Sec. 16-333l. Company offerings and charges. Billing and billing dispute procedures.
Sec. 16-333l. Company offerings and charges. Billing and billing dispute procedures. (a) Each community antenna television company, as defined in section 16-1,
shall provide each subscriber with a description of all premium and basic service offerings, a list of premium and basic service rates and all service-related charges, information
on equipment operation, including the availability of addressable converters, traps or
other devices or services which enable subscribers to voluntarily block transmission of
specific programming to their homes or places of business, and a description of the
company's customers credit policies, including any finance charges or late payment
charges, at the time of the initial subscription and at least annually thereafter.
(b) Each such company shall provide each subscriber with a description of the company's billing practices at the time of the initial subscription and at least annually thereafter. Such description shall include billing period and frequency, security deposit requirements, late payment charges, returned check charges, credits for service outages, pay-per-view billing procedures, charges and billing procedures for the use of addressable
converters, traps or other devices or services which enable subscribers to voluntarily
block transmission of specific programming to their homes or places of business and
such other items as the Department of Public Utility Control may require. Each company
shall file a copy of its billing practices with the department and shall give notice to the
department and each subscriber not less than forty-five days prior to implementing any
changes in such practices. Every bill to subscribers of a community antenna television
service shall contain (1) the date on which any individually chargeable service is rendered, (2) each rate or charge levied, (3) the amount due for the current billing period
separate from any prior balance due, (4) the specific date by which payment is due, (5)
such other items as the department may require, (6) the company's telephone numbers,
including any toll-free numbers, (7) the Department of Public Utility Control's consumer
assistance telephone number and (8) the mailing address of the company's advisory
council. Each company shall provide each subscriber, quarterly, with a summary of the
procedures for resolving subscriber complaints and for providing refund or credit for
service interruptions, pursuant to section 16-333e, and a notice indicating that, pursuant
to subsection (b) of section 16-333i, the company is required to restore interrupted
service not later than twenty-four hours after being notified by a subscriber that service
has been interrupted. Each bill insert or letter to subscribers, other than promotional
material, shall contain the company's telephone numbers, including any toll-free numbers or any other free calling option, as approved by the department and the Department
of Public Utility Control's consumer assistance telephone number. Each advisory council, in conjunction with the company, shall notify subscribers of the time and place of
any upcoming advisory council meeting, of any vacancies that may exist on the advisory
council and of the name of the council chairperson and address of the advisory council.
The notification may be provided via the community antenna television system at a
sufficient frequency that subscribers may reasonably be expected to become aware of
the meeting or by publishing on a quarterly basis the information in a newspaper having
general circulation within each municipality in the franchise area.
(c) No community antenna television company shall issue a bill which contains a
statement that payment is due upon receipt. The payment due date of any subscriber's bill
shall be no earlier than twenty-five days after the issue date of such bill. No community
antenna television subscriber's account shall be considered delinquent until at least
twenty-five days have elapsed from the billing date contained in the subscriber's bill.
No community antenna television company may impose a late charge or terminate service on account of nonpayment of a delinquent account less than forty-five days from
the original billing date. In order to terminate service, a company shall first give notice
of such delinquency and impending termination at least fifteen days prior to the imposition of the proposed late charge or the termination, by first class mail addressed to the
subscriber. The fifteen-day period shall commence from the date the notice is mailed,
provided no notice may be mailed until at least thirty days have elapsed from the billing
date contained in the subscriber's bill. No such company may impose a late charge
greater than eight per cent per annum of the balance due or any such rate as determined
by the department. Any returned check charge imposed by such company shall be reasonably related to the company's actual cost of processing returned checks.
(d) Any community antenna television subscriber shall have not less than forty-five days from the billing date contained in the subscriber's bill in which to register a
complaint with a community antenna television company with respect to any billing
error or dispute. A billing complaint may be registered in person at the company's
business office, by telephone or by mail. The company shall promptly investigate the
billing complaint, shall provide an initial response to the subscriber not later than three
days after receipt thereof and shall provide a written proposal of the disposition of the
complaint to the subscriber not later than fifteen business days following the company's
receipt of the complaint. The subscriber, after receiving the company's proposed disposition of the complaint, shall have ten days to contest the disposition and may present
the company with additional information concerning the complaint. In the event the
subscriber contests the proposed disposition, the company shall review any additional
information, if provided, and shall notify the subscriber of the company's final disposition within fifteen days. No community antenna television company may effect termination of service to the subscriber for nonpayment of disputed bills during the pendency
of any billing complaint, provided the subscriber shall pay current and undisputed bill
amounts during the pendency of the complaint. The Department of Public Utility Control, upon the written request of the subscriber, may review the company's disposition
of a billing complaint in accordance with such procedures as the department shall prescribe and make such orders as the department deems reasonable and necessary to finally
resolve the complaint.
(e) The Department of Public Utility Control shall adopt regulations, in accordance
with the provisions of chapter 54, to administer the provisions of this section.
(P.A. 88-202, S. 7, 10; 88-364, S. 95, 123; P.A. 89-182, S. 5; P.A. 94-229, S. 3, 4; P.A. 95-150, S. 4; P.A. 98-121, S. 11.)
History: P.A. 88-364 substituted reference to billing date for reference to payment due date in Subsec. (d); P.A. 89-182 required that bills contain mailing address of community antenna television services company's advisory council and
that specified information re advisory council be published quarterly in a newspaper with general circulation in each
municipality within a franchise area; P.A. 94-229 amended Subsecs. (a) and (b) by adding provisions re devices or services
which enable subscribers to voluntarily block transmission, effective June 8, 1994; P.A. 95-150 amended Subsec. (b) by
deleting "subsection (a) of" re reference to Sec. 16-333e; P.A. 98-121 amended Subsec. (b) by deleting requirement to
publish quarterly certain information by newspaper and by adding requirement to publish certain information as needed
via the community antenna television system or by newspaper, and amended Subsec. (c) by deleting references to late
charges.