Minnesota Session Laws - 1997, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 68-H.F.No. 1123 
                  An act relating to telecommunications; establishing 
                  the practices of slamming and loading as consumer 
                  fraud; providing penalties and remedies; making 
                  permanent the requirement to disclose local 
                  telecommunications service options; amending Minnesota 
                  Statutes 1996, sections 237.121; 237.16, subdivision 
                  5; 237.5799; and 237.66, by adding a subdivision; 
                  proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
                  chapter 325F. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 237.121, is 
        amended to read: 
           237.121 [PROHIBITED PRACTICES.] 
           (a) A telephone company or telecommunications carrier may 
        not do any of the following with respect to services regulated 
        by the commission: 
           (1) upon request, fail to disclose in a timely and uniform 
        manner information necessary for the design of equipment and 
        services that will meet the specifications for interconnection; 
           (2) intentionally impair the speed, quality, or efficiency 
        of services, products, or facilities offered to a consumer under 
        a tariff, contract, or price list; 
           (3) fail to provide a service, product, or facility to a 
        consumer other than a telephone company or telecommunications 
        carrier in accordance with its applicable tariffs, price lists, 
        or contracts and with the commission's rules and orders; 
           (4) refuse to provide a service, product, or facility to a 
        telephone company or telecommunications carrier in accordance 
        with its applicable tariffs, price lists, or contracts and with 
        the commission's rules and orders; 
           (5) impose restrictions on the resale or shared use of its 
        services or network functions, provided that: 
           (i) it may require that residential service may not be 
        resold as a different class of service; and 
           (ii) the commission may prohibit resale of services it has 
        approved for provision for not-for-profit entities at rates less 
        than those offered to the general public; or 
           (6) provide telephone service to a person acting as a 
        telephone company or telecommunications carrier if the 
        commission has ordered the telephone company or 
        telecommunications carrier to discontinue service to that person.
           (b) A telephone company or telecommunications carrier may 
        not violate a provision of section 325F.693, with regard to any 
        of the services provided by the company or carrier. 
           Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 237.16, 
        subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 5.  [REVOCATION AND TEMPORARY SUSPENSION.] Any 
        certificate of authority may, after notice of hearing and a 
        hearing, be revoked or temporarily suspended by the commission, 
        in whole or in part, for:  the failure of its holder to furnish 
        reasonably adequate telephone service within the area or areas 
        determined and defined in the certificate of authority; failure 
        to meet the terms and conditions of its certificate; or 
        intentional violation of the commission's rules or orders; or 
        intentional violation of any applicable state or federal law 
        relating to the provision of telephone or telecommunications 
        services.  
           Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 237.5799, is 
        amended to read: 
           237.5799 [EXPIRATION.] 
           Sections 237.58, 237.59, 237.60, 237.61, 237.62, 237.625, 
        237.63, 237.64, 237.65, 237.66, and 237.68 expire on August 1, 
        1999. 
           Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 237.66, is 
        amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
           Subd. 1b.  [LOADING.] (a) Except as provided in paragraph 
        (b) or (c), a telephone company or telecommunications carrier 
        providing local service shall not charge a telephone service 
        subscriber as defined in section 325F.692 for a telephone or 
        telecommunications service that is not required by the 
        commission to be offered and for which the subscriber did not 
        explicitly contract.  
           (b) If a charge is assessed on a per use basis for a 
        service described in paragraph (a), the charge shall be applied 
        as a credit to the subscriber's next monthly bill, if the 
        subscriber notifies the telephone company or telecommunications 
        carrier that the subscriber did not utilize the service or did 
        not authorize the utilization of the service. 
           (c) A telephone company or telecommunications carrier that 
        receives a notification from a telephone service subscriber 
        under paragraph (b) shall inform the subscriber of the ability 
        to block the services from future use by the subscriber, and 
        shall block the services from future use by the subscriber, if 
        the subscriber so requests.  If a subscriber requests that the 
        carrier or company not block the service or later requests to 
        have the block lifted, the subscriber shall be responsible for 
        charges caused by the future utilization of that service.  The 
        carrier or company may not charge a recurring fee for blocking 
        the service. 
           Sec. 5.  [325F.693] [FRAUDULENT TELEPHONE SERVICES; 
        SLAMMING.] 
           Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] (a) For the purposes of this 
        section, a "telephone service subscriber" means a person who 
        contracts with a telephone company for telephone services or a 
        telecommunications company for telecommunications services. 
           (b) The definitions contained in chapter 237 apply to this 
        section. 
           Subd. 2.  [SLAMMING DEEMED CONSUMER FRAUD.] (a) It is fraud 
        under section 325F.69 to request a change in a telephone service 
        subscriber's local exchange or interexchange carrier without the 
        subscriber's verified consent.  
           (b) A telephone service subscriber may employ the remedies 
        provided in section 237.66 for violations of paragraph (a).  
        Section 8.31 may also be employed to remedy violations of 
        paragraph (a). 
           (c) For the purposes of paragraph (a): 
           (1) the consent of the telephone service subscriber may be 
        verified utilizing any method that is consistent with federal 
        law or regulation; 
           (2) compliance with applicable federal law and regulation, 
        or state law and rule, whichever is more stringent, is a 
        complete defense to an allegation of consumer fraud under 
        paragraph (a); and 
           (3) it is the responsibility of the company or carrier 
        requesting a change in a telephone service subscriber's company 
        or carrier to verify that the subscriber has authorized the 
        change.  A telephone company or telecommunications carrier 
        providing local exchange service who has been requested by 
        another telephone company or telecommunications carrier to 
        process a change in a subscriber's carrier is only liable under 
        this section if it knowingly participates in processing a 
        requested change that is unauthorized. 
           Nothing in this section shall be construed to change a 
        telephone company's or telecommunications carrier's obligations 
        under section 237.66. 
           Sec. 6.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
           Sections 1 to 5 are effective the day following final 
        enactment. 
           Presented to the governor April 28, 1997 
           Signed by the governor April 29, 1997, 2:22 p.m.