81 FR 10158 - Revisions to the Requirements for Authority To Manufacture and Distribute Postage Evidencing Systems

POSTAL SERVICE

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 39 (February 29, 2016)

The Postal Service proposes to revise its rules concerning PC postage payment methodology by adding supplementary information to clarify the revenue assurance guidelines.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 39 (Monday, February 29, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 10158-10159]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-04237]


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POSTAL SERVICE

39 CFR Part 501


Revisions to the Requirements for Authority To Manufacture and 
Distribute Postage Evidencing Systems

AGENCY: Postal ServiceTM.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Postal Service proposes to revise its rules concerning PC 
postage payment methodology by adding supplementary information to 
clarify the revenue assurance guidelines.

DATES: Submit comments on or before March 30, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Mail or deliver written comments to the Manager, Payment 
Technology, U.S. Postal Service[supreg], 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW., Room 
3500, Washington, DC 20260. You may inspect and photocopy all written 
comments at the Payment Technology office by appointment only between 
the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday by calling 1-202-
268-7613 in advance. Email and faxed comments are not accepted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marlo Kay Ivey, Business Systems 
Analyst, Payment Technology, U.S. Postal Service, (202) 268-7613.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 17, 2015, the United States Postal 
Service published a final rule to revise the rules concerning 
authorization to manufacture and distribute postage evidencing systems 
and to reflect new revenue assurance practices. (See 80 FR 42392-
42393.) Postage collection under the new rules will start on December 
31, 2016. This document proposes minor additional changes to the rules 
in support of our efforts to collect the appropriate revenue on mail 
pieces in a more automated fashion. If this proposal is adopted, the 
proposed clarifying changes will also be implemented on December 31, 
2016. The revenue assurance guidelines can be found in 39 CFR 501.16, 
and on https://ribbs.usps.gov in the site index of Automated Package 
Verification (APV) documents, named APV Standard Operating Procedure 
(SOP).

List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 501

    Administrative practice and procedure.

    Accordingly, for the reasons stated, the Postal Service proposes to 
amend 39 CFR part 501 as follows:

PART 501--AUTHORIZATION TO MANUFACTURE AND DISTRIBUTE POSTAGE 
EVIDENCING SYSTEMS

0
1. The authority citation for 39 CFR part 501 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552(a); 39 U.S.C. 101, 401, 403, 404, 410, 
2601, 2605, Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended (Pub. L. 95-
452, as amended); 5 U.S.C. App. 3.

0
2. In Sec.  501.16, revise paragraph (i) to read as follows:


Sec.  501.16  PC postage payment methodology.

* * * * *
    (i) Revenue Assurance. (1) The provider must support business 
practices to assure Postal Service revenue and accurate payment from 
customers. For purposes of this paragraph and the Automated Package 
Verification (APV) Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) document 
available at https://ribbs.usps.gov, references to ``provider'' and 
``PC Postage Vendor'' shall include postage resellers when such 
resellers transmit postage revenue to the Postal Service in any manner 
other than through a PC Postage provider. With respect to such 
transactions, the resellers, and not the PC Postage providers who 
provides the labels, are responsible for complying with these 
regulations. A ``reseller'' is an entity that obtains postage through a 
provider and is authorized to resell such postage to its customers 
pursuant to an agreement with the Postal Service.
    (2) Specifically, the provider is required to pay the Postage 
Adjustment or to notify the customer and adjust the balance in the 
postage evidencing

[[Page 10159]]

system or otherwise facilitate postage corrections to address any 
postage discrepancies as directed by the Postal Service no later than 
60 days after initial notification by the Postal Service, subject to 
the applicable notification periods and dispute mechanisms available to 
customers for these corrections. Postage Adjustment is defined as a 
difference between the postage paid for a service offered by the Postal 
Service and the current published/negotiated rate indicating the 
postage due to the Postal Service for the weight, packaging, dimensions 
and zone of the mail piece as applicable. The Postal Service will 
supply the provider with the necessary detail to justify the correction 
and amount of the postage correction to be used in the adjustment 
process. The provider must pay the postage adjustment or supply 
customers with visibility into identified postage correction, 
facilitate a payment adjustment from the customer in the amount 
equivalent to the identified postage discrepancies to the extent 
possible, and enable customers to submit electronic disputes of such 
postage discrepancies to the Postal Service. Further if the Customer 
does not have funds sufficient to cover the amount of the discrepancies 
or the postage discrepancies have not been resolved, the provider may 
be required to temporarily suspend or permanently shut down the 
customer's ability to print PC Postage as described in Domestic Mail 
Manual (DMM) 604.4.
    (3) If the provider incorrectly programmed postage rates, delayed 
programming postage rate changes or otherwise provided systems or 
software, which caused customers to pay incorrect postage amounts, 
within two calendar weeks of the provider being made aware of such 
error, the provider shall correct the error and, in the event that the 
amount of collected revenue is less than the amount of revenue that 
should have been collected absent the error, (i) pay the Postal Service 
for the postage deficiency and (ii) provide the Postal Service with a 
detailed breakdown of how the error affected the provider's collection 
of revenue.
    (4) Except as may otherwise expressly be agreed to by contract, the 
provider is responsible for ensuring that:
    (i) All customers pay (and the Postal Service receives) the current 
published prices that are available to mailers who purchase postage 
through an approved PC Postage provider; and
    (ii) Payments to the Postal Service (or the log files necessary for 
the Postal Service to collect payments directly from customers) are 
complete and accurate and are initiated or transmitted, as applicable, 
to the Postal Service each day.
    (5) Each PC Postage Provider:
    (i) Is responsible for ensuring that customers are informed, 
understand and agree that they may be charged for deficient payment 
before they complete their initial transactions;
    (ii) Shall comply with applicable laws and ensure that its systems, 
software, interfaces, communications and other properties that are used 
to sell or market postal products accurately describe such products;
    (iii) Shall cover any costs that the Postal Service may incur as a 
result of any act or omission of such provider or its employees, 
contractors or representatives in connection with its role as a PC 
Postage provider; and
    (iv) In performing its obligations hereunder, shall comply with the 
APV SOP and all agreed to interface documentation (as updated from time 
to time).

Stanley F. Mires,
Attorney, Federal Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2016-04237 Filed 2-26-16; 8:45 am]
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