HF 1123

1st Engrossment - 80th Legislature (1997 - 1998) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to telecommunications; establishing the 
  1.3             practices of slamming and loading as consumer fraud; 
  1.4             providing penalties and remedies; making permanent the 
  1.5             requirement to disclose local telecommunications 
  1.6             service options; amending Minnesota Statutes 1996, 
  1.7             sections 237.121; 237.16, subdivision 5; and 237.5799; 
  1.8             proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.9             chapter 325F. 
  1.10  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.11     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 237.121, is 
  1.12  amended to read: 
  1.13     237.121 [PROHIBITED PRACTICES.] 
  1.14     (a) A telephone company or telecommunications carrier may 
  1.15  not do any of the following with respect to services regulated 
  1.16  by the commission: 
  1.17     (1) upon request, fail to disclose in a timely and uniform 
  1.18  manner information necessary for the design of equipment and 
  1.19  services that will meet the specifications for interconnection; 
  1.20     (2) intentionally impair the speed, quality, or efficiency 
  1.21  of services, products, or facilities offered to a consumer under 
  1.22  a tariff, contract, or price list; 
  1.23     (3) fail to provide a service, product, or facility to a 
  1.24  consumer other than a telephone company or telecommunications 
  1.25  carrier in accordance with its applicable tariffs, price lists, 
  1.26  or contracts and with the commission's rules and orders; 
  1.27     (4) refuse to provide a service, product, or facility to a 
  2.1   telephone company or telecommunications carrier in accordance 
  2.2   with its applicable tariffs, price lists, or contracts and with 
  2.3   the commission's rules and orders; 
  2.4      (5) impose restrictions on the resale or shared use of its 
  2.5   services or network functions, provided that: 
  2.6      (i) it may require that residential service may not be 
  2.7   resold as a different class of service; and 
  2.8      (ii) the commission may prohibit resale of services it has 
  2.9   approved for provision for not-for-profit entities at rates less 
  2.10  than those offered to the general public; or 
  2.11     (6) provide telephone service to a person acting as a 
  2.12  telephone company or telecommunications carrier if the 
  2.13  commission has ordered the telephone company or 
  2.14  telecommunications carrier to discontinue service to that person.
  2.15     (b) A telephone company or telecommunications carrier may 
  2.16  not violate a provision of section 325F.693, with regard to any 
  2.17  of the services provided by the company or carrier. 
  2.18     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 237.16, 
  2.19  subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  2.20     Subd. 5.  [REVOCATION AND TEMPORARY SUSPENSION.] Any 
  2.21  certificate of authority may, after notice of hearing and a 
  2.22  hearing, be revoked or temporarily suspended by the commission, 
  2.23  in whole or in part, for:  the failure of its holder to furnish 
  2.24  reasonably adequate telephone service within the area or areas 
  2.25  determined and defined in the certificate of authority; failure 
  2.26  to meet the terms and conditions of its certificate; or 
  2.27  intentional violation of the commission's rules or orders; or 
  2.28  intentional violation of any applicable state or federal law 
  2.29  relating to the provision of telephone or telecommunications 
  2.30  services.  
  2.31     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 237.5799, is 
  2.32  amended to read: 
  2.33     237.5799 [EXPIRATION.] 
  2.34     Sections 237.58, 237.59, 237.60, 237.61, 237.62, 237.625, 
  2.35  237.63, 237.64, 237.65, 237.66, and 237.68 expire on August 1, 
  2.36  1999. 
  3.1      Sec. 4.  [325F.693] [FRAUDULENT TELEPHONE SERVICES; 
  3.2   SLAMMING AND LOADING.] 
  3.3      Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] (a) For the purposes of this 
  3.4   section, a "telephone service subscriber" means a person who 
  3.5   contracts with a telephone company for telephone services or a 
  3.6   telecommunications company for telecommunications services. 
  3.7      (b) The definitions contained in chapter 237 apply to this 
  3.8   section. 
  3.9      Subd. 2.  [SLAMMING AND LOADING DEEMED CONSUMER FRAUD.] (a) 
  3.10  It is fraud under section 325E.69 to: 
  3.11     (1) request a change in a telephone service subscriber's 
  3.12  local exchange or interexchange carrier without the subscriber's 
  3.13  verified consent; and 
  3.14     (2) charge a telephone service subscriber for telephone or 
  3.15  telecommunications services that are not required by the public 
  3.16  utilities commission to be offered and for which the subscriber 
  3.17  did not explicitly contract.  
  3.18     (b) A telephone service subscriber may employ the remedies 
  3.19  provided in section 237.66 for violations of paragraph (a), 
  3.20  clause (1).  A telephone service subscriber is not responsible 
  3.21  for any charges for telephone or telecommunications services 
  3.22  provided in violation of paragraph (a), clause (2).  Section 
  3.23  8.31 may also be employed to remedy violations of either clause 
  3.24  (1) or (2) of paragraph (a). 
  3.25     (c) For the purposes of paragraph (a), clause (1): 
  3.26     (1) the consent of the telephone service subscriber may be 
  3.27  verified utilizing any method that is consistent with federal 
  3.28  law or regulation; 
  3.29     (2) compliance with applicable federal law and regulation, 
  3.30  or state law and rule, whichever is more stringent, is a 
  3.31  complete defense to an allegation of consumer fraud under 
  3.32  paragraph (a), clause (1); and 
  3.33     (3) it is the responsibility of the carrier requesting a 
  3.34  change in a telephone service subscriber's carrier to verify 
  3.35  that the subscriber has authorized the change.  A local exchange 
  3.36  carrier who has been requested by a carrier to process a change 
  4.1   in a subscriber's carrier is not liable under this section for 
  4.2   processing a requested change that is unauthorized. 
  4.3      Sec. 5.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  4.4      Sections 1 to 4 are effective on the day following final 
  4.5   enactment.