Authority: IC
8-1-1-3; IC
8-1-2-4
Affected: IC
8-1-2-87; IC
8-1-2-122; IC 8-1-2.5
Sec. 16.
(a) The
customer shall:
(1) notify the utility at
least three (3) days in advance of the day disconnection is desired;
and
(2) remain responsible for all
service used and the billings therefor until service is disconnected pursuant
to such notice. Upon request by a customer of a utility to disconnect service,
the utility shall disconnect the service within three (3) working days of the
requested disconnection date. The customer shall not be liable for any service
rendered to the address or location after the expiration of three (3) such
days.
(b) A utility may
disconnect service without request by the customer of the service and without
prior notice only:
(1) if a condition
dangerous or hazardous to life, physical safety, or property exists;
(2) upon order by any court, the commission,
or other duly authorized public authority;
(3) if fraudulent or unauthorized use of gas
is detected and the utility has reasonable grounds to believe the affected
customer is responsible for the use;
(4) if the utility's regulating or measuring
equipment has been tampered with and the utility has reasonable grounds to
believe that the affected customer is responsible for the tampering;
or
(5) if the utility's equipment
is used in a manner disruptive to the service of other customers.
In all other instances, a utility, upon providing the
customer with proper notice as defined in subsection (f) may disconnect service
subject to the other provisions of this rule.
(c) Except as otherwise provided in
subsections (a) and (b), a utility shall postpone the disconnection of service
for ten (10) days if, before the disconnect date specified in the disconnect
notice, the customer provides the utility with a medical statement from a
licensed physician or public health official that states that disconnection
would be a serious and immediate threat to the health or safety of a designated
person in the household of the customer. The postponement of disconnection
shall be continued for one (1) additional ten (10) day period upon the
provision of an additional such medical statement. The utility shall be
required to provide the customer a total of twenty (20) days postponement of
disconnection for medical reasons under this subsection only once in any twelve
(12) month period. Further postponement of disconnection for medical reasons
shall be at the utility's discretion.
(d) A utility may not disconnect service to
the customer as follows:
(1) Upon the
customer's failure to pay for:
(A) merchandise
or appliances purchased from the utility furnishing the gas or other nonutility
or unregulated services;
(B) the
service rendered at a different metering point, residence, or location if the
bill has remained unpaid for less than forty-five (45) days;
(C) services to a previous occupant of the
premises to be served, unless the utility has good reason to believe the
customer is attempting to defraud the utility; or
(D) a different form or class of utility
service.
(2) If the
customer shows cause for the customer's inability to pay the full amount due
(financial hardship shall constitute cause), and the customer:
(A) pays a reasonable portion, not to exceed:
(i) twenty-five dollars ($25); or
(ii) one-tenth (1/10) of the bill; whichever
is less, unless the customer agrees to a greater portion of the bill;
(B) agrees to pay:
(i) the remainder of the outstanding bill
within three (3) months; and
(ii)
all undisputed future bills for service as they become due; and
(C) has not breached any similar
agreement with the utility made under this section within the past twelve (12)
months.
Provided, however, that the utility may add to the
outstanding bill a late payment charge not to exceed the amount set under
section 13(b) of this rule. Provided further, that the terms of agreement shall
be put in writing by the utility and signed by the customer and by a
representative of the utility. Only one (1) late payment charge may be charged
to the customer under this section. "Unregulated services", as used in
subdivision (1)(A), does not include utility services provided under an
alternative regulatory plan approved by the commission under IC 8-1-2.5 et
seq.
(3) If a
customer is unable to pay a bill that is unusually large due to prior incorrect
reading of the meter, incorrect application of the rate schedule, incorrect
connection or functioning of the meter, prior estimates where no actual reading
was taken for over two (2) months, stopped or slow meters, or any human or
mechanical error of the utility, and the customer:
(A) pays a reasonable portion of the bill,
not to exceed an amount equal to the customer's average bill for the twelve
(12) bills immediately preceding the bill in question; and
(B) agrees to pay:
(i) the remainder at a reasonable rate;
and
(ii) all undisputed future
bills for service as they become due. Provided, however, that the utility may
not add to the outstanding bill any late fee. Provided, further, that the terms
of agreement shall be put in writing by the utility and signed by the customer
and a representative of the utility. If a customer proceeds with a review under
170 IAC 16-1-5, the utility may
disconnect only as provided in
170 IAC 16-1-7.
(e) No
utility may disconnect service unless it is done between the hours of 8:00 a.m.
and 3:00 p.m., prevailing local time. Disconnections under subsections (a) and
(b) are not subject to this limitation. A utility may not disconnect service
for nonpayment on any day on which the utility office is closed to the public
or after noon of the day immediately preceding any day on which the utility
office is not open to the public.
(f) Except as otherwise provided in this
article, gas service to any residential customer shall not be disconnected for
a violation of any rule or regulation of a utility or for the nonpayment of a
bill, except after fourteen (14) days prior written notice to the customer by
either:
(1) mailing the notice to the
residential customer at the address shown on the records of the public utility;
or
(2) personal delivery of the
notice to the residential customer or a responsible member of the customer's
household at the address shown on the records of the utility.
No disconnect notice for nonpayment may be rendered prior to
the date on which the account becomes delinquent.
(g) The notice in subsection (f) must be in
language that is clear, concise, and easily understandable to a layperson and
shall state the following in separately numbered large types or printed
paragraphs:
(1) The date of the proposed
disconnection.
(2) The specific
actual basis and reason for the proposed disconnection.
(3) The telephone number of the utility
office at which the customer may call during regular business hours in order to
question the proposed disconnection or seek information concerning the
customer's rights.
(4) A reference
to the pamphlet furnished to the customer under section 18 of this rule for
information as to the customer's rights.
(h) Immediately preceding the actual
disconnection of service, the employee of the utility designated to perform
that function shall:
(1) make a reasonable
attempt to identify himself or herself to the customer or any other responsible
person then upon the premises;
(2)
announce the purpose of his or her presence;
(3) make a record thereof to be maintained
for at least thirty (30) days;
(4)
have in his or her possession information sufficient to enable him or her to
inform the customer or other responsible person of the reason for
disconnection, including the amount of any delinquent bill of the customer;
and
(5) request from the customer
any available verification that the outstanding bill has been satisfied or is
currently in dispute under review under
170 IAC 16-1-5.
Upon the presentation of such credible evidence, service
shall not be disconnected. The employee shall not be required to accept payment
from the customer or other responsible person in order to prevent the service
from being disconnected. The utility shall notify its customers under section
18 of this rule of its policy with regard to the acceptance or nonacceptance of
payment by the employee and shall uniformly follow the policy without
discrimination. When the employee has disconnected the service, the employee
shall give to a responsible person at the user's premises or, if no one is at
home, shall leave at a conspicuous place on the premises a notice stating that
service has been disconnected and stating the address and telephone number of
the utility where the user may arrange to have service reconnected.
(i) A utility may
charge a reasonable reconnection charge, not to exceed the charge approved by
the commission in the utility's filed tariffs. A utility shall inform its
customers of the reconnection fee under section 18 of this rule. If the utility
disconnects service in violation of this rule, the service shall immediately be
restored at no charge to the customer. The utility must reconnect the service
to the customer as soon as reasonably possible but at least within one (1)
working day after it is requested to do so if the customer has satisfied the
requirements of this rule.
Notes
170 IAC 5-1-16
Indiana Utility
Regulatory Commission; No. 34613: Standards of Service For Gas Public Utilities
Rule 16; filed Oct 14, 1976, 10:20 a.m.: Rules and Regs. 1977, p. 403; filed
Oct 13, 1983, 4:02 p.m.: 7 IR 40; readopted filed Jul 11, 2001, 4:30 p.m.: 24
IR 4233; filed Feb 16, 2006, 8:14 a.m.: 29 IR 2166; filed May 25, 2010, 1:52
p.m.: 20100623-IR-170090792FRA; readopted filed Aug 2, 2013, 2:16 p.m.:
20130828-IR-170130227RFA
Readopted
filed 4/11/2019, 9:04 a.m.:
20190508-IR-170190136RFA
