| (a) Application. Subsection (b)(4)(C)(viii) of this
section does not apply to a deregulated company holding a certificate
of operating authority, or to an exempt carrier that meets the criteria
of Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA) §52.154.
(b) Certificated telecommunications utilities (CTU).
The disclosure requirements of this subsection only apply to residential
customers and business customers with five or fewer customer access
lines.
(1) Promotional requirements. Promotions, including
advertising and marketing, conducted by a CTU must comply with the
following:
(A) If any portion of a promotion is translated into
another language, then all portions of the promotion must be translated
into that language. Promotions containing a single informational line
or sentence in another language to advise a person on how to obtain
the same promotional information in a different language are exempt
from this requirement.
(B) Promotions must not be fraudulent, unfair, misleading,
deceptive, or anti-competitive as prohibited by federal and state
law.
(2) Prior to acceptance of service. A CTU must provide
the following information to an applicant before the applicant accepts
service:
(A) notice that the customer will receive the information
packet described in paragraphs (3) and (4) of this subsection;
(B) an explanation of each product or service being
offered;
(C) a description of how each charge will appear on
the telephone bill;
(D) any applicable minimum contract service terms;
(E) disclosure of all money that must be paid prior
to installation of a new service or transfer of an existing service
to a new location, and whether the money is refundable;
(F) disclosure of construction charges in accordance
with §26.22 of this title (relating to Request for Service);
(G) information about any necessary change in the applicant's
telephone number;
(H) disclosure of the company's cancellation policy;
and
(I) information on whom to call and a working toll-free
number for customer inquiries.
(3) Terms and conditions of service. A CTU must provide
information regarding terms and conditions of service to customers
in writing and free of charge at the initiation of service. Upon request,
a customer is entitled to receive an additional copy of the terms
and conditions of service free of charge from the CTU every calendar
year. Any contract offered by a CTU must include the terms and conditions
of service. A CTU is prohibited from offering a customer a contract
or terms and conditions of service that waives the customer's rights
under federal or state law, or commission rule.
(A) The information must be:
(i) sent to the new customer before payment for a full
bill is due;
(ii) clearly labeled to indicate it contains the terms
and conditions of service;
(iii) provided in a readable format written in plain,
non-technical language; and
(iv) provided in the same language in which the CTU
markets the service.
(B) The following information must be included:
(i) each rate and charge as it will appear on the telephone
bill;
(ii) an itemization of each charge that may be imposed
on the customer, including charges for late payments and returned
checks;
(iii) a full description of each product or service
to which the customer has subscribed;
(iv) any applicable minimum contract service terms
and fees for cancellation or early termination;
(v) all money that must be paid prior to installation
of new service or transfer of existing service to a new location and
whether the money is refundable;
(vi) applicable construction charges in accordance
with §26.22 of this title;
(vii) any necessary change in the applicant's telephone
number;
(viii) the company's cancellation or early termination
policy;
(ix) an operational toll-free number for customer service;
and
(x) the provider's legal business name used for providing
telecommunications services in the state.
(4) Customer rights. At the initiation of service,
a CTU must provide to a customer information regarding customer rights
in writing and free of charge.
(A) The informational disclosures relating to customer
protections required by subparagraph (C) of this paragraph must be:
(i) sent to the new customer before payment for a full
bill is due;
(ii) clearly labeled to indicate the customer protection
disclosures contain information regarding customer rights;
(iii) provided in a readable format and written in
plain, non-technical language; and
(iv) provided in the same language in which the CTU
markets the service.
(B) The CTU must also provide:
(i) the information in subparagraph (C) of this paragraph
to each customer at least every other year at no charge; or
(ii) a printed statement on the bill or a billing insert
identifying where the information in subparagraph (C) of this paragraph
can be obtained. The statement must be provided to each customer every
six months.
(C) The following informational disclosures relating
to customer protections must be provided by the CTU:
(i) the CTU's customer credit requirements and the
circumstances under which a customer deposit or an additional deposit
may be required, the manner in which a deposit and interest paid on
deposits are calculated, the time frame and requirements for return
of the deposit to the customer, and any other terms and conditions
related to deposits;
(ii) the time period for payment of outstanding bills
without incurring a penalty and the amount and conditions under which
a penalty may be applied to delinquent bills;
(iii) the grounds for suspension or disconnection of
service;
(iv) the requirements a CTU must meet to suspend or
disconnect service;
(v) the requirements a CTU must meet for resolving
billing disputes and how disputes affect suspension or disconnection
of service;
(vi) information on alternative payment plans offered
by the CTU, including payment arrangements and deferred payment plans.
A CTU must provide to each customer a statement that the customer
has the right to request these alternative payment plans;
(vii) the requirements to have the customer's service
restored or reconnected after involuntary suspension or disconnection;
(viii) a customer's right to continue local service
as long as full payment for local service is timely made;
(ix) information regarding protections against unauthorized
billing charges ("cramming") and selection of telecommunications utilities
("slamming") as required by §26.32 of this title (relating to
Protection Against Unauthorized Billing Charges ("Cramming")) and §26.130
of this title (relating to Selection of Telecommunications Utilities),
respectively;
(x) the customer's right to file a complaint with the
CTU, the procedures for a supervisory review, and the customer's right
to file a complaint with the commission regarding any matter concerning
the CTU's service. The commission's contact information: PUCT, Consumer
Protection Division, P.O. Box 13326, Austin, Texas 78711-3326, (512)
936-7120 or in Texas (toll-free) 1-888-782-8477, e-mail address: consumer@puc.texas.gov,
Internet address: www.puc.texas.gov, and Relay Texas (toll-free) 1-800-735-2989,
must accompany this information;
(xi) the hours, addresses, and telephone numbers of
each CTU office where bills may be paid and customer service information
may be obtained, or a toll-free number at which the customer may obtain
such information;
(xii) a toll-free telephone number or equivalent, such
as the use of wide area telephone service or acceptance of collect
calls, that a customer may call to report service problems or make
billing inquiries;
(xiii) a statement that each CTU service is provided
without discrimination as to a customer's race, color, sex, nationality,
religion, marital status, income level, source of income, or from
unreasonable discrimination on the basis of geographic location;
(xiv) a summary of the company's policy regarding the
provision of credit history based upon the credit history of a customer's
former spouse;
(xv) notice of any special services such as readers
or notices in Braille, if available, the phone number for Relay Texas:
1-800-735-2989, and any teletypewriter or text telephone service offered
by the CTU;
Cont'd... |
