RIPE NCC Billing Procedure and Fee Schedule for LIRs 2012

Introduction

The following information outlines the billing and payment procedure for RIPE NCC members (Local Internet Registries, or LIRs). This webpage replaces the annual billing procedure document and should be read in conjunction with the "RIPE NCC Standard Service Agreement" and the "RIPE NCC Charging Scheme 2011". The RIPE NCC is a not-for-profit membership organisation. RIPE NCC members pay a service fee every year in accordance with the fees determined by the RIPE NCC General Meeting.

During the last General Meeting held in Vienna on 2-3 November 2011, the proposed Charging Scheme for 2012 was not accepted by the members.

As a consequence, the Charging Scheme 2011 will continue to apply for the year 2012.

What does this mean for your registry?

The service fees for 2012 will be based on the Charging Scheme 2011 but will be calculated based on the Internet number resources registered to your registry up to 30 September 2011.

This means that there could be a difference in your service fee for 2012 compared to your service fee for 2011 if the number of resources registered to your registry changed before 30 September 2011.

Fee Schedule 2012

The RIPE NCC service fees are a fixed annual charge. To determine the billing category for a member, a score is calculated on the Provider Aggregatable Internet number resources made to the member over time taking into account IPv4 and IPv6 allocations. First allocations of IPv6 address space to a member will not be charged. The RIPE NCC has defined an algorithm to determine the billing categories. For more information about the calculation of your billing category, please read the "RIPE NCC Charging Scheme 2011".

Additionally, a € 50 fee will be charged for each independent Internet number resource assigned to the registry. Independent resources include Autonomous System (AS) numbers, Provider Independent IPv4 and IPv6 address assignments, anycasting assignments and IXP IPv6 address assignments. Multiple Independent IPv4 and Independent IPv6 assignments made on the same day to the same customer will have one single charge of € 50.

New members pay a one-time sign-up fee, which is included in the first invoice. New members are automatically assigned the billing category Extra Small. If existing members need to re-sign the "RIPE NCC Standard Service Agreement" (for example, in case of an organisation name change), no sign-up fee will be charged. See the table below for the service fees of all the billing categories.

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

Note: New LIRs always start in the Extra Small category.

The billing scores for members are determined after the RIPE NCC General Meeting in November, (based on data of 30 September 2011). The billing categories for 2012 are:

For more information, see the "RIPE NCC Charging Scheme 2011".

Payment Procedure

We send out invoices by post by mid-December 2011 to the billing address shown in the registry file. We also send a copy of the invoice by email to the LIR billing contact. The invoices cover provision of services for the following calendar year. Payment is due 30 days after the date shown on the invoice.

After the invoice has been sent, three reminders for this invoice are sent in case of non-payment.

• First Reminder (30 days)
  The first reminder is sent by post and email 30 days after the date of the invoice. The LIR billing contact receives a copy of the reminder by email. The first reminder has no direct consequence on the service level of the LIR.

• Second Reminder (60 days)
  If the RIPE NCC does not receive payment within 60 days of the date of invoice, a second reminder is sent to the registry. At this stage, the RIPE NCC will not approve any Internet number resource requests until the registry has paid the outstanding fee.

• Third Reminder (90 days)
  If payment has not reached the RIPE NCC within 90 days of the date of invoice, a third reminder is sent to the registry. The service level of the LIR is at this point set to NONE. From this moment on, the LIR will only be able to contact the RIPE NCC Billing Department to pay the fee that is due.

• Closure
  When the LIR fails to make the payment within 120 days, the RIPE NCC starts the process of closing the LIR.

Payment Time Frame

Registries in the process of a closure or registries that have been permanently closed must pay the outstanding amounts as well as a new sign-up fee in order to re-open the registry.

Note: By prior arrangement, it is possible to change your billing scheme and be billed half-yearly or quarterly. This must be requested by 1 November. Note that during the year at issue, it is not possible to change the billing scheme for the year at issue.

To make sure the invoices and reminders arrive at the right address, it is important to keep the registry file up-to-date. This can be done via the LIR Portal or by contacting billing@ripe.net. It is the responsibility of the registry to inform the RIPE NCC of any changes in the billing address. Please note - If a registry ends its RIPE NCC membership in the course of the RIPE NCC financial year, the service fee for that registry must still be paid in full.

Methods of Payment

Docdata Payments
To improve the ease and efficiency of your credit card payments, we have a reliable and easy-to-use service, hosted by a trusted third party, Docdata Payments.

Docdata Payments handles all online credit card payments (American Express, MasterCard and VISA) made to the RIPE NCC. You can also pay by bank transfer.

Not all payment options are offered in all countries.

How to Pay Your Invoice

• Credit Card
  All invoices that we send by email (in .pdf format) include a unique payment URL. If you click on this when you are online, you will be taken to a payment screen where you can complete your payment by selecting your choice of credit card (VISA, Mastercard or American Express).

• PayPal
  All invoices that we send by email (in .pdf format) include a unique payment URL. If you click on this when you are online, you will be taken to a payment screen where you can complete your payment by selecting the PayPal option.

• Debit cards
  All invoices that we send by email (in .pdf format) include a unique payment URL. If you click on this when you are online, you will be taken to a payment screen. Please select VISA as your payment method, as VISA processes the debit card payments. This option is only available for specific debit cards in the following countries: France (Carte Bleue), Italy (Carta Sr, PostePay and Visa Electron), Denmark (Dankort) and Spain (4B, Euro6000, Servired).

• Maestro
  All invoices that we send by email (in .pdf format) include a unique payment URL. If you click on this when you are online, you will be taken to a payment screen where you can complete your payment by selecting the Maestro option. This option is only available in Belgium, the United Kingdom, Austria and Spain.

• iDeal
  All invoices that we send by email (in .pdf format) include a unique payment URL. If you click on this when you are online, you will be taken to a payment screen where you can complete your payment by selecting iDeal as your payment option. This option is only available in the Netherlands.

• Bank Transfer
  If you do not want to pay your invoice through Docdata Payments and would prefer to pay by bank transfer, please make sure you mention the payment reference (this means the ”Contributor Number” and your invoice number). It helps us if you also mention your registry ID with the payment reference.

Note:

• Payments should be made in euros.
• Online payments should be made against the full invoice amount. It is not possible to make partial payments via the online payment system.
• We cannot accept cheques. Any cheques that we receive will be returned to the registry's billing address.

Payment Status

You can view your account details and payment status of your invoices when you log in to the LIR Portal. If you do not see any invoice(s) listed, this means there are NO outstanding invoices. You can also contact billing@ripe.net if you require confirmation that payment has been received.

If you have any questions about your invoice or if you experience trouble using the online payment system, please contact: billing@ripe.net