1. (a) Preprinted tags with Internet-down numbers shall be kept in a secure place. The dealer is responsible for the safekeeping of those tags and shall report any loss, theft, or destruction of those tags to the department within 24 hours of the time of the loss, theft, or destruction.

2. (b) Tags with Internet-down numbers may be used up to 12 months after the date of issuance of the tag from the database. A dealer may create replacement tags with Internet-down numbers, up to the maximum allowed, when:

   1. (1) a dealer uses one or more tags with Internet-down numbers and then enters the data into the system, after access to the system is again available; or
   2. (2) a tag with an Internet-down number expires.

3. (c) The number of tags with Internet-down numbers a dealer may create is equal to the greatest of:

   1. (1) the number of tags previously allotted by the department to the dealer;
   2. (2) thirty; or
   3. (3) 1/52 of the dealer's total annual sales.
4. (d) For good cause shown, a dealer may obtain more than the number of tags described in subsection (c) of this section. The director of the Vehicle Titles and Registration Division of the department, or director's delegate, may approve in accordance with this subsection an additional allotment of tags with Internet-down numbers for a dealer if the additional allotment is essential for the continuation of the dealer's business. The director of the Vehicle Titles and Registration Division of the department, or director's delegate, will base the determination of the additional allotment of tags on the dealer's past sales, inventory, and any other factors that the director of the Vehicle Titles and Registration Division of the department, or director's delegate, determines pertinent, such as an emergency. A request for additional tags with Internet-down numbers must specifically state why the additional tags are necessary for the continuation of the applicant's business.

Source Note:The provisions of this §215.158 adopted to be effective February 11, 2010, 35 TexReg 883; amended to be effective October 6, 2013, 38 TexReg 6646.