(a) The web services insurer must accept and respond to insurance verification inquiries from the vendor.
(b) The web services insurer must respond to inquiries in no more than 1.75 seconds, of which 0.25 seconds is allotted for transmission from vendor to insurer, and 0.25 seconds is allotted for transmission from insurer to vendor.
(c) The web services insurer must respond to the vendor with either an affirmative response and applicable information, or with a negative response as appropriate.
(d) Policy and policyholder data that the web services insurer must return with an affirmative response includes, to the extent that the information is at that time available from the insurer:
  (1) company identifying information;
  (2) policy identifying information, including applicable coverage dates;
  (3) vehicle identifying information;
  (4) policyholder's and/or listed driver's identifying information; and
  (5) an insurer defined data field for insurer use.
(e) The web services insurer, and/or its delegated MGA, shall receive notification from the vendor of:
  (1) any problems with the transmission of the inquiry response; and
  (2) multiple affirmative responses to a verification request.
(f) On a monthly basis for the purpose of vehicle registration renewals, the vendor must, as required by TxDOT, submit to each web services insurer, and/or its delegated MGA, a file of registered vehicles approaching the registration renewal date. The web services insurer must mark as "insured" each registered vehicle for which an active insurance policy record is on file and return that file to the vendor within three days of receipt of the registration renewal file.
(g) Beginning on January 1, 2008, on a weekly basis for the purpose of ongoing verification, the vendor shall submit to each web services insurer, and/or its delegated MGA, a file of registered vehicles for which the insurer must:
  (1) mark as "insured" each registered vehicle for which an active insurance policy record is on file and return that file to the vendor within three days of receipt of the registered vehicle file; and
  (2) return to the vendor a file of all insurance policy records that could not be matched to a registered vehicle.
(h) Each web services insurer must maintain necessary information to assist the department in auditing the vendor's monthly and annual reports, including archiving:
  (1) computer data files at least semi-annually for auditing purposes in an electronic format compatible with the department's computer systems that shall include:
    (A) time a query is received to the hundredth of a second;
    (B) time a query is responded to, to the hundredth of a second;
    (C) query contents;
    (D) query response; and
  (2) program audit trails, document control, program access control and software change control.
(i) Each web services insurer must maintain its archived data for a minimum of four years.
(j) Each web services insurer must develop and implement maintenance plans that comply with the following:
  (1) maintenance schedule as outlined by the department (with insurer and vendor input) and that may include modifications of the web services program after delivery to correct faults, improve performance, add other attributes, or adapt to a changed technical environment;
  (2) coordination of all maintenance with the department that includes obtaining written approvals for the maintenance;
  (3) a process for approval of exceptional or emergency maintenance; and
  (4) provisions for corrective maintenance, adaptive maintenance, and perfective maintenance.

Source Note: The provisions of this §5.608 adopted to be effective December 5, 2006, 31 TexReg 9730