§ 221.260 - Requirements for filing.

(a) No carrier or filing agent shall file an electronic tariff unless, prior to filing, it has signed a maintenance agreement or agreements, furnished by the Department of Transportation, for the maintenance and security of the on-line tariff database.

(b) No carrier or agent shall file an electronic tariff unless, prior to filing, it has submitted to the Department's Office of International Aviation, Tariffs Division, and received approval of, an application containing the following commitments:

(1) The filer shall file tariffs electronically only in such format as shall be agreed to by the filer and the Department. (The filer shall include with its application a proposed format of tariff. The filer shall also submit to the Department all information necessary for the Department to determine that the proposed format will accommodate the data elements set forth in § 221.283.)

(2) The filer shall provide, maintain and install in the Public Reference Room at the Department (as may be required from time to time) one or more CRT devices and printers connected to its on-line tariff database. The filer shall be responsible for the transportation, installation, and maintenance of this equipment and shall agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Department and the U.S. Government from any claims or liabilities resulting from defects in the equipment, its installation or maintenance.

(3) The filer shall provide public access to its on-line tariff database, at Departmental headquarters, during normal business hours.

(4) The access required at Departmental headquarters by this subpart shall be provided at no cost to the public or the Department.

(5) The filer shall provide the Department access to its on-line tariff database 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except, that the filer may bring its computer down between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time or Eastern Daylight Saving Time, as the case may be, on Sundays, when necessary, for maintenance or for operational reasons.

(6) The filer shall ensure that the Department shall have the sole ability to approve or disapprove electronically any tariff filed with the Department and the ability to note, record and retain electronically the reasons for approval or disapproval. The carrier or agent shall not make any changes in data or delete data after it has been transmitted electronically, regardless of whether it is approved, disapproved, or withdrawn. The filer shall be required to make data fields available to the Department in any record which is part of the on-line tariff database.

(7) The filer shall maintain all fares and rules with the Department and all Departmental approvals, disapprovals and other actions, as well as all Departmental notations concerning such approvals, disapprovals or other actions, in the on-line tariff database for a period of two (2) years after the fare or rule becomes inactive. After this period of time, the carrier or agent shall provide the Department, free of charge, with a copy of the inactive date on a machine-readable tape or other mutually acceptable electronic medium.

(8) The filer shall ensure that its on-line tariff database is secure against destruction or alteration (except as authorized by the Department), and against tampering.

(9) Should the filer terminate its business or cease filing tariffs electronically, it shall provide to the Department on a machine-readable tape or any other mutually acceptable electronic medium, contemporaneously with the cessation of such business, a complete copy of its on-line tariff database.

(10) The filer shall furnish to the Department, on a daily basis, on a machine-readable tape or any other mutually acceptable electronic medium, all transactions made to its on-line tariff database.

(11) The filer shall afford any authorized Departmental official full, free, and uninhibited access to its facilities, databases, documentation, records, and application programs, including support functions, environmental security, and accounting data, for the purpose of ensuring continued effectiveness of safeguards against threats and hazards to the security or integrity of its electronic tariffs, as defined in this subpart.

(12) The filer must provide a field in the Government Filing File for the signature of the approving U.S. Government Official through the use of a Personal Identification Number (PIN).

(13) The filer shall provide a leased dedicated data conditioned circuit with sufficient capacity (initially not less than 9.6K baud rate) to handle electronic data transmissions to the Department. Further, the filer must provide for a secondary or a redundancy circuit in the event of the failure of the dedicated circuit. The secondary or redundancy circuit must be equal to or greater than 4.8K baud rate. In the event of a failure of the primary circuit the filer must notify the Chief of the Tariffs Division of the Department's Office of International Aviation, as soon as possible, after the failure of the primary circuit, but not later than two hours after failure, and must provide the name of the contact person at the telephone company who has the responsibility for dealing with the problem.

(c) Each time a filer's on-line tariff database is accessed by any user during the sign-on function the following statement shall appear: