16 Tex. Admin. Code § 26.31 - Disclosures to Applicants and Customers
(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;
(xvi) how a customer with a physical
disability, and those who care for them, can identify themselves to the CTU so
that special action can be taken to appropriately inform these persons of their
rights; and
(xvii) if a CTU is
offering Lifeline Service in accordance with §26.412 (relating to Lifeline
Service Program), how information about customers who qualify for Lifeline
Service may be shared between each relevant state agency and the customer's
phone service provider.
(5) Notice of changes. A CTU must provide
each customer written notice between 30 and 60 calendar days in advance of a
material change in the terms and conditions of service or customer rights and
must give each customer the option to decline any material change in the terms
and conditions of service and cancel service without penalty due to the
material change in the terms and conditions of service. This paragraph does not
apply to changes that are beneficial to the customer such as a price decrease
or changes required by law.
(6)
Right of cancellation.
(A) A CTU must provide
each residential applicant and customer the right of rescission in accordance
with applicable law.
(B) If a
residential applicant or customer enrolls in a contract with a minimum duration
exceeding 31 days, a CTU must promptly provide the applicant or customer with
the terms and conditions of service after the applicant or customer has
provided authorization to CTU. The CTU must offer the applicant or customer a
right to cancel the contract without penalty or fee for a period of six working
days after the terms and conditions of service are mailed or sent
electronically to the applicant or customer.
(c) Dominant certificated telecommunications
utility (DCTU). In addition to the requirements of subsection (b) of this
section, the following requirements apply to residential customers and business
customers with five or fewer customer access lines.
(1) Prior to acceptance of service. Before an
applicant signs a contract for service, or a DCTU accepts any money for new
residential service or transfers a customer's existing residential service to a
new location, the DCTU must provide to each applicant the following:
(A) information relating to the DCTU's
residential service alternatives, beginning with the lowest-priced option, and
the range of service offerings available within the applicant's service area
with full consideration to the cost associated with applicable equipment
options and installation charges; and
(B) a statement written in plain English or
Spanish that clearly informs the applicant about the availability of Lifeline
Service.
(2) Customer
rights.
(A) If a DCTU provides the same
information as required by subsection (b)(4)(C) of this section in the
telephone directories provided to each customer in accordance with §
26.128 of this title (relating to
Telephone Directories), the DCTU must provide a printed statement on each
customer's bill or a billing insert identifying the location of the information
within the telephone directory. The statement or billing insert must be
provided to customers at least every six months.
(B) The information required by subsection
(b)(4)(C) of this section and this subsection must be provided in plain English
and Spanish; however, a DCTU is exempt from the Spanish language requirement if
10% or fewer of its customers are exclusively Spanish-speaking. If the DCTU is
exempt from the Spanish language requirement, it must notify each customer
through a statement provided in plain English and Spanish, in the customer
rights disclosures that the information is available in Spanish from the DCTU,
by mail or from the DCTU's offices.
(C) The information required in subsection
(b)(4)(C) of this section must also include:
(i) the customer's right to information about
rates and services;
(ii) the
customer's right to inspect or obtain at reproduction cost a copy of the
applicable tariffs and service rules;
(iii) information on prohibitions for
disconnection of local service for the ill and disabled;
(iv) information on the availability of
prepaid local telephone service as required by §
26.29 of this title (relating to
Prepaid Local Telephone Service (PLTS)); and
(v) information regarding privacy issues as
required by §
26.121 of this title (relating to
Privacy Issues).
Notes
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