HQ 952100: Online 120 Transaction and Communication Terminal; Subheading8470.50.00; EN 84.70 (C); cash register; H. Conf. Rep. No. 576;EN 85.17; HQ 086253; NY 859016.

Native CBP ruling rendition. Applicability is fact-specific; modification/revocation relationships and original publisher date are retained. Publisher sentinel year0001 means unknown date, not a historical legal adoption.

                            HQ 952100

                       September 15, 1992

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 952100 AJS

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.: 8517.82.00

Mr. Paul J. Mila
Director of Operations
Online Resources & Communications Corp.
1313 Dolley Madison Blvd.
Mclean, VA 22101

RE: Online 120 Transaction and Communication Terminal; Subheading
8470.50.00; EN 84.70 (C); cash register; H. Conf. Rep. No. 576;
EN 85.17; HQ 086253; NY 859016.

Dear Mr. Mila:

     Your letter of May 8, 1992, requesting the tariff class-
ification of the "ONLINE 120 Transaction and Communication
Terminal" (Online) under subheading 8470.50.00, Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), has been referred to this
office for reply.

FACTS:

     The Online is described as a transaction data-display,
transmission terminal used primarily for bill paying and other
debit applications such as banking, home shopping, off-track
betting, catalog purchasing, health claims, and other
transaction-based services delivered to homes, offices and other
remote locations.  It also has an auxiliary telephone function,
incorporating menu dialing and inbound caller identification.

     The Online has an LCD display, modem, numeric input pad,
programmable keys, dedicated function keys, 8-bit micro-
processor, 8K Ram, 512B EEprom, 64K Rom, and built-in pinpad for
authorizing and initiating transaction debits, and K-type
handset.






                               -2-

ISSUE:

     Whether the Online is properly classifiable within
subheading 8470.50.00, HTSUS, which provides for cash registers;
or within subheading 8517.82.00, HTSUS, which provides for other
telegraphic apparatus.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Heading 8470, HTSUS, provides for cash registers.  It is 
suggested that the Online is properly classifiable within this
heading.  The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System
Explanatory Notes (ENs) state that cash registers are used in
shops, offices, etc., to provide a record of all transactions
(sales, services rendered, etc.) as they occur, of the amounts
involved, the total of the amounts recorded and, in some cases,
the code number of the article sold, quantity sold, time of
transaction, etc.  EN 84.70 (C), p. 1295 (1992).  Usually, the
result is visually displayed and printed, at the same time, on a
ticket for the customer and on a tallyroll which is periodically
removed from the machine for checking purposes.  EN 84.70 (C). 
These machines are often combined with a till or drawer in which
the cash is kept.  EN 84.70 (C).  

     The Online does not satisfy these descriptions of a cash
register.  It is not used to provide a record of transactions,
but principally for the transmission of information.  While the
ENs are not dispositive, they provide a commentary on the scope
of each heading and offer guidance for interpretation of the
HTSUS.  H. Conf. Rep. No. 576, 100th Cong., 2d Sess., p. 550,
reprinted in 1988 U.S. CODE CONG. ADMIN. NEWS p. 1582.  Accord- 
ingly, we consider the above ENs instructive for determining that
the Online does not satisfy the terms of heading 8470, HTSUS.

     Heading 8517, HTSUS, provides for electrical apparatus for
line telephony or telegraphy.  These apparatus are for the
transmission between two points of speech or other sounds (or of
symbols representing written messages, images or other data) by
variation of an electric current or of an optical wave flowing in
a metallic or dielectric (copper, optical fibers, combination
cable, etc.) circuit connecting the transmitting station to the
receiving station.  The Online satisfies this description.  It is
principally used for the transmission of data between two points. 
We view the above EN instructive for finding that the Online
satisfies the terms of heading 8517, HTSUS.  More specifically,
the Online is described within subheading 8517.82.00, HTSUS,
which provides for other telegraphic apparatus.





                               -3-

      In HQ 086253 (May 15, 1990), Customs addressed the class-
ification of an enhanced telephone which allowed the user to
transmit banking information (e.g., accounts, transfer funds, pay
bills, buy and sell securities, and have electronic mail
communications with customer service).  We found that the
enhanced telephone was principally used for transmitting data
between two points.  Consequently, we ruled that this type of
device was also classified as a telegraphic apparatus within
subheading 8517.82.00, HTSUS.  The subject Online performs
similar functions.  As discussed previously, it is principally
used for the transmission of data.  Therefore, we find this
ruling instructive for classifying the Online within subheading
8517.82.00, HTSUS.

     New York (NY) 859016 (January 4, 1991), is cited in support
of the proposed classification.  The merchandise in that ruling
was used by businesses to record sales transactions as they
occurred.  The Online is not used for this type of operation.  As
discussed above, the Online is used principally to transmit data. 
Thus, we do not find this ruling instructive for determining the
classification of the Online.

HOLDING:

     The Online is classifiable within subheading 8517.82.00,
HTSUS, which provides for other telegraphic apparatus currently
dutiable at the General Column 1 rate of 4.7 percent ad valorem.

 
                                 Sincerely,


                                 John Durant, Director
                                 Commercial Rulings Division