User Guide

This guide walks you through the Control is Better member portal end to end: from applying to searching, from filing reports to API access.

1. About the Platform

Control is Better is a closed-membership risk intelligence platform where freight and logistics companies share information about bad-faith or risky business partners. Members file a report by choosing one of five templates according to its legal basis; a description and a document are required for every report:

• Enforcement of a court judgment — the receivable is confirmed by a court, enforcement was started, collection failed (judgment + enforcement order).
• Cheque / promissory-note enforcement — enforcement based on a negotiable instrument, collection failed (cheque/note + payment order).
• Bounced-cheque criminal complaint — a complaint was filed with the public prosecutor for a cheque returned unpaid (stamped cheque + petition).
• Enforcement without judgment — proceedings started at the enforcement office without a court ruling (payment order / enforcement request).
• Unpaid claim — invoices exist, no proceedings or judgment, payment is not received (invoice + notice).

Every report is reviewed by an administrator first. The first four types (including enforcement without judgment) are backed by an official enforcement or prosecution file and are published as soon as they are approved. Unpaid claims (invoice, no proceedings) are claim-type reports: they become visible only when at least 3 different members have reported the same company, or when an official-file report is published for it. A single one-sided claim can never label a company on its own. Official concordat announcements are published separately from the Concordat Registry.

2. Applying for Membership

1. Open the Apply page and enter your company details: legal name, country, tax / company ID, city, address, phone.
2. Enter the contact person's name and e-mail. This e-mail becomes your login (there are no passwords).
3. Choose the membership type: Full (search + file reports) or Viewer (read-only, attached to an existing member firm).
4. Accept the privacy policy and submit. Your application goes to the regional administrator; you receive an e-mail once it is approved.

Founding membership and referral rule

Founding membership depends on firm count, not on a date. The first 100 full-member firms are accepted as founding members: no referral code is needed, only the regional administrator's approval (currently 31/100). Members of the Control is Better WhatsApp group are natural founding-member candidates. Once the founding quota is full, a full-membership application needs one referral code from each of two different founding members; only founding members can generate referral codes. Codes are generated for your specific e-mail address and expire after 48 hours.

Regional administrators

Applications and reports from Turkish firms are reviewed and verified by the regional administrators for Türkiye. Anyone who would like to take on a regional-administrator role can get in touch via the contact form.

Viewer accounts

If your company is already a member, apply as "Viewer" with the same tax ID to get a read-only account attached to that firm. Viewers can search but cannot file reports, manage users or request API access.

3. Logging In & Security

There are no passwords. On the login page enter your e-mail; a single-use 6-digit code valid for 10 minutes is sent to you. Enter the code and you are in.

• Trusted device: the browser and IP address you verified with are remembered permanently; logging in from the same place never asks for a code again. Up to 3 browser/IP pairs are kept per user; adding a new one drops the least recently used. A different network or browser asks for a code again.
• Single session: a user can be signed in on one device at a time. A new login closes the previous session.
• Attempt limit: too many failed attempts lock the login for a few minutes.
• If no code arrives, check your spam folder and press "send code" again; the first code also stays valid until it expires.

4. Dashboard

After login the dashboard summarises your firm: reports you have filed, reports awaiting approval, the size of your watchlist, unread notifications and the latest high-risk companies on the platform. Warnings about an expiring or suspended membership appear here too.

5. Searching Companies

1. Open Search in the left menu.
2. Type at least 3 characters of a company name or tax ID; optionally pick a country.
3. Results show how many published reports the company has, its threat level and the report types. Open a result to see the details and the amount subject to each report; uploaded documents are reviewed by administrators only and are never shown to members.
4. Use the Watch button on a result to add the company to your watchlist.

6. Filing a Report

Only full-permission users can file reports. Open Report in the left menu and follow the steps:

1. Pick the report template (enforcement of judgment, cheque/note enforcement, bounced-cheque complaint, enforcement without judgment, unpaid claim). The legal meaning and the document to upload are shown as soon as you pick one.
2. Enter the reported company's country and tax / company ID; the number is format-checked per country.
3. Add the company name and city. Enforcement types take the enforcement office, file number and start date; the criminal complaint takes the prosecutor's office, investigation number and complaint date; enforcement of a judgment also takes the court decision date.
4. Enter the amount and currency subject to the report (required for every type). This amount is shown to other members.
5. Describe the facts with dates, documents and file numbers (required). The template appears as example text in the description box.
6. Upload a document: PDF, JPEG or PNG, up to 10 MB (required for every type). Documents are viewed by administrators only.
7. Submit. The report receives a number and enters Pending approval.

Rules

• You cannot report your own company.
• The same company can be reported with the same type once every 90 days.
• An administrator approves the report or rejects it with a reason; you get an e-mail either way. Rejected reports are never published.
• An approved claim-type report (unpaid claim, no proceedings) shows as "Approved · awaiting threshold" until 3 different members have reported the company. A published official-file report for the same company satisfies the threshold immediately.

7. Reports About My Firm

The My Firm page lists published reports other members have filed about your company. If you believe a report is unjustified you can respond with a counter-document:

• Choose the document type: concordat ended, debt paid, no debt, or other.
• Write an explanation of at least 10 characters and optionally attach a PDF/JPEG/PNG.
• Your objection goes to an administrator. If accepted, the report changes to "Objection accepted" and is withdrawn from publication.

8. Objections (Non-members)

A company that is not a member can also object to a report about it. The Objection page asks for the report number, the company's tax ID, an e-mail address and an explanation of at least 20 characters. The tax ID must match the reported company. After submitting, the objection is only reviewed once the verification link sent by e-mail has been clicked.

9. Watchlist & Notifications

Companies you add from search results are collected in your Watchlist. When a new report about one of them is published you receive an e-mail and an entry on the Notifications page. Use the button on a row to stop watching.

10. Users & Invitations

Firm users

Full-permission users can add up to 10 users to the firm on the Users page. There are two roles:

New users receive an e-mail and log in with a code sent to their own address. You can deactivate or remove users; a deactivated user's open session is closed immediately.

Generating referral codes

On the Invite page enter the e-mail address of the company you want to invite; a code is generated for that address only and expires after 48 hours. Remember that an applicant needs one code from each of two different members.

11. Plans & Payment

Official billing starts on 1 Jan 2027. Until then membership is free. The Payment page shows your current plan, remaining queries and the available plans. Prices and quotas can be updated by the administrators; the values on the Payment page are always the current ones.

Pay through the online payment link when one is configured, or by bank transfer. For transfers, put the reference number shown on the page (or your tax ID) in the description; the payment is applied to your plan after administrator confirmation and then appears in your panel.

12. API Access

To query the platform directly from your own software (TMS, ERP, CRM), open a request on the API Access page:

1. Enter the static IP address(es) your requests will come from and describe the use case. Dynamic IPs are not supported.
2. The request goes to an administrator; once approved, your API key is e-mailed to you and shown on the page.
3. Send requests with the X-API-Key header. The key only works from the IPs you listed and is subject to a daily query limit.

See the API documentation for endpoints, example requests and the response format. The page also shows your last 7 days of usage and your most recent queries.

13. Support & Privacy

Use the Support form or write to info@controlisbetter.org. Details on how personal data is processed are on the Privacy Policy / KVKK page.