| (a) Application. The provisions of this section apply
to residential-customer bills issued by all certificated telecommunications
utilities (CTUs). Only subsections (d)(3), (e)(1)(C) and (e)(7) of
this section apply to a deregulated company holding a certificate
of operating authority or to an exempt carrier under PURA §52.154.
(b) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to specify
the information that should be included in a user-friendly, simplified
format for residential customer bills that include charges for local
exchange telephone service.
(c) Frequency of bills and billing detail. Bills of
CTUs shall be issued monthly for any amount unless the bill covers
service that is for less than one month, or unless through mutual
agreement between the company and the customer a less frequent or
more frequent billing interval is established. Through mutual agreement
with the CTU, a customer may request and receive a bill with more
detailed or less detailed information than otherwise would be required
by the provisions of this section if the CTU also will provide the
customer with detailed information on request.
(d) Billing information.
(1) All residential customers shall receive their bills
via the United States mail, or other mail service, unless the customer
agrees with the CTU to receive a bill through different means, such
as electronically via the Internet.
(2) Customer billing sent through the United States
mail, or other mail service, shall be sent in an envelope or by any
other method that ensures the confidentiality of the customer's telephone
number and/or account number.
(3) A CTU shall maintain by billing cycle the billing
records for each of its accounts for at least two years after the
date the bill is mailed. The billing records shall contain sufficient
data to reconstruct a customer's billing for a given month. A copy
of a customer's billing records may be obtained by the customer on
request.
(e) Bill content requirements. The following requirements
apply to bills sent via the U.S. mail, or other mail service. Bills
rendered via the Internet shall provide the information specified
in this subsection in a readily discernible manner.
(1) The first page of each residential customer's bill
containing charges for local exchange telephone service shall include
the following information, clearly and conspicuously displayed:
(A) the grand total amount due for all services being
billed;
(B) the payment due date; and
(C) a notification of any change in the identity of
a service provider. The notification should describe the nature of
the relationship with the customer, including the description of whether
the new service provider is the presubscribed local exchange or interexchange
carrier. For purposes of this subparagraph, "new service provider"
means a service provider that did not bill the customer for services
during the service provider's last billing cycle. This definition
shall include only providers that have continuing relationships with
the customer that will result in periodic charges on the customer's
bill, unless the service is subsequently canceled. This notification
may be accomplished with a sentence that directs the customers to
details of this change located elsewhere on the bill.
(D) If possible, the first page of the bill shall list
each applicable telephone number or account number for which charges
are being summarized on the bill. If such inclusion is not possible,
the first page shall show the main telephone number or account number,
and subsequent pages shall clearly identify the additional numbers.
(2) Each residential customer's bill shall include
the following information in a clear and conspicuous manner that provides
customers sufficient information to understand the basis and source
of the charges in the bill:
(A) the service descriptions and charges for local
service provided by the billing CTU;
(B) the service descriptions and charges for non-local
services provided by the billing CTU;
(C) the service description, service provider's name,
and charges for any services provided by parties other than the billing
CTU, with a separate line for each different provider;
(D) applicable taxes, fees and surcharges, showing
the specific amount associated with each charge;
(E) the billing period or billing end date; and
(F) an identification of those charges for which non-payment
will not result in disconnection of basic local telecommunications
service, along with an explicit statement that failure to pay these
charges will not result in the loss of basic local service; or an
identification of those charges that must be paid to retain basic
local telecommunications service, along with an explicit statement
that failure to pay these charges will result in the loss of basic
local service.
(3) Charges must be accompanied by a brief, clear,
non-misleading, plain-language description of the service being rendered.
The description must be sufficiently clear in presentation and specific
enough in content to enable customers to accurately assess the services
for which they are being billed. Additionally, explanations shall
be provided for any non-obvious abbreviations, symbols, or acronyms
used to identify specific charges. The CTU shall use the term or acceptable
abbreviation, in paragraph (7) of this subsection to the extent they
apply to the customer's bill. If an abbreviation other than the acceptable
abbreviation is used for the term, then the term must also be identified
on the customer's bill. Terms and abbreviations may be completely
capitalized, partially capitalized, not capitalized, hyphenated, or
not hyphenated.
(4) Charges for bundled-service packages that include
basic local telecommunications service are not required to be separately
stated. However, a brief, clear, non-misleading, plain-language description
of the services included in a bundled-service package is required
to be provided either in the description or as a footnote.
(5) Each customer's bill shall include specific per-call
detail for time-sensitive charges, itemized by service provider and
by telephone or account number (if the customer's bill is for more
than one such number). Each customer's bill shall include the rate
and specific number of billing occurrences for per-use services, itemized
by service provider and by telephone or account number. Additionally,
time-sensitive charges and per-use charges may be displayed as subtotals
in summary sections of the bill.
(6) Bills shall provide a clear and conspicuous toll-free
number that a customer can call to resolve disputes and obtain information
from the CTU. If the CTU is billing the customer for any services
from another service provider, the bill shall identify the name of
the service provider and provide a toll-free number that the customer
can call to resolve disputes or obtain information from that service
provider.
(7) Defined terms.
(A) Federal excise tax--Federal tax assessed on non-usage
sensitive basic local service that is billed separately from long
distance service. Acceptable abbreviation: Fed excise tax.
(B) Federal subscriber line charge--A charge that the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allows a CTU to impose on
its customers to recover costs associated with interstate access to
the local telecommunications networks. The FCC does not require a
CTU company to impose this charge, and the CTU does not remit the
charge to the federal government. The charge may be used by the CTU
to pay for a part of the cost of lines, wires, poles, conduit, equipment
and facilities that provide interstate access to the local telecommunications
network. Acceptable abbreviation: Fed subscriber line chg.
(C) Federal universal service fee--A federal fee for
a fund that supports affordable basic phone service to all Americans,
including low-income customers, schools, libraries, and rural health
care providers. CTUs impose this fee to cover their required support
for the fund. The fee is set by the FCC. Acceptable abbreviation:
Fed universal svc fee.
(D) Municipal right-of-way fee--A fee used to compensate
municipalities for the use of their rights-of-way. Acceptable abbreviation:
Municipal ROW fee.
(E) Texas universal service--A state fee for a fund
that supports affordable service to customers in high-cost rural areas,
funds the Relay Texas service and related assistance for the hearing-disabled,
and funds telecommunications services discounts for low-income customers
(Lifeline). The fee is set by the Public Utility Commission.
(F) 9-1-1 fee--A fee used to fund the 9-1-1 telephone
network that allows callers to reach a public safety agency when they
dial the digits "9-1-1." The amount of the fee varies by region and
is set by the Texas Commission on State Emergency Communications.
Cont'd... |
