions set by the original publishers.
8. Availability and maintenance#
The Provider uses reasonable efforts to keep the Service available with a target uptime of 99.9% but provides it on a “best-effort” basis. Access may be interrupted for scheduled or emergency maintenance, security reasons, or events beyond the Provider’s control. The Provider may change, improve or discontinue endpoints; deprecated features are announced through the changelog with a reasonable transition period where practicable. Any service-level commitment applies only if expressly agreed in a separate written agreement.
9. Warranties#
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Service and the data are provided “as is” and “as available”, without any express or implied warranty, including any implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. The Customer is solely responsible for assessing whether the Service is suitable for its intended use.
10. Limitation of liability#
The Provider is bound by an obligation of means. To the extent permitted by law, the Provider shall not be liable for indirect or consequential damage, loss of profit, revenue, data or business opportunity, or for any decision taken by the Customer on the basis of the data. The Provider’s aggregate liability arising under or in connection with the contract is limited to the amounts actually paid by the Customer for the Service during the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to liability. Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability for fraud, wilful misconduct, gross negligence, death or personal injury, or any liability that cannot be excluded under Belgian law.
11. Suspension and termination#
The Customer may stop using the Service and cancel a paid plan at any time, effective at the end of the current billing period; sums already paid are not refunded except where required by law. The Provider may suspend or terminate access, with immediate effect where justified, in the event of a serious breach of these terms, non-payment, a security or legal risk, or misuse of the data. On termination, the right to use the Service and the data ends and the Customer must cease all further calls.
12. Personal data#
The processing of personal data in connection with the Service is described in the Privacy Policy. Where the Customer further processes personal data obtained through the Service (in particular data relating to officers and beneficial owners), the Customer acts as an independent controller and undertakes to comply with the GDPR and all applicable rules, including the principles of lawfulness, purpose limitation and transparency towards the persons concerned.
13. Changes to these terms#
The Provider may amend these terms, in particular to reflect legal, technical or commercial changes. The Customer will be informed of any material change by a reasonable means (e.g. email or a notice in the portal). Continued use of the Service after the new version takes effect constitutes acceptance. If the Customer does not accept a material change, its sole remedy is to stop using the Service before that change takes effect.
14. Governing law and jurisdiction#
These terms are governed by Belgian law. The parties will seek an amicable solution before any litigation. Failing agreement, any dispute falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the judicial district of Brussels, in particular the Brussels Companies Court (French-speaking) for disputes between undertakings, without prejudice to any mandatory consumer-protection provision. If any provision of these terms is held invalid, the remaining provisions remain in full force.