Rückkehrwacht matches your Mietwagen fleet's Uber and Bolt trips against your registered base and shows you every day which car didn't return after a trip.
If your Mietwagen run on Uber and Bolt, you are liable for every trip. Including those driven by a subcontractor.
A Cologne taxi cooperative sued a company running Uber X trips, partly through subcontractors. One car had waited at Breslauer Platz after a trip. The injunction stands.
BGH, judgment of 3 June 2026, I ZR 123/25 · Press release (German)
The city of Cologne opened 366 fine proceedings against Cologne Mietwagen in 2025. A single focused check in November alone led to 50 proceedings for breaking the return-to-base rule.
City of Cologne, press release of 23 Jan 2026 · Source (German)
You must record the receipt of every ride order at your base, on paper or electronically – apps count – and keep the record for one year.
§ 49(4) PBefG · Statute (German)
"After carrying out the order, the Mietwagen must return to the registered base without delay, unless it received a new order before the trip from its base or the operator's home, or during the trip."
§ 49(4) sentence 3 PBefG, unofficial translation. PBefG = German Passenger Transport Act; Mietwagen = licensed private hire car with driver.
With 10, 20 or 50 cars you can't see who is waiting at the station or outside a club after a trip. Uber and Bolt show you trips and revenue – whether your cars went back afterwards is up to you to find out.
Usually you learn about it from a fine or a cease-and-desist letter from a competitor. By then it's too late to talk to the driver.
Connect your Uber Fleet and Bolt Fleet accounts. All trips from all drivers land in one overview – instead of two portals and a spreadsheet.
After every trip, Rückkehrwacht checks whether the car went back to base or had a follow-up order.
Waiting time without a new order shows up as a warning on that vehicle, so you can sort it out with the driver before an inspection does.
Send ride orders – including those from your direct customers – straight to your drivers and keep every trip in one view.
Also in the same software: automatic timesheets, profit per vehicle and alerts for deadlines such as vehicle inspection (HU), insurance and your Konzession (operating licence).
Set up your fleet once – with your base, vehicles and drivers.
Link the platform accounts. From then on, trip data arrives automatically.
Return warnings, revenue per driver and per car, cost per kilometre and upcoming deadlines at a glance.
More than 700 operators already run drivers, vehicles, platform data and their licence through this software – in one place.
from $5.99 per driver/month
Under § 49(4) of the German Passenger Transport Act (PBefG), a Mietwagen may only carry out orders received at the operator's registered base (Betriebssitz) or home. After each trip, the car must return to the base without delay, unless it received a new order before leaving the base or during the trip.
Yes. Germany's Federal Court of Justice (BGH) confirmed the rule in its judgment of 3 June 2026 (I ZR 123/25). Without a cross-border element it falls outside the scope of EU law, and the court had no serious doubts about its constitutionality.
You must record the receipt of every order at the base or home, on paper or electronically (app-based systems count), and keep the record for one year (§ 49(4) PBefG).
Only with an exemption. For municipalities covering a large area, the licensing authority can set rules for exemptions that allow another parking location. A minimum distance of 15 km between the head office and that location applies (§ 49(5) PBefG). Ask your local licensing authority which rules apply.
Rückkehrwacht connects your Uber Fleet and Bolt Fleet accounts and matches your vehicles' trips against your base. Trips with no return and no follow-up order show up as a warning, so you can talk to the driver before an inspection finds it.
From $5.99 per driver per month. Setup takes about 48 hours: upload vehicles and drivers, connect Uber Fleet and Bolt Fleet, done. You can try it free for two days, no credit card needed.
We'll show you what Rückkehrwacht looks like with your fleet.
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