Online Dealer Services - Terms of Use

Online DEALER Service (ODS)®

Contents

1. Definitions
2. Purposes of these Terms and Conditions
3. Ownership and Use of Motor Vehicle Registration Information
4. Registration Access
5. Access to the Online Dealer Service
6. Tutorials and Help Desk
7. Liability
8. Restrictions on Use
9. Default or Termination
10. General Provisions
11. Notice

 

1. Definitions

In these end user terms and conditions (“EUTCs”):

(a) “authorized motor vehicle dealership” means a dealer of new or used motor vehicles that holds a valid dealers’ licence under the Dealers’ Licenses Regulations, N.S. Reg. 11/95 and the Motor Vehicle Act;

(b) “authorized entity” means any other person(s) or company(ies) that The Registrar of Motor Vehicles deems appropriate to use the Online Dealer Service;

(c) “Department” means the administrative department or office of the Government of Nova Scotia responsible for the administration of the Online Dealer Service;

(d) “Enterprise” means an authorized motor vehicle dealership or an authorized entity with which a User is affiliated;

(e) “Motor Vehicle Act” means the Motor Vehicle Act, R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 293, as amended from time to time;

(f) “Motor Vehicle Registration Information” means data, documents and all other information pertaining to the registration of motor vehicles that may be accessed, processed or stored via the Online Dealer Service;

(g) “Online Dealer Service” or “ODS” means the Province of Nova Scotia’s online motor vehicle registration services system, which provides internet browser-based query access to Motor Vehicle Registration Information, and permits Users to perform tasks electronically for the registration and management of motor vehicle licence plates, VINs, and other Motor Vehicle Registration Information; and

(h) “User” means an individual to whom credentials to access the Online Dealer Service (consisting of a username and password) have been issued by the Department.

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2. Purposes of these Terms and Conditions

 

These EUTCs allow Users to access and use the Online Dealer Service, and to query and submit Motor Vehicle Registration Information, in support of an Enterprise’s business activities.

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3. Ownership and Use of Motor Vehicle Registration Information

3.1 Users have the right to access the Online Dealer Service and query or submit Motor Vehicle Registration Information only if each such User agrees to these EUTCs, as may be amended from time to time.

3.2 Copyright in Motor Vehicle Registration Information will at all times remain with the Department.  Access to and use of the Online Dealer Service does not provide an express or implied assignment of copyright in Motor Vehicle Registration Information to any particular User, Enterprise, or other third party.

3.3 Motor Vehicle Registration Information is supplied and will be used solely for the purposes set out in these EUTCs.

3.4 The Department reserves the right to modify and/or update the Online Dealer Service and Motor Vehicle Registration Information without obligation to notify Users or Enterprises.

3.5 Users hereby acknowledge and agree that the Department reserves the right at any time to discontinue the Online Dealer Service with or without notice, and that the Department will not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, to Users, Enterprises, or any other person for any loss of any kind incurred as a result of, or in connection with, any such discontinuance.

3.6 Users are strictly responsible for adhering to these EUTCs and to any applicable standards and policies of the Department in place from time to time governing the Online Dealer Service and Motor Vehicle Registration Information.

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4. Registration Access

4.1 Users acknowledge that the Department may: (i) refuse to register the credentials of any User, particularly if a User is not affiliated with an Enterprise; and (ii) suspend or revoke the account of any User at any time, in the Department’s sole discretion, as more particularly described in these EUTCs.

4.2 Users acknowledge that a User’s access to the Online Dealer Service, as permitted under these EUTCs, may be immediately and automatically revoked if that User ceases to be affiliated with an Enterprise, or an Enterprise ceases to: (i) conduct business in Nova Scotia; or (ii)  hold a valid licence under the Motor Vehicle Act, or any other legislation or regulations thereto. Revocation of access may be processed by the Department immediately and at any time.

4.3 If any information provided by a User at the User’s initial registration of credentials changes for any reason, the User (or the User’s affiliated Enterprise) must promptly update the Department by resubmitting to the Department the revised information. Such revisions may lead to the cancellation of a User’s account, the issuance of new credentials for an existing or new User, or such other changes as are deemed necessary by the Department.

4.4 Users acknowledge that the information they submit during the account registration process will be used by the Department to establish their accounts for the Online Dealer Service.  As such, Users represent and warrant to the Department that all information they provide to register for an ODS account is complete, accurate, and up-to-date.

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5. Access to the Online Dealer Service

5.1 Upon receipt of the required information from prospective Users, the Department will provide Users with credentials to access the Online Dealer Service, consisting of a username and password that are unique to each User.  The credentials assigned to each User are for use by that User alone and no other person.

5.2 Users will not to share their credentials with anyone.

5.3Users are responsible for the security of their credentials, and for any access made to the Online Dealer Service using their credentials, regardless of whether that access was undertaken by an unauthorized person.

5.4 For greater certainty, Users, and where applicable the Enterprise with whom Users are affiliated, are jointly and severally liable for the security of Users’ credentials and for any access made to the Online Dealer Service with such credentials, regardless of whether that access was undertaken by an unauthorized person. 

5.5 The responsibility for access to the Online Dealer Service by any person using a User’s credentials will be on the User. Any charges associated with such use will be charged to the User or to the User’s affiliated Enterprise account, as applicable.

5.6 Any access and use by a User, or by anyone using the User’s credentials, to Motor Vehicle Registration Information by means or in a manner that is not permitted by the Department will be considered a breach of these EUTCs, and may lead to the automatic and immediate revocation of such User’s access privileges to the Online Dealer Service.

5.7 Each User (or the Enterprise with whom the User is affiliated) is responsible for all expenses related to acquiring, operating and maintaining any computer hardware and communications software required for the purposes of Users’ access to and use of the Online Dealer Service.

5.8 The Department will use its best efforts to keep the Online Dealer Service available to Users 24 hours per day, each day of the year, except for periods of planned maintenance or unplanned failures.

5.9 Users acknowledge and accept that the Online Dealer Service may undergo regular maintenance and upgrades, and that periodic interruptions in the ODS’ availability may result from time to time.

5.10 Without limiting the generality of any provisions of these EUTCs, Users and Entities shall comply with all laws that are applicable to their access and use of the Online Dealer Service, including, without limitation, the Motor Vehicle Act and all regulations made thereunder. Users and Entities acknowledge that they are familiar with the laws that apply to their access and use of the Online Dealer Service, and that they are responsible for complying with any new laws or changes in the laws applicable to their access and use of the Online Dealer Service.

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6. Tutorials and Help Desk

6.1 Users must, at their own expense, attend or participate in, as the case may be, such tutorials or workshops (online, classroom or otherwise) that are determined to be mandatory by the Department from time to time, to ensure that they are instructed in the proper use of the Online Dealer Service and the Department’s associated policies, rules, and guidelines.

6.2 The Department provides Help Desk services to Users of the Online Dealer Service from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, with the exception of holidays observed by the Department. The Help Desk can be reached by email at OnlineHelp@novascotia.ca or by phone at 902-424-5200 and 1-800-670-4357.

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7. Liability

7.1 Neither the Department nor the Province make any warranties whatsoever, expressed or implied, with respect to the accuracy, completeness, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose of the Online Dealer Service or any Motor Vehicle Registration Information contained therein. The Department and the Province specifically make no warranties that access to the Online Dealer Service or any content or information obtained from or through the use of Online Dealer Service will be provided on an uninterrupted, timely, secure or error-free basis or that it will meet the Users’ or Enterprises’ requirements or expectations.

7.2 Neither the Department nor the Province is liable to any User, Enterprise, or other person or entity for any direct, indirect or consequential damages whatsoever as a result of using the Online Dealer Service or any Motor Vehicle Registration Information. Users and their affiliated Enterprises assume joint and several liability and ALL risk associated with Users’ access to and use of the Online Dealer Service and Motor Vehicle Registration Information.

7.3 All Motor Vehicle Registration Information is for information purposes only.  Where there is any conflict between any data, information or document available electronically through the Online Dealer Service and any information, data or document available in physical form, the information, data or document in physical form prevails.

7.4 Each User agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Department and the Province, and the Province’s officers, employees and agents, from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs, debt, or expenses (including but not limited to legal fees) arising from: (1) Users’ access to and use of the Online Dealer Service; and (2) Users’ violation of any term or condition contained in these EUTCs.

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8. Restrictions on Use

8.1 Users acknowledge and agree that the Online Dealer Service must at all times be used in a legal, ethical and responsible manner.

8.2 Users acknowledge and agree that they are strictly prohibited from redistributing, reselling or recombining any Motor Vehicle Registration Information.

8.3 Users acknowledge and agree that they are limited to using Motor Vehicle Registration Information solely to support the business activities of the Enterprises with whom such Users are affiliated.

8.4 Motor Vehicle Registration Information and the Online Dealer Service may not be used by Users, nor may such use be enabled by Users through anyone else accessing or using the Online Dealer Service from a computer system over which a User exercises care and control:

(a) in a computer service or timesharing service;
(b) to create a database in electronic or other format for the purposes of data aggregation or dissemination (otherwise than for internal archival use);
(c) for the purpose of commercial resale of Motor Vehicle Registration Information (or components thereof);
(d) to exploit Motor Vehicle Registration Information or the Online Dealer Service for any commercial purpose independent from the regular business activities of the User’s affiliated Enterprise;
(e) to access, or to make attempts to gain access to, any personal information pertaining to any other person, without the authorization, knowledge or consent of such person; or
(f) to interfere in any manner whatsoever with the Department’s ability to provide the Online Dealer Service.


8.5 Each User and Enterprise agrees that the Department, upon reasonable notice, may examine the User’s materials, records and systems relating to the use of Motor Vehicle Registration Information, for purposes such as (but not limited to): (i) ensuring that Users are complying with these EUTCs; and (ii) to measure the volume and other characteristics of Users’ navigation and use of the Online Dealer Service, in order to understand user behavior and inform future enhancements or modifications to the ODS.

8.6 Given the foregoing and the Department’s interest in ensuring that Users comply with these EUTCs, Users understand that the Department reserves the right (but is not obligated) to monitor, audit, intercept, review, screen, collect, use, store and disclose any information or materials relating to a User’s activities on or through the Online Dealer Service. Therefore, Users acknowledge and agree that use of the Online Dealer Service is not considered private, and that Users have no expectation of anonymity with respect to their use of the Online Dealer Service.

 

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9. Default or Termination

9.1 The Department may terminate a User’s access to the Online Dealer Service immediately and without notice if, in the opinion of the Department, the User is in breach of any term(s) contained in these EUTCs.

9.2 Users may terminate their accounts for the Online Dealer Service at any time.

9.3 An Enterprise may request that a User’s account be disabled at any time by delivering to the Department a request to disable a User’s account. Users will be disabled within five (5) business days of the Department’s receipt of such a request.

9.4 Users acknowledge that the Department’s cancellation or revocation of the User’s account will result in the immediate disabling of all associated Users’ access to the Online Dealer Service. In order to have individual access to the Online Dealer Service reinstated, Users must contact the Department to request the establishment of an individual account, and must be affiliated with an Enterprise.

9.5 Cancellation or revocation of a User’s account does not relieve the User (or the User’s affiliated Enterprise) of the obligation to pay all fees and charges, including interest, that have accrued up to and including the date of cancellation/revocation.

9.6 Notwithstanding cancellation or revocation of a User’s account, Users remain bound by the  terms of these EUTCs pertaining to the proper use of Motor Vehicle Registration Information. These obligations remain in force for all Motor Vehicle Registration Information that was accessed by Users (or by third parties using Users’ credentials) while the User’s account was in force, and last until such Motor Vehicle Registration Information is properly disposed of and no longer accessible by such Users.

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10. General Provisions

10.1 These EUTCs, and any amendments thereto, constitute the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the use of the Online Dealer Service.

10.2 These EUTCs supersede all previous agreements or understandings between the Province and each User, whether written or oral, in connection with or incidental to the Online Dealer Service and Motor Vehicle Registration Information, and to the electronic access and use thereof.

10.3 These EUTCs are binding upon the parties and each of their executors, administrators, successors and permitted assigns and will ensure to the benefit of such executors, administrators, successors and permitted assigns.

10.4 These EUTCs cannot be assigned by a User nor by an Enterprise.

10.5 Where the context requires, the singular means the plural and the plural means the singular.

10.6 These EUTCs may be updated or modified at any time by the Department and it is the User’s and Enterprise’s responsibility to review these EUTCs ensure that they agree to its terms before each and every instance of use of the Online Dealer Service.  Any updates or modifications to these EUTCs will be communicated to Users electronically or at the time Users connect to the Online Dealer Service.

10.7 By connecting to the Online Dealer Service, Users and Enterprises agree to be bound by all terms and conditions of this Agreement, as may be amended from time to time.  Users and Enterprises remain jointly and severally responsible for the use of the Online Dealer Service.

10.8 These EUTCs cannot be amended by any User or Enterprise without the prior written consent of the Department.

10.9 The existence and content of these EUTCs and any amendments are considered to be public information.

10.10 These EUTCs will take effect and be binding upon a User and the User’s affiliated Enterprise upon issuance of the User’s Online Dealer Service account.

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11. Notice

11.1 All notices under these EUTCs will be in writing and are deemed to have been received:

(a) on the date of delivery when transmitted by e-mail or facsimile transmission, during working hours or business days or when delivered in person to an authorized person of the receiving party, and
(b) on the fifth (5th) business day after mailing when mailed by prepaid registered or certified mail to the receiving party.

 

11.2 The mailing address and contact information for the Department is:

Service Nova Scotia
Digital Services
P.O. Box 2734
Halifax, NS
B3J 3K5

E-mail: digitalsupport@novascotia.ca

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