§ 14-15e — Electronic issuance license. Application and surety bonds. Refusal to issue or renew a license. Penalty.

(a)(1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, no person, firm or corporation shall engage in the business of electronically filing applications for the issuance of a certificate of registration or a certificate of title for motor vehicles with the Department of Motor Vehicles, unless such person, firm or corporation holds an electronic issuance license issued by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles. (2) A motor vehicle dealer licensed in accordance with section 14-52 and acting pursuant to subsection (c) of section 14-12 , subsection (b) of section 14-61 or section 14-61a , a person, firm or corporation engaging in the business of leasing or renting motor vehicles licensed and acting pursuant to section 14-15 or a contractor authorized pursuant to subsection (b) of section 14-41 , may use the department's electronic system for filing applications for the issuance of a certificate of registration or certificate of title, as the case may be, without obtaining an electronic issuance license. (3) The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles may require any person, firm or corporation that files, on average, five or more applications for the issuance of a certificate of registration or a certificate of title for motor vehicles each month with the Department of Motor Vehicles to file such applications electronically and obtain an electronic issuance license. Any such person, firm or corporation that fails or refuses to file an application for such issuance electronically upon the request of the commissioner shall pay a fee of twenty-five dollars to the commissioner for each such application submitted. (b) Each applicant for an electronic issuance license shall submit an application containing such information as the commissioner may require and pay a license fee in the amount of two hundred fifty dollars. Each license may be renewed biennially according to renewal schedules established by the commissioner to effect staggered renewal of such licenses. If the adoption of a staggered system results in the expiration of any license more or less than two years from its issuance, the commissioner may charge a prorated amount for such license fee. Not less than forty-five days prior to the date of expiration of each such license, the commissioner shall send or transmit to each licensee, in a manner determined by the commissioner, an application for renewal. Any licensee that has not filed the application for renewal accompanied by the license fee of two hundred fifty dollars prior to the expiration date of such license shall no longer be permitted to use the department's electronic system for filing applications for the issuance of a certificate of registration or certificate of title pursuant to section 14-15d . An application for renewal filed with the commissioner after the date of expiration shall be accompanied by a late fee of one hundred dollars. The commissioner shall not renew any license under this section that has been expired for more than forty-five days. (c) Each applicant for, or holder of, an electronic issuance license shall furnish surety bonds in the following amounts: (1) Twenty thousand dollars conditioned upon the applicant or holder complying with the provisions of any state or federal law or regulation relating to the conduct of filing applications for the issuance of a certificate of registration or certificate of title and provided as indemnity for any loss sustained by any customer of such licensee by reason of the licensee's failure to comply with such laws or regulations; (2) twenty thousand dollars provided as security for any monetary loss suffered by the department as a result of the loss, destruction or misuse of any number plates assigned to such licensee by the department pursuant to subsection (f) of this section; and (3) five thousand dollars provided as security for any monetary loss suffered by the department due to such licensee's failure to remit registration and title fees received pursuant to section 14-15d . The surety bond furnished pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection shall be executed in the name of the state of Connecticut for the benefit of any aggrieved customer, but the penalty of the bond shall not be invoked except upon order of the commissioner after a hearing before the commissioner in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54. The commissioner shall assess an administrative fee of two hundred dollars against any electronic issuance licensee for failing to provide proof of bond renewal or replacement on or before the date of the expiration of the existing bond. (d) The commissioner may, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing pursuant to the provisions of chapter 54, refuse to issue or renew a license to a person, firm or corporation to engage in the business of electronically filing applications for the issuance of a certificate of registration or certificate of title for motor vehicles with the department (1) if the applicant for, or holder of, such a license, or an officer or major stockholder, if the applicant or licensee is a firm or corporation, has been found liable in a civil action for, or has been convicted of, a violation of any provision of law (A) pertaining to the business of electronic filing applications for the issuance of a certificate of registration or certificate of title, or (B) involving fraud, larceny, stalking, embezzlement, bribery or deprivation or misappropriation of property, in the courts of the United States or any state, or (2) for any reason the commissioner reasonably deems necessary. Upon renewal of such license, a licensee shall make full disclosure of any such civil judgment or conviction under penalty of false statement. Each applicant for the issuance of such license, or if the applicant is a firm or corporation, each officer or major stockholder of such firm or corporation, shall be fingerprinted and shall submit to state and national criminal history records checks, conducted in accordance with section 29-17a . (e) The commissioner shall not issue or renew an electronic issuance license unless the commissioner determines (1) the issuance or renewal is likely to improve access to services offered by the department or manage the number of transactions conducted at the main office or branch office of the department and will not compromise the integrity and security of the department's electronic system, and (2) the applicant for such license is capable of ensuring the adequate control and proper use of number plates and other materials to be provided by the department pursuant to subsection (f) of this section. (f) (1) The department shall provide each electronic issuance licensee with an inventory of number plates and other materials to be used solely for the registration of transactions performed pursuant to the provisions of section 14-15d . Such licensee shall be responsible for all number plates assigned to such licensee by the department. (2) If a person, firm or corporation holds an electronic issuance license that is no longer valid, or if an electronic issuance licensee is no longer conducting its business, such person, firm or corporation or licensee shall return to the commissioner, not later than five business days after such license becoming invalid or the termination of such business, (A) any number plates or other materials supplied by the commissioner to enable such person, firm or corporation or licensee to perform the registration of transactions pursuant to section 14-15d , and (B) any applications for such transactions that were not acted upon or completed by such person, firm or corporation or licensee when it was conducting its business. A violation of any provision of this subdivision shall be an infraction. (g) No electronic issuance licensee shall (1) include the words “Department of Motor Vehicles” or “DMV” or other indication of the department in the name of the licensee's business, or (2) act in any manner that misleads consumers to believe that such licensee represents or is otherwise affiliated with the department. (h) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of subsection (f) of this section, the commissioner may, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing pursuant to the provisions of chapter 54, impose a civil penalty of not more than two thousand dollars on any person, firm or corporation who violates any provision of this section.

Legislative History

(P.A. 24-20, S. 1.)