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The accounting authority acts as a billing intermediary between the maritime mobile station and service providers. Accounting authorities came into existence to reduce the number of bills, both issued by Service Providers and received by ship owners and which required extensive administrative effort to progress, e.g. identify calls, convert call charges in various currencies and reconcile charges.
In accordance with ITU-T Recommendation D.90, the role of an accounting authority may be undertaken by an Administration or a Recognized Operating Agency (ROA) or any other entity or entities designated for this purpose by the Administration.
An accounting authority must be registered with their Administration. Registration should be subject to a periodic review (for example, annual) by the Administration or national Regulatory Body of the financial position and effectiveness of each accounting authority.
When acting on behalf of a maritime mobile station for which it has accepted responsibility, an accounting authority shall be responsible for obtaining payment of the collection charges for maritime mobile communications from the maritime mobile station. Guaranteeing payment of the collection charges to the service providers for traffic originated by the maritime mobile station. Ensure that these payments are made in accordance with the ITU Regulations and Recommendation D.90. Maintaining up-to-date and accurate records of the maritime mobile stations for which it has responsibility. Any change in status, ship owner if known, and termination/commencement of contract must be notified immediately to interested/regularly used service providers and to the Administration that licensed the maritime mobile station. Where changes have occurred, a new and updated list of maritime mobile stations should be issued by the accounting authority at least every 90 days to interested/regularly used service providers and to the Administration who licensed the maritime mobile station, with changes to the previously issued information clearly indicated. Alternatively, a “no change” notification may be issued. The updated information should consist of: satellite identity number/ships call sign; ship/mobile name; commencement date.
The address and other contact information can be found at:http://www.itu.int/online/mms/mars/aaic_search.sh
