1997 Minnesota Statutes

     237.66 Disclosure of local service options. 

    Subdivision 1.    Notice to local residential customers. 
  A telephone company, when a residential customer initially 
 requests service or requests a change of service, and annually 
 in the form of a bill insert, shall advise each residential 
 customer of the price of all service options available to that 
 customer.  The requirement of an annual notice through a bill 
 insert does not apply to long-distance service. 

    Subd. 1a.    Notice to customers.  (a) Each residential 
 and commercial telecommunications carrier customer may elect to 
 require that the telephone company serving the customer receive 
 authorization from the customer before a request to serve that 
 customer from a different intrastate telecommunications carrier 
 than the carrier currently serving the customer is processed. 

    (b) For new installations, a telephone company shall notify 
 a residential or commercial customer of the right described in 
 paragraph (a) when the customer initially requests intraexchange 
 service. 

    (c) Within one year of January 1, 1997, a 
 telecommunications carrier shall notify each of its existing 
 residential and commercial customers of the right described in 
 paragraph (a).  The notice may be made as a billing insert.  Any 
 customer notification of the rights set forth in this 
 subdivision shall be provided utilizing uniform, competitively 
 neutral language and the form, content, and style of the 
 authorization shall be consistent with federal law and 
 regulation and shall use language provided and approved by the 
 public utilities commission.  

    (d) A customer may change this election at any time by 
 notifying the telephone company of that decision.  No separate 
 charge may be imposed on the customer for electing to exercise 
 the right described in paragraph (a) or to change that election, 
 but a telephone company may recover in rates the reasonable 
 costs of administering the election. 

    (e) If a customer has elected to exercise the right 
 described in paragraph (a), the telephone company shall not 
 process a request to serve the customer by another 
 telecommunications carrier without prior authorization from the 
 customer.  If a customer has not elected to exercise the right 
 described in paragraph (a), the company may process a request to 
 serve the customer by another telecommunications carrier.  

    (f) A carrier may request such a change if the customer has 
 authorized the change either orally or in writing signed by the 
 customer.  If the carrier requests a change in a customer's 
 service provider, the carrier must: 

    (1) notify the customer in writing that the request has 
 been processed; and 

    (2) be able to present, upon complaint by the customer, 
 verified authorization for the change by the customer.  

    If the initial authorization was made orally, the carrier 
 must be able to present verified authorization received from the 
 customer within 14 business days of the date the oral 
 authorization was made. 

    (g) In the case of an oral authorization, if a 
 telecommunications carrier does not receive the verified 
 authorization within 14 business days of the date of the oral 
 authorization, the carrier must either bear the risk that the 
 change to the service of the carrier will be deemed unauthorized 
 under paragraph (h) or: 

    (1) immediately return the customer to the service of the 
 customer's original service provider; 

    (2) bear all costs associated with returning the customer; 
 and 

    (3) bill the customer for services rendered at the rate the 
 customer would have paid for such services if the request to 
 serve the customer had not been made. 

    (h) If the carrier is not able to present, upon complaint 
 by the customer, verified authorization received from the 
 customer as required under paragraph (f) and the carrier did not 
 return the customer to the service of the customer's original 
 service provider as required under paragraph (g), the change to 
 the service of the carrier shall be deemed to be unauthorized 
 from the date the carrier requested the change.  In that event, 
 the carrier shall: 

    (1) bear all costs of immediately returning the customer to 
 the service of the customer's original service provider; and 

    (2) bear all costs of serving that customer during the 
 period of unauthorized service. 

    (i) For purposes of paragraphs (f), (g), and (h), 
 authorization required in those paragraphs may be verified 
 utilizing any method that is consistent with federal law and 
 regulation.  

    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. 

    Subd. 2.    Filing; exemptions.  Copies of both the 
 written notices and information provided to customer service 
 representatives concerning the disclosure required under 
 subdivision 1 must be filed once every 12 months with the 
 commission and the department.  Independent telephone companies, 
 municipalities, and cooperative telephone associations are 
 exempt from the requirements of this subdivision unless 
 otherwise ordered by the commission.  

    Subd. 2a.    Call blocking.  A telephone company, when a 
 residential customer initially requests service, shall advise 
 each residential customer of the availability of all blocking 
 options including 900 number blocking and international 
 long-distance blocking. 

    Subd. 3.    Enforcement.  If, after an expedited 
 procedure conducted under section 237.61, the commission finds 
 that a telephone company is failing to provide disclosure as 
 required under subdivision 1, or the notification required under 
 subdivision 1a, paragraphs (b) and (c), it shall order the 
 company to take corrective action as necessary. 

    HIST: 1987 c 340 s 10; 1994 c 449 s 1; 1996 c 340 s 2,3; 1997 
 c 68 s 4 

*   NOTE:  See section 237.5799