RIPE NCC Billing Procedure and Fee Schedule 2003

Mireille Ent
Jochem de Ruig

Document ID: ripe-265
Date: 26 November 2002
Obsoletes: ripe-262

Table of Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 2. General Information
  • 2.1 Contact details
  • 2.2 Bank details
  • 2.3 Tax information
• 3. Fee Schedule 2003
  • 3.1 Fee schedule 2003
  • 3.2 Determination of minimum registry size
• 4. Payment
  • 4.1 General
  • 4.2 Billing procedure
  • 4.3 Payment possibilities
• 5. Related RIPE Documents:

1. Introduction

This document outlines the billing and payment procedure for members of the RIPE NCC and contains additional related information about the RIPE NCC. This document should be read in conjunction with the "RIPE NCC General Terms and Conditions" and the "RIPE NCC Clearing House Procedure".

A RIPE NCC member is defined as a Local Internet Registry (LIR) that receives services from the RIPE NCC and is yearly invoiced a service fee. The services of the RIPE NCC contain the distribution of Internet resources in the RIPE NCC service region. More information about setting up an LIR can be read in the RIPE Document "Procedure for Becoming a Member of the RIPE NCC".

Finance-related questions and/or requests for more information should be addressed to the RIPE NCC Finance Department by sending an e-mail to <billing@ripe.net>. Please see section 2, "General Information", of this document for more details.

2. General Information

2.1 Contact details

Postal Address:

RIPE NCC
P.O. Box 10096
1001 EB Amsterdam
The Netherlands

Office Location:

RIPE NCC
Singel 258
1016 AB Amsterdam
The Netherlands

Email:	billing@ripe.net
Phone:	+31 20 535 4444
Fax:	+31 20 535 4447

2.2 Bank details

Account Number:	NL37ABNA0618139087
Account Holder:	RIPE NCC
Bank:	ABN-AMRO Bank
Bank address:	Dam 2
	PO Box 3935
	1001 AS, Amsterdam
	the Netherlands
SWIFT Code:	ABNANL2A

2.3 Tax information

The RIPE NCC is an association and subject to the Dutch Tax Law. The RIPE NCC is subject to Value Added Tax (VAT) in the Netherlands and, due to an agreement with the Dutch Tax Authority, is not subject to Corporate Income Tax (CIT). More information about this agreement can be found in the "RIPE NCC Clearing House Procedure".

The RIPE NCC Dutch VAT number is NL806268220 B01. The following VAT rules apply to our members:

• Non EU members → no VAT
• EU members with a VAT number → No VAT (VAT is taxable in the country of origin of the member)
• EU members without VAT number → VAT (VAT is taxable in the Netherlands)
• NL members → VAT (VAT taxable in the Netherlands)

A certificate concerning the RIPE NCC VAT capacity ("Certificate Concerning the Capacity of the Taxpayer") can be obtained by contacting <billing@ripe.net>.

Please note that the RIPE NCC does not interfere with the local tax regulations of the member's country of origin.

3. Fee Schedule 2003

3.1 Fee schedule 2003

To begin receiving services from the RIPE NCC, the LIRs are invoiced a membership fee for the year at issue. When becoming a member, a one-time sign-up fee is included in the first invoice. Yearly, each LIR is assigned a category (i.e. SMALL, MEDIUM or LARGE). The yearly service fee is based on this category. New members are automatically assigned category SMALL, unless requested differently. The category is determined by the age and number of allocations received by the LIR from the RIPE NCC. The RIPE NCC has defined a charging model algorithm to determine the category. (See section 3.2, "Determination of minimum registry size".)

In addition to the categories SMALL, MEDIUM and LARGE, there is another billing category called ENTERPRISE. This category applies to LIRs that only assign addresses to their own organisations' networks and not to customers. The yearly fees are determined by the membership at the annual General Meeting (GM) of the RIPE NCC.

The 2003 fee schedule is as follows:

LIR billing category	Fee
SMALL	EUR 2,750 / year
MEDIUM	EUR 3,750 / year
LARGE	EUR 5,250 / year
ENTERPRISE	EUR 2,750 / year
LIR sign-up fee	EUR 2,500

Registries established during the course of the year are charged as follows:

3.2 Determination of minimum registry size

To determine a registry's size, a measure N(reg) is defined that produces a value in the range {0,1,2,...,100}. N(reg) is a simplification of the charging measure discussed in Appendix C of ripe-143 and is described briefly below.

Let k(reg,i) be the number of addresses allocated to the registry "reg" in year i.

Let w(i) = i - 1992.

Define use(reg) = sum(i in 1993 to 1999) k(reg,i) * w(i).

Let MAX = max{use(reg)} be the maximum use measured for all registries.

The normalised usage for a registry "reg" is then defined as:

N(reg) = (use(reg) * 1000) / MAX

Based on this measure rounded to the nearest integer, three distinct groups of registries could be clearly identified. Those with:

N(reg) <= 10 (SMALL)
11 <= N(reg) <= 102 (MEDIUM)
102 < N(reg) (LARGE)

4. Payment

4.1 General

Invoices are sent annually at the beginning of November prior to the year at issue via postal mail to the billing address as stated in the registry file. A copy of the invoice is sent by e-mail to the LIR billing contact. Payment is due 30 days after date of invoice.

By prior arrangement (i.e. before sending the invoice for the year at issue) it is possible to be billed half-yearly or quarterly. In this case an extra EUR 50 service charge applies to each invoice. Note that during the year at issue it is not possible to change the billing scheme from yearly to half-yearly or quarterly. However, changing the billing scheme during the year at issue from quarterly or half-yearly to yearly is possible.

To make sure the invoices and reminders arrive at the finance department of the registry, it is important to keep the registry file up-to-date. It is the responsibility of the registry to inform the RIPE NCC Finance Department of any changes to the billing address or billing contact. The registry will be held liable for late payment as a result of incorrect billing details. A copy of the registry file can be asked for by contacting <billing@ripe.net>.

4.2 Billing procedure

As stated, invoices are sent annually at the beginning of November prior to the year at issue via postal mail to the billing address as stated in the registry file. A copy of the invoice is sent by e-mail to the LIR billing contact. Payment is due 30 days after date of invoice.

First reminder - phase1

The first reminder is sent via postal mail and e-mail 30 days after date of invoice. Both the LIR billing contact and the LIR technical contact receive the reminder by e-mail. By sending the first reminder, the registry enters phase 1. This has no direct consequence on the service level of the registry. However, the fact that the payment has not been received is noted in the registry file.

Second reminder - phase 2

If the RIPE NCC does not receive payment within 60 days of the date of invoice, a second reminder is sent to the registry. Interest on the outstanding invoice is added at the current rate of interest and a late payment charge of 100 EUR is included in this reminder. When the second reminder is sent the registry enters phase 2. At this time the RIPE NCC will not approve any address space requests, including allocations, until the registry has contacted the RIPE NCC Billing Department.

Third reminder - phase 3

When payment has not reached the RIPE NCC within 90 days of the date of invoice, a third reminder is sent to the registry. When a third reminder is sent, the registry enters phase 3. Interest on the outstanding invoice is added at the current rate of interest and the service level of the registry is at this point set to NONE, which means the registry is no longer able to receive the services of RIPE NCC. When the LIR makes address space requests while in phase 3 the Hostmaster robot bounces the requests and prompts the registry to contact the RIPE NCC Billing Department. Another consequence for the registry in phase 3 is that the DNS delegations corresponding to the allocations the registry has received from the in-addr.arpa subtree are temporarily removed.

Pending closure - phase 4

When the RIPE NCC does not receive any response to the reminders from the registry and the registry fails to make the payment within 120 days, the RIPE NCC starts the process of closing the registry. The registry then enters phase 4. At this time the DNS delegations are permanently removed.

The registry is permanently closed after 210 days (i.e. 7 months) after the invoice date. The RIPE NCC then reclaims any unassigned address space. The RIPE NCC contacts the registry to have any assigned address space returned. If the registry cannot be contacted the RIPE NCC will contact the upstream providers and will ask them to stop routing the address blocks allocated to the registry.

Registries being in the process of a pending closure or registries that have been permanently closed must pay the outstanding amounts (invoices, billing charges and interest) as well as a new sign-up fee in order to re-open the registry.

Short overview of phases:

• Entering Phase 1 (30 days after invoice): first reminder received, no direct consequences.

• Entering Phase 2 (60 days after invoice): second reminder received, 100 EUR late payment charge.

• Entering Phase 3 (90 days after invoice): third reminder received, service level lowered to NONE, DNS delegations temporarily removed.

• Entering Phase 4 (120 days after invoice): DNS delegations permanently removed, pending closure.

Payment time frame

4.3 Payment possibilities

Payment may be done by bank transfer or by credit card. The currency used is EUR. Payment by credit card can be made via secure payment transaction at:

https://www.ripe.net/cgi-bin/regpayment.pl

or by sending the credit card details by fax to the RIPE NCC Finance Department. Please note that when paying by credit card, the credit card company's commission is charged as well. In section 2, "General Information", one can find the bank details and fax number. Always mention the payment reference (i.e. customer number and invoice number) when making a bank transfer or sending a credit card charging request. Note that it is preferred mentioning the registry ID with the payment reference as well.

Please contact <billing@ripe.net>when a confirmation of payment reception is required.

5. Related RIPE Documents

"RIPE NCC General Terms and Conditions"

RIPE-173, 25 November 1997

"The RIPE NCC Clearing House Procedure"

RIPE-202, 15 October 1999

"RIPE NCC Activities, Expenditures, and Charging Scheme 2003"

RIPE-255, 17 September 2002

"RIPE NCC Financial Report 2000"

RIPE-225 (PDF), 20 August 2001

"RIPE NCC Financial Report 1999"

RIPE-208 (PDF), 16 May 2000

"RIPE NCC Financial Report 1998"

RIPE-193 (TXT), 4 May 1999