(a) All paper currency devices shall be able to detect the entry of valid bills, coupons, vouchers or other approved notes, as applicable, and provide a method to enable the kiosk software to interpret and act appropriately upon a valid or invalid input. The paper currency acceptance device or devices shall be electronically-based and be configured to ensure that they accept only valid bills of legal tender, coupons, vouchers or other approved notes and shall reject all other items. Rejected bills, vouchers, coupons or other approved notes shall be returned to the patron. The bill-input system shall be constructed in a manner that protects against vandalism, abuse or fraudulent activity. A bill-acceptance device shall comply with the following:

1. (1) each valid bill, coupon, voucher or other approved note shall register the actual monetary value or the appropriate number of credits received on the kiosk; and

2. (2) a credit meter shall update upon bill insertion. Cash shall be dispensed only when:

   1. (i) the bill or other note has passed the point where such bill or note is accepted and stacked; and

   2. (ii) the validator has sent the “irrevocable stacked” message to the kiosk.

      (b) Communications.

      All bill validators shall communicate with the kiosk using a bi-directional protocol.

      (c) Factory set bill validators.

      If bill validators are designed to be factory-set only, it shall not be possible to access or conduct maintenance or adjustments to such bill validators in the field, other than:

3. (1) selecting desired acceptance for bills, coupons, vouchers or other approved notes and their limits;
4. (2) changing certified control program media or downloading certified software;
5. (3) maintaining, adjusting and repairing per approved factory procedures; or

6. (4) implementing options that set the direction or orientation of acceptance.

   Adjusting the bill validator for the tolerance level for accepting bills or notes of varying quality shall not be allowed externally to the kiosk. Adjustments of the tolerance level shall be allowed only with adequate levels of security in place through lock and key, physical switch settings or other accepted methods approved by the commission on a case-by-case basis.

   (d) Bill validator stacker requirements.

   Each bill validator shall have a secure stacker and all accepted items shall be deposited into the secure stacker. The secure stacker and its receptacle are to be attached to the kiosk in such a manner so that they cannot be easily removed by physical force. In addition:

7. (1) The bill validator device shall have the ability to detect a stacker full condition.

8. (2) There shall be a separately keyed lock to access the stacker area. This keyed lock shall be separate from the main door and shall be required to remove the bills from the stacker.

   (e) Self-test.

   The bill validator device shall perform a self-test at each power up. In the event of a self-test failure, the bill validator shall automatically disable itself (i.e., enter bill reject state) until the error state has been cleared.