Terms & Conditions of VIES API Service

§ 1

General provisions

These Terms of use set out the scope and conditions for the provision of electronically services via the viesapi.eu website. The business owner of the eu platform and all other domain names mentioned in these Terms of Use is the company: NETCAT – SYSTEMY INFORMATYCZNE, 02-495 Warsaw, 21/10 Zagłoby Street, EU VAT Number: PL7272445205. All financial settlements are carried out by the aforementioned company.
Important disclaimer: The viesapi.eu service is not responsible for managing the VIES System, which is maintained by the European Commission. All matters related to outdated company data in the VIES System should be directed to the tax administration of a given country that is a member of the European Union. Please read the official FAQ (especially the answer to question no. 4).
The provisions contained in this document define the rights and obligations of Users and the viesapi.eu service.
These Terms and Conditions have been drawn up on the basis of the applicable legal regulations, in particular the provisions of:
1. [1] the Act of 18 July 2002 on the provision of services by electronic means (Journal of Laws 2013, item 1422).
2. [2] Regulation 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons in relation to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and the repeal of Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation – hereinafter GDRP).
3. [3] Act of 29 August 1997 on the protection of personal data (i.e. Journal of Laws 2016, item 922).

§ 2

Definitions and concepts

For the purposes of these Regulations, the following terms are defined:

System Administrator – a person responsible for the proper functioning of the viesapi.eu website, who is authorised to perform all actions aimed at ensuring the implementation of the provisions of these Terms and Conditions.

Personal data – data provided by the User during registration in the system. During registration, the User must provide the following personal data: electronic mail address (e-mail). In order to use paid plans, the User must also provide Billing Data.

Billing data – data enabling the issue of a VAT invoice: Company name, VAT ID, company address including: street, building number, premises number (optional), postal code and city, as well as a dedicated company e-mail address to which electronic invoices are to be sent as PDF files (optional).

Business data – data obtained from external system (VIES) and returned automatically to the User. The scope of the acquired business data depends on the function called from the API level and the specification of the service providing the data (external system or reference register).

User Password – means a code selected by the User containing a minimum of. 9 characters, which together with the User ID gives access to the User Account. The User Password is confidential.

User ID – the e-mail address provided by the user during registration, which in combination with the User Password enables access to the User Account. The User ID is public.

User Account – means an account of a person or a company. Once a user has successfully authenticated himself/herself to the system, the account may only be used to carry out the services provided by viesapi.eu in accordance with these rules and the rights of the respective user.

Purchaser – a user using paid plans who is required to provide a correct (truthful) VAT number in order to issue a VAT invoice.

Viesapi.eu – a system, website, web portal, platform providing access to company data using an API. The use of the aforementioned names anywhere in this document is the same as the use of the name viesapi.eu.

Additional fee – a fee charged for each operation carried out by the Customer Service staff, even though the User, using his/her account, is able to carry out this operation himself/herself. In particular, it concerns the re-sending of an invoice, even though all invoices are available to Users after they have logged into their account on the Website.

Plan – a set of services, activities and configuration settings that can be defined by the User in accordance with the applicable price list for services. The viesapi.eu service offers four standard plans: Startup, Business and Professional, as well as one Individual plan, which allows any configuration of the service to best suit the User’s needs.

Service – see viesapi.eu.

External system – a system providing an API to verify the taxpayer’s status in the European Commission’s system for obtaining EU VAT confirmation (VIES system).

Services – all services connected with the functioning of viesapi.eu, the scope of which is described in detail in §3. Services are provided in accordance with the provisions of the Act [1].

Customer – means the natural person, legal person or organisation unit without legal personality that uses the Services.

Service Provider – the company NETCAT – SYSTEMY INFORMATYCZNE, 02-495 Warsaw, 21/10 Zagłoby Street, EU VAT No.: PL7272445205.

User – a customer with an account on the viesapi.eu system.

Account blocking – operation connected with the User’s Account. The User Account may be blocked by the System Administrator as a result of failure to comply with the rights and obligations resulting from these Terms of Use.

§ 3

Scope of Services Provided

Services are made available via API interfaces.
Services provided by the API (libraries, application and the Microsoft Excel add-in):
1. Check the VAT EU status in the VIES system.
2. Verification of the entity’s status in the VAT system.
The EU VAT Numbers monitoring service is provided automatically by the systems of the viesapi.eu service. Each query made as part of the EU VAT No. monitoring service is billed in the same way as queries made using the API interface.
The EU VAT No. tracking service allows for completely maintenance-free monitoring the entity’s status in the VIES system.
The information service is provided using the Users’ e-mail address and is intended to inform them of:
1. Planned system downtime.
2. Possible failures.
3. Important changes affecting the operation of the Service and Users (e.g. changes to these Terms and Conditions).

§ 4

Users’ rights and obligations

As a condition of using the Services of the Website, you must consent to the processing of your personal data within the meaning of the GDPR [2] and the Act [3].
The Service User has the right to:
1. To use the Services in accordance with this Policy and within the currently selected Plan.
2. Changes to the selected Plan.
3. To lodge a complaint if you observe a malfunction of the Service.
4. Report errors, suggestions, observations and other comments relating to the functioning of the Website.
5. To request the extension or introduction of a new functionality or service, as long as the currently selected Plan allows it.
6. Use of an online help system and phone technical support.
7. Personal data protection and data management in accordance with §13.
The Service User is obliged to:
1. Read and accept the content of these Terms and Conditions.
2. To meet the payment deadlines arising from the provision of the Services and thereby comply with the provisions of these Terms and Conditions.
3. Inform the Service Provider of any changes affecting the implementation or enforceability of the provisions of these Terms and Conditions.
4. To provide truthful data during the Registration process as well as when ordering the Services. For all Paid Plans, it is required to provide a correct NIP number and contact details to enable the User to be verified. The data provided during the Registration process will be used for the billing of the Service provided.
5. To use the Services in accordance with applicable law and this Policy.
6. Not to take actions to the detriment of other entities, in particular entities whose information is presented on the pages of the Website.
7. To make payments for invoices issued in accordance with the Plan selected by the User, even if the User has not made any request during the billing period.
The User agrees that the Service Provider may use the User’s trademarks (logotypes) on the Service Provider’s websites, including marketing purposes, without additional compensation for this.
It is forbidden for the User to share his/her password with anyone. The Service Provider shall not be liable for any damage caused to the User who has made his/her password available to third parties.
The User agrees that the provision of the Services (blocking of the Account) may be discontinued with immediate effect if the User breaches the provisions of these Terms and Conditions.
The User has the right to cancel the Service at any time, taking effect at the end of the following month from the date of sending the cancellation instruction.

§ 5

Privacy policy

The Administrator of Users’ personal data is the company NETCAT – SYSTEMY INFORMATYCZNE, 02-495 Warszawa, Zagłoby 21/10, hereinafter referred to as the Administrator.
The Administrator’s contact details: contact@viesapi.eu tel. +48 222 199 199. The Administrator has appointed and authorised a person to perform the function of the Personal Data Inspector. Any questions related to the protection of personal data should be directed to the Personal Data Inspector by sending an e-mail to the account given in point. 2.
The purpose and scope of data collection is detailed in §13.
The provision of data is voluntary, but necessary for the Service to provide the Services or to ensure contact with the Administrator or to receive important information and system messages from the Administrator.
The service provider undertakes to make every effort to protect data and privacy in accordance with:
1. GDPR [2].
2. Act [3].
The Administrator declares that it has conducted a risk analysis, applies the safeguards described in the Security Policy (PB), processes the Users’ data in accordance with the RODO [2] and the Law [3] and that it has implemented technical and organisational measures to ensure the protection of the processed data appropriate to the risks and categories of data under protection, and in particular protects the Users’ personal data against unauthorised access, loss or damage.
The Administrator informs that the protection measures applied fully guarantee the confidentiality, integrity and accountability of the processed data.
The basic documents describing all the Service’s obligations to guarantee the highest level of privacy are the provisions of these Terms and Conditions and internal regulations (Security Policy, procedures, etc.).
Every user has the right to inspect his or her data, as well as the right to update it.
The user can request removal from the database of the account and the information about him/herself provided when creating the account. To do so, he or she should send a request to contact@viesapi.eu with details that clearly identify the user’s account.

§ 6

Provider’s rights and obligations

The Service Provider shall make every effort to ensure that the Services are provided at the highest level, continuously and uninterruptedly.
The Service Provider undertakes to ensure the highest quality of the Services provided and to carry out all feasible actions to guarantee the full satisfaction of the Users using the Website.
The service provider is not responsible, for:
1. Content of the data shared.
2. Data made available to authorised state bodies and institutions (Police, Public Prosecutor’s Office), the transmission of which may be requested on the basis of separate legal provisions.
3. The way in which other Users use the Services.
4. Damage resulting from a lack of continuity of service due to superior force or the non-availability of the systems listed under paragraph 5.
5. Lack of availability of external systems (VIES and VAT system)
The service provider shall collect in the form of logs and store for evidence purposes all queries and responses received from the VAT register provided by the Ministry of Finance.
At the User’s request, the Service Provider shall make the aforementioned logs available free of charge in the event that there is a need to present evidence to the tax inspection authorities.
The website, its design and functionality may be changed at any time without prior notice.
The System Administrator may block or delete the User’s Account at any time if the User does not comply with the provisions of these Terms of Use.

§ 7

Guarantee of availability

The Service Provider guarantees that it will make every effort to ensure that the availability of the Website is carried out on a: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year (7/24/365). The above guarantee assumes that the annual availability of the Service will not be less than 99%. Planned downtime is not included in the calculation of the total annual service availability.
The availability guarantee does not apply to the external systems and reference registers listed in § 6 para. 3 para. 5.
We assure you that breakdowns will be resolved within a maximum of 4 hours, provided that the breakdown or inaccessibility is not due to superior force.
We vouch that for any downtime longer than 8 hours, the User may request a reduction in the monthly fee for the provision of the Services.
The Service Provider reserves the right to carry out scheduled downtime for system maintenance. The downtime may involve temporary disconnection of access to the Services. If the planned downtime or temporary unavailability is carried out during the night hours: 22-6 and will not be longer than 6 hours, it may be performed without prior notice. Planned downtime may be related to:
1. Installation of updates or patches to running software.
2. Introducing new functionalities.
3. Other works of a maintenance nature.

§ 8

Complaints

All complaints relating to the operation of the Service should be submitted electronically, up to a maximum of 30 days after the occurrence of the event to which the complaint relates.
Complaints will be dealt with within 14 days from the date of submission and the complainant will be informed immediately of the outcome of the comments by email to the email address provided on the form.
The complaint should be made in the form of an email sent to contact@viesapi.eu.
Complaints sent in any language other than Polish or English will not be processed.
In case a complaint does not contain information enabling the complaint to be dealt with unambiguously, the Service Provider reserves the right to send an e-mail to the postal address from which the complaint was sent with a request for additional information.
In case the situation under point 5. arises, the time limit for handling the complaint is counted from the date of providing the additional information referred to in point 5.
The actions performed by the System Operator in order to enforce the applicable law – e.g. blocking the User’s Account – cannot be the subject of a complaint.
Complaints arising from lack of knowledge of these Terms and Conditions will be rejected.
The right to lodge a complaint is vested in Users who use the Portal’s services and who are not in arrears in payment for the Services provided.
Complaints cannot relate to events and situations that occur during planned downtimes (system shutdown and maintenance), as Users are informed of any planned downtime at least 3 days in advance

§ 9

Duty to obey the law

The User undertakes to use the Services in a manner that does not infringe the rights of third parties, personal rights, copyrights, morals or the law.
The entire content of the portal is protected by copyright, and therefore, any partial or complete copying, processing, duplication, modification and further sharing of the information on the portal with any entity is prohibited without the express written consent of the owner of the portal. It is prohibited to connect to the Website using any software other than a web browser and the API software provided. It is not permitted to execute any scripts or to insert malicious code or to carry out attacks aimed at blocking the Service. It is not permitted to cache the data in such a way that it can be further processed. You may not use hypertext links or frame the content of the Website on other websites. It is not permitted to sell or make available, against payment, VIES Checker applications, API libraries and MS Excel add-ins downloadable from the Website and to make User’s account available to third parties against payment. Any unauthorised activity detected shall be reported to the relevant law enforcement authorities.

§ 10

Settlements and payments

Billing for the use of the Services is carried out in accordance with the Selected Plan by the User and the applicable price list, which is available at https://viesapi.eu/offer/ .
The service provides two types of accounts:
1. Pre-paid – a type of prepaid account that requires payment before using the Services.
2. Post-paid – a type of post-paid account in which payment is made after using the Services.
The online payment service is provided by National Payment Integrator S.A. (tpay.com).
Each new User of the Service, when creating an account, is assigned a pre-paid account type by default. Post-paid accounts are assigned by default to Users who have created Individual Plans.
In order to purchase one of the available paid plans, it is necessary to provide on the “Information” tab in the field “TIN of the contractor for whom VAT invoices for the service are issued” the tax identification number of the User’s NIP.
The purchase of the selected plan can be made on the “Plan Details” tab, where the chosen plan must be selected and then the “BUY NOW” button must be pressed. The selection of the purchased plan can still be changed on the “Payments” tab. The user can choose for what period (by default to the end of the current month and for a maximum of 6 months) he wants to buy the plan. To do so, he should select the appropriate date in the “TO” field. In order to make payment for the selected plan, the User is automatically redirected to the tpay.com Internet payment system, which allows the transaction to be carried out using the telecommunications network. The User is not required to enter the data of the Service Provider, his bank account number, the amount and description of the transaction. These data should be filled in automatically.
Users with a prepaid account, after exhausting the number of inquiries in the current billing month, have the right to purchase additional inquiry packages at a price per inquiry equal to the cost of the inquiry above the currently selected Plan.
If the User has a post-paid account and does not exceed the limit of the number of inquiries resulting from the inquiry package available in the selected Plan on a monthly basis, User will not incur any additional costs, except for the price of the selected Plan.
If the User has a post-paid account and exceeds the limit of the number of inquiries from the inquiry package available in the selected Plan on a monthly basis, in addition to the fee for the selected Plan, the User is also required to pay for all additional inquiries above the Plan at the price list rate applicable to the selected Plan.
The billing period is the calendar month. If the User makes a payment to a prepaid account on a day other than the first day of a given month, User is required to pay the full monthly fee, as the number of queries available under a given plan may be used up in a single day.
The billing document is a VAT invoice.
The User agrees to issue VAT invoices in electronic form. The Service Provider declares that the invoice in electronic form meets the conditions specified in art. 106n. ust. 1 Law of 11 March 2004 r. tax on goods and services. Issued VAT invoices (PDF file) will be sent to the e-mail address provided by the User during the creation of the User Account or entered in the field “E-mail of the contractor to which VAT invoices for the service are sent”. All invoices are also available in the “Invoices” tab for self-downloading from the User Account. For the avoidance of doubt, the Service Provider is exempt from the obligation to send invoices to the User in ordinary (paper) form.
If you have a post-paid account, you have the option to change your currently owned Plan to another Plan at any time. It is possible to change the Plan only once in a given billing period. The old Plan is valid until the end of the current billing period, and the new Plan is activated at the beginning of the new billing period.
For post-paid accounts, if the billed amount for a given billing period does not exceed the net amount of PLN 10, it will be carried over for billing to the next billing period.
The date of payment shall be considered as the date on which the funds are booked in the bank account.
The payment term is set at 14 days from the date of the VAT invoice.
If the 14-day invoice payment deadline is exceeded, the User Account that is on the post-paid type will be automatically switched to a pre-paid account.
If the period of delay in payment exceeds 10 days from the due date, the Service Administrator is entitled to block the User’s Account until the amount due is settled.
In the event that the period of delay in payment exceeds 30 days from the due date, the Service Provider will be entitled to initiate debt collection procedures through a company providing professional debt collection services. In such a situation, the User will be obliged to cover the costs of debt collection, the costs of possible court proceedings and statutory interest.
If a User orders an operation to be performed by Customer Service employees, although the User can perform the operation himself/herself from his/her account, the Administrator is obliged to charge an additional fee of EUR 10 net.

§ 11

Account Deletion

The User may at any time request the removal of the User Account from viesapi.eu. For this purpose, he/she should send the request to contact@viesapi.eu with the data that will enable clear identification of the User Account to be deleted. The deletion of the User Account shall be equivalent to the discontinuation of the Service to the User.
In case the User has purchased any Plan payable for several months “in advance” and has applied for deletion of the User’s Account before the expiration of this period – he/she cannot claim a refund of the fee paid or any part thereof.

§ 12

Force majeure

The Service Provider shall not be liable for failure to perform or improper performance of obligations under these Terms and Conditions due to the occurrence of force majeure – an event beyond the control of the parties, external, impossible to foresee and prevent, in particular: fire, flood, earthquake, hurricane, war, natural disaster and other acts of nature, in addition, failure of energy supply, failure of the Internet provider and failure of hosting services, as well as strikes and acts of state power. In the event of force majeure, performance of the Services will be suspended for a period equal to the period of force majeure.

§ 13

Data protection – Information clause

The provisions of these Terms and Conditions, in accordance with the preamble (81) of the GDPR and the provisions of the Act [1], represent another legal instrument that is governed by Union law or the law of a Member State. This means that acceptance of the provisions of these Regulations implies consent to the entrustment and processing of personal data in accordance with the principles described in the Regulations.
The Service Provider declares that it protects Users’ personal data to the extent that they are personal data within the meaning of the GDPR.
Any data provided by the User will be processed by the Service Provider solely for the purpose of providing the Services referred to these Regulations. The User acknowledges that on the basis set forth in Article 19 of the Act [1], the Service Provider is entitled to process the User’s personal data provided during the establishment of the User’s Account, even after the termination of the Service, if they are:
1. Necessary for billing the Service and claiming payment for the use of the Service.
2. Necessary to clarify the circumstances of unauthorized use of the Service, as referred to in Article 21, paragraph 1 of the above-mentioned Act.
3. Authorized for processing under separate laws.
Any data provided by the User will be processed by the Service Provider solely for the purpose of performing the Services (legal basis art. 6 ust. 1 lit. b GDPR) and for accounting and tax purposes on the basis of applicable laws – Article. 6 ust. 1 lit. c GDPR.
The content of this paragraph fulfills the information obligation required by Article 13 ust. 1 GDPR [2].
Personal data may be processed for the following purposes:
1. In the case of acceptance of these Terms – in order to provide the services by electronic means referred to in § 3 of these Terms, pursuant to Article 6 ust. 1 lit. b GDPR – processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is a party, or to take action at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract.
2. In the case of an inquiry received during a telephone call, at the company’s e-mail address or via the contact form – in order to answer the question, solve the problem or provide informative content, based on Article. 6 ust. 1 lit. f GDPR – the realization of the Administrator’s legitimate interest in the form of providing any information on its activities and on the products and services it offers, at the request of interested persons.
3. In other cases such as:
  1. Accounting for inquiries made and billing,
  2. To ensure the correctness of the provision of services (technical logs),
  3. Providing payment services,
  4. Provide support for tax and accounting services,
  5. Debt collection,
  6. Conducting court proceedings,
  7. Conducting statistical analysis,
  8. Ensuring the security of services, including enforcing compliance with the provisions of the Security Policy and other internal procedures, and preventing fraud and abuse and ensuring the security of network traffic,
  9. Conducting research and analysis for, among other things, the functionality of the Website, improving the operation of the services or assessing the main interests and needs of visitors – on the basis of Article 6 ust. 1 lit. f RODO, realization of the Administrator’s legitimate interest.

Users’ personal data are not shared with any other third parties. Only persons authorized by the Administrator may process personal data. In accordance with pkt. 6 ust. c) of this paragraph, personal data may be transferred to a debt collection company or to the National Debt Register.
The Administrator, unless necessary (e.g., the decision of law enforcement agencies), does not intend to transfer personal data to a third country or international organization.
Personal data will be stored for:
1. In the case of implementation of the ordered service: for the entire period of service.
2. In the case of a general inquiry or quotation: for a period of five years from the date of receipt of the inquiry.
The user is entitled to:
1. Demand access to your personal data, rectification, erasure or restriction of processing, to object to processing, and the right to data portability.
2. File a complaint with the supervisory authority.
Provision of data is voluntary and is not a statutory or contractual requirement, but:
1. Failure to provide them will prevent the Administrator from providing the Services – in the case indicated in point. 2 lit. a) of this paragraph.
2. Failure to provide them will prevent the Administrator from answering the question asked – in the case indicated in point. 6 lit. b) of this paragraph.
Personal data will not be used for the purpose of automated decision-making, including profiling, as referred to in Article 22 ust. 1 i 4 RODO [2].

§ 14

Cookies policy

The Website may use text cookies, which are saved by the server on the User’s computer.
Cookies are not used to collect personal information.
Cookies are not used to install or uninstall any computer program, do not interfere with the integrity of the system or User data.
The Administrator has the right to use the services of third parties (e.g. Google Analytics) to compile statistics on the usage of the Website’s pages. The Administrator declares that no identifying information will be made available to these entities.
Cookies used by the Service are as described on the site:

https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/cookie-usage

In accordance with the applicable provisions of the Act of July 2004 r. Telecommunications Law (Dz. U. nr 171, poz. 1800 z późn. zm.) the User has the right to decide on the access of cookies to his/her computer by selecting them in advance in his/her browser window. Browser manufacturers provide instructions on their websites to manage cookies.
The data obtained will not be used to identify the users of the site and will be used solely to enable the use of the site, for statistical purposes, to measure traffic to the site and to target messages accordingly, without being able to be linked to the user of the site and will not be used for any other purpose.

§ 15

Disclaimer of Service Provider’s Liability

In accordance with the provisions of Articles 12 i 13 of the Law[1], service Provider during the performance of the Services described §3 pkt.: 2, 3, 4hall not be responsible for the content of the transmitted data and shall not be responsible for the storage of the data, as:
1. is not the initiator of the data transfer,
2. does not choose the recipient of the data transfer,
3. does not modify the data,
4. uses recognized and usually used in this type of activity IT techniques defining technical parameters for accessing and updating data, and,
5. does not interfere with the use of information technology techniques recognized and normally used in this type of activity for collecting information on the use of collected data.
The Service Provider declares that for the purpose of billing of performed inquiries and billing, as well as to guarantee the correctness of the operation of the Services provided, it stores the data sent with the content of the inquiry.

§ 16

Final regulations

Every person acting under the authority of the User including the User himself shall bear full liability under the law to his principal.
Anyone who performs operations in the viesapi.eu system is responsible for the consequences of their actions.
Viesapi.eu portal would like to inform you that all events and actions of Users are recorded in system logs and are systematically analyzed to detect any kind of abuse. Detected attempted attacks and actions to the detriment of the portal or other Users will be immediately reported along with the necessary data to the relevant law enforcement agencies.
Complaints and requests are accepted electronically at e-mail address (only in English): contact@viesapi.eu.
All inconveniences and technical concerns related to the operation of the service should be reported to the System Administrator at the e-mail address contact@viesapi.eu.
In particular, the provisions of the Act [1] and the Civil Code shall apply to matters not covered by these Regulations. In case of disagreement, disputes will be resolved by a common court with jurisdiction over the headquarters of the Service owner.

The regulations shall enter into force on January 1, 2022.

Terms & Conditions of Service (English only)

Terms & Conditions of Service
(English only)