Mont. Admin. R. 38.5.3332 - CUSTOMER BILLING
(1) Carriers and
billing aggregators are required to bill in accordance with the following
procedures:
(a) Bills must be issued monthly,
unless the carrier has obtained the customer's consent for bills to be issued
on an alternative billing schedule.
(b) Residential and single-line business
bills must itemize the charges for all services and products. The bill must
clearly provide the following information:
(i)
payment due date;
(ii) total amount
due, including taxes;
(iii) the
toll-free telephone number of the company's business office serving the
customer;
(iv) a statement that
local exchange service may not be disconnected for nonpayment of unregulated
services, toll services, or services provided by other carriers, except when a
local exchange carrier's local, toll, or unregulated services are combined into
one service package at a single rate;
(v) the address and telephone number of the
commission.
(c) If a
local exchange carrier bills and collects for any interexchange carrier,
including itself, all toll calls must be itemized showing the date, the time,
the length in minutes, discounts if applicable, and the destination of the
call, unless the customer has subscribed to a service option which does not
require itemization of each call. For collect and/or third party calls, the
point of origin and the telephone number of origin must be stated.
(d) Upon request, a carrier must notify the
commission of the name and address of all entities for which it provides
billing and collection services. If a local exchange carrier bills and collects
for another carrier or service provider, the local exchange carrier must, upon
request, provide the customer with the name, address, and telephone number of
the other carrier's or service provider's department responsible for customer
dispute resolution.
(e) Charges
contained in telephone bills must be accompanied by a brief, clear,
nonmisleading, plain-language description of the service rendered. If the bill
includes charges from an entity that did not bill the customer for service
during the customer's previous billing cycle, the name of the new provider and
the charges billed must be printed in a clear and conspicuous manner.
(f) If a customer has subscribed to local
measured service, the bill must detail any and all charges in excess of the
basic local measured service monthly charge, including, at a minimum, the total
minutes and total charges in each rate category.
(2) If telecommunications service has been
underbilled because of the carrier's error, omission, or negligence and the
amount owed exceeds $25, the carrier must offer the customer a reasonable
payment arrangement. If telecommunications service has been overbilled, the
carrier must credit the customer's future bills for the amounts overbilled,
unless the customer requests a cash refund of the credit balance. In either
case (underbilling or overbilling), the carrier shall abide by the applicable
statute of limitations, and
69-3-221,
MCA.
(3) If a customer's service is
interrupted for any reason other than the customer's negligence or willful act
and service remains out for more than 24 hours after being reported,
appropriate adjustments shall be made to the customer's bill upon determination
of the outage. For the purpose of administering this rule, every month is
considered to have 30 days.
(4) The
carrier may require the customer to pay the undisputed portion of the bill to
avoid discontinuance of service for nonpayment. The carrier must investigate
the dispute and report the result to the customer. If the billing dispute is
not resolved, the carrier must advise the customer that the commission is
available for review and disposition of the matter.
(5) Local exchange service cannot be denied
or terminated because of nonpayment of unregulated services, toll services, or
services provided by other carriers, except when a local exchange carrier's
local, toll, or unregulated services are combined into one service package at a
single rate. A carrier's bill to its customer shall clearly distinguish between
regulated and unregulated service.
(6) Undesignated partial payments of a bill
shall be applied first to local exchange carrier regulated local exchange
services and then to service other than local exchange carrier regulated local
exchange services in such percentage as each other service provider's charges
represent of the total charges. When a local exchange carrier's local, toll, or
unregulated services are combined into one service package at a single rate,
undesignated partial payments shall be applied first to the service package,
then to other services as described above.
(7) If a carrier bills a customer for a
service more than 60 days after the service is provided and the customer
contacts the carrier (or its billing agent) to question or dispute the
late-billed charges, the carrier (or its billing agent) must offer the customer
a payment plan that allows an equal period of time to pay the late-billed
charges as it took the carrier to bill the customer. During this period, late
payment charges must not be assessed on the late-billed service charges, and
the carrier is prohibited from taking any collection actions against the
customer other than monthly notice by mail of the unpaid charges. Any such
monthly notice must not threaten any further collection action, and must inform
the customer that the carrier will arrange a payment plan in accordance with
this rule upon customer request.
(8) All carriers are prohibited from charging
any amount for unanswered calls.
Notes
69-3-103, MCA; IMP, 69-3-102, 69-3-201, 69-3-221, MCA;
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