BILL NUMBER: AB 746	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 19, 2005
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 6, 2005

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Blakeslee

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2005

   An act to  amend Section 1748.1 of the Civil Code, and to
 add Section 755 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to
public utilities.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 746, as amended, Blakeslee.  Public utilities:  payment of
 billings.
   Existing law authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to
supervise and regulate every public utility in the state, including
an electrical corporation. Existing law authorizes the commission to
establish rules for all public utilities, subject to control by the
Legislature. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates
and charges for every public utility, and requires that those rates
and charges be just and reasonable.  
   Existing law prohibits any retailer in a sales, service, or lease
transaction with a consumer, from imposing a surcharge on a
cardholder who elects to use a credit card in lieu of payment by
cash, check, or similar means. 
   This bill would require the commission to authorize an electrical
corporation to offer convenient bill payment methods to customers,
including credit card and debit card payment options  ,
subject to the payment of reasonable transaction related fees
 .  The bill would authorize an electrical corporation
to pass on reasonable transaction costs incurred by the electrical
corporation in the form of fees charged to those customers that
choose to pay by those payment options. The commission would be
required to determine the reasonableness of any transaction fees
charged to customers that choose to pay by a convenient bill payment
option and to ensure that no portion of any additional transaction
costs incurred is shifted to customers that do not choose to pay a
bill by credit card, debit card, or other convenient payment option.
The bill would require that any transaction costs passed on in the
form of fees charged to customers choosing to pay by a convenient
payment   option are offset by any savings in transaction
costs the electrical   corporation derives as a result of
those customers choosing to pay by those methods. 
   The bill would exclude from the existing prohibition upon a
retailer imposing a surcharge on a cardholder who elects to use a
credit card in lieu of payment by cash, check, or similar means, a
charge by an electrical corporation that is approved by the
commission pursuant to the provisions that would be added by this
bill. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.   Section 1748.1 of the   Civil Code 
 is amended to read: 
   1748.1.  (a) No retailer in any sales, service, or lease
transaction with a consumer may impose a surcharge on a cardholder
who elects to use a credit card in lieu of payment by cash, check, or
similar means. A retailer may, however, offer discounts for the
purpose of inducing payment by cash, check, or other means not
involving the use of a credit card, provided that the discount is
offered to all prospective buyers.
   (b) Any retailer who willfully violates this section by imposing a
surcharge on a cardholder who elects to use a credit card and who
fails to pay that amount to the cardholder within 30 days of a
written demand by the cardholder of the retailer by certified mail,
shall be liable to the cardholder for three times the amount at which
actual damages are assessed. The cardholder shall also be entitled
to recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs incurred in the
action.
   A cause of action under this section may be brought in small
claims court, if it does not exceed the jurisdiction of that court,
or in any other appropriate court.
   (c) A consumer shall not be deemed to have elected to use a credit
card in lieu of another means of payment for purposes of this
section in a transaction with a retailer if only credit cards are
accepted by that retailer in payment for an order made by a consumer
over a telephone, and only cash is accepted at a public store or
other facility of the same retailer.
   (d) Charges for third-party credit card guarantee services, when
added to the price charged by the retailer if cash were to be paid,
shall be deemed surcharges for purposes of this section even if they
are payable directly to the third party or are charged separately.
   (e) It is the intent of the Legislature to promote the effective
operation of the free market and protect consumers from deceptive
price increases for goods and services by prohibiting credit card
surcharges and encouraging the availability of discounts by those
retailers who wish to offer a lower price for goods and services
purchased by some form of payment other than credit card.  
   (f) This section does not apply to charges for payment by credit
card or debit card that are made by an electrical corporation and
approved by the Public Utilities Commission pursuant to Section 755
of the Public Utilities Code. 
   SECTION 1. 
   SEC. 2.   Section 755 is added to the Public Utilities
Code, to read:  755. An electrical corporation may offer
convenient bill payment options to customers, including credit card
and debit card payment options that pass on reasonable transaction
related fees to customers utilizing those payment options. 

   755. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that an electrical
corporation that offers customers convenient bill payment options,
such as payment by credit card or debit card, may recover the
additional net expenses incurred by the electrical corporation for
providing the customers the option of paying their bills by credit
card or debit card, while ensuring that only the customers that
choose to use these payment options incur the additional charge and
that no portion of the expense is shifted to customers that do not
choose to pay a bill by credit card or debit card.  
   (b) An electrical corporation may offer convenient bill payment
options to customers, including credit card and debit card payment
options. The electrical corporation may pass on reasonable
transaction costs incurred by the electrical corporation in the form
of fees charged to those customers that choose to pay by those
payment options.  
   (c) The commission shall determine the reasonableness of any
transaction fees charged to customers that choose to pay an
electrical corporation by a convenient bill payment option pursuant
to this section. The commission shall ensure that only customers that
choose to use convenient payment options pay for the additional
transaction costs incurred and that no portion of those costs is
shifted to customers that do not choose to pay a bill by credit card
or debit card or other convenient payment option. The transaction
costs that are passed on in the form of fees charged to customers
that choose to pay by a convenient payment option shall be offset by
any savings in transaction costs the electrical corporation derives
as a result of those customers paying by the convenient payment
option.