The board of directors of the Airlines Reporting Corp. has approved revisions to the ARC Agent Reporting Agreement – the three-party contract that governs relations among travel agencies, ARC and ARC participating carriers.

The agreement defines the requirements for receiving and maintaining ARC accreditation.

The revised Agent Reporting Agreement will go into effect in July 2013, during the board’s semi-annual meeting in Chicago, instead of in January as originally planned.

ARC said the new effective date will allow all parties sufficient time to upgrade systems and business processes to properly support the changes found in the revised Agent Reporting Agreement.

Among significant changes to the agreement is a shortening of the bank draft date from 10 to five days after the close of a sales period as well as a provision allowing travel agency locations to have multiple ARC numbers. (See story, “ARC Unveils Overhaul of Agency Agreement,” May 7, 2012.)