Archive: 2008-09 Season

Online Permit Sales - Update

Posted: July 08, 2009

As directed by a 2008 AGM motion from the floor, the OFSC is in the process of developing and implementing online permit sales through the OFSC web site this fall. The program will require buyers to designate a district and a permit selling entity in order to complete the sale, and the goal is to distribute permit sales revenues to permit selling entities monthly. Privacy laws and other provincial requirements mandate that the proposed OFSC online process undergo extensive risk assessment, checks and analysis to ensure that state of the art privacy protection safeguards are in place. Satisfying the Government of Ontario that OFSC online sales will be totally secure is a rigorous, time consuming and expensive process that is currently underway.

Meanwhile, the Government of Ontario advised the OFSC last week that none of the district, association or club sites presently offering online permit sales transactions comply with privacy security requirements and/or MTO application wording. As such, the permit transaction part of each one of these sites must be immediately shut down or per the MTO contract, the permit selling entity shall face the penalty of no longer being eligible to sell Ontario snowmobile trail permits.

The only way to sell permits using your web site from now on is to go through the exact same rigorous, time consuming and expensive risk assessment process as the OFSC has, and this must be done by each individual site. Bottom line: no online sales transactions are acceptable at this time on any district, association or club site; the only acceptable scenarios for selling permits are:

1. For district, association or club sites to provide downloadable MTO applications that can be completed by the buyer off line then mailed or faxed in with payment, or taken to an authorized permit selling outlet.

2. For buyers to purchase online at the OFSC site, after it is approved and launched.

The OFSC hereby advises all districts, associations or clubs with sites presently offering online permit sales to shut them down immediately and further, requests that any districts, associations or clubs presently developing sites for online permit sales to cease to do so to avoid wasting time and money without also going through the entire Government of Ontario risk assessment and approval process.

Source: MainTrail, June 2009  

Paudash Trail Blazers Snowmobile Club, P.O. Box 130, Apsley, Ontario  K0L 1A0
Phone: (705) 656-2292   Fax: (705) 656-2602   Toll Free: 1-800-385-8644   info@paudashtrailblazers.on.ca