Section 11-98-8 Commercial Mobile Radio Service - Duties of providers; service charges.
Section 11-98-8
Commercial Mobile Radio Service - Duties of providers; service charges.
(a) Each CMRS provider shall act as a collection agent for the CMRS Fund and shall collect the CMRS service charges levied upon CMRS connections pursuant to Section 11-98-7(b)(1) from each CMRS connection to whom the CMRS provider provides CMRS service and shall, not later than 60 days after the end of the calendar month in which such CMRS service charges are collected, remit to the board the net CMRS service charges collected after deducting the fee authorized by subsection (b). Each billing provider shall list the CMRS service charge as a separate entry on each bill which includes a CMRS service charge.
(b) Each CMRS provider shall be entitled to deduct and retain from the CMRS service charges collected by the provider during each calendar month an amount not to exceed one percent of the gross aggregate amount of the CMRS service charges collected as reimbursement for the costs incurred by the provider in collecting, handling, and processing the CMRS service charges.
(c) The board shall be entitled to retain from the CMRS service charges collected during each calendar month an amount not to exceed two percent of the gross aggregate amount of such CMRS service charges collected as reimbursement for the costs incurred by the board in administering this chapter, including, but not limited to, retaining and paying the independent, third-party auditor to review and disburse the cost recovery funds and to prepare the reports contemplated by this chapter.
(d) The CMRS provider shall have no obligation to take any legal action to enforce the collection of the CMRS service charge. If a CMRS provider receives partial payment for a monthly bill from a CMRS subscriber, the CMRS provider shall apply the payment against the amount the CMRS subscriber owes the CMRS provider first, and shall remit to the board the lesser amount, if any, as shall result therefrom.
(e) The charges and fees collected under this section shall not be subject to taxes or charges levied on or by the CMRS provider, nor shall the charges and fees be considered revenue of the CMRS provider for any purposes. The CMRS provider shall annually provide to the emergency communications district management review board an accounting of the amounts billed and collected and of the disposition of the amounts.
(f) State and local taxes do not apply to the CMRS service charge.
(g) If a CMRS provider collects, but fails to remit, the CMRS service charges as provided herein or fails to collect the CMRS service charges, the provider shall be required to remit to the board the actual fees collected or that should have been collected and interest on the fees not remitted. The amount of the annual interest due shall be determined in accordance with Section 40-1-44. The board may seek the enforcement of this section in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County.
(h) The board shall treat as confidential the remittance information submitted by a CMRS provider, including the total dollar amount remitted, the number of service charges remitted, or any other information that the board could reasonably believe would reveal the number of CMRS customers who are being serviced by a particular carrier or any other proprietary information.
(Act 98-338, p. 584, §2; Act 2007-459, p. 950, §1.)