Sec. 16-331u. Cable franchise authority companies' offerings, charges, privacy policy, billing and billing disputes.
Sec. 16-331u. Cable franchise authority companies' offerings, charges, privacy policy, billing and billing disputes. (a) At the time of initial subscription, and
annually thereafter, a company issued a certificate of cable franchise authority shall
provide subscribers with a description of the community antenna television service or
video service offerings and current rates, a description of the company's credit policies,
including any finance charges or late payment charges and a description of the company's billing practices and complaint procedures upon request.
(b) In accordance with 47 USC 551, at the time of entering into an agreement to
provide community antenna television or video service to a subscriber, a company issued
a certificate of cable franchise authority shall inform the subscriber of its practices regarding the collection and use of personally identifiable customer information, including
(1) the type of information collected, (2) the purposes for which it is used, (3) the extent
and manner in which it is shared with unaffiliated third parties for purposes of enabling
delivery of the community antenna television or video service, and (4) its procedures
to ensure the subscriber's right to privacy. A holder of a certificate of cable franchise
authority shall not disclose personally identifiable customer information other than
anonymous or aggregate data to unaffiliated third parties for their own marketing purposes without the consent of such subscriber.
(c) A company issued a certificate of cable franchise authority shall implement
an informal process for handling Department of Public Utility Control and customer
inquiries, billing issues, service issues and other complaints. In the event an issue is not
resolved through this informal process, a customer may request from the department a
confidential, nonbinding mediation with the company, and a designated member of the
department staff shall serve as the mediator. If the mediation is unsuccessful, the customer may file a formal complaint with the department. The department's sole jurisdiction over the complaint is to determine if the company is in compliance with sections
16-331q to 16-331aa, inclusive, or any other laws, regulations or orders applicable to
companies holding a certificate of cable franchise authority. If the company is found to
be in noncompliance, the department shall order the company to remedy such noncompliance within a reasonable period of time. Failure to comply may subject the company
to civil penalties and revocation of the certificate, as provided in section 16-331aa.
(d) A company issued a certificate of cable franchise authority shall comply with
the customer service requirements of 47 CFR 76.309(c) for its community antenna
television or video services. A company issued a certificate of cable franchise authority
shall not be subject to any other state law or regulation or department order to the extent
it imposes customer service requirements in excess of or more stringent than 47 CFR
76.309(c).
(P.A. 07-253, S. 18.)