BILL NUMBER: AB 746	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 2, 2005
	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  or gas  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
 or gas  corporation to offer convenient  bill
payment methods to customers, including  credit card and
debit card  bill  payment options. The bill would authorize
an electrical  or gas  corporation to pass on reasonable
transaction  costs   fees  incurred by the
electrical  or gas  corporation in the form of fees charged
to those customers that choose to pay by those payment options. The
 bill would require the  commission  would be
required  to determine the reasonableness of any transaction
fees charged to customers that choose to pay by a convenient 
credit card or debit card  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 require   the
  commission   to   determine how any
associated costs or potential savings resulting to customers choosing
to pay by a convenient bill payment option shall be passed on to
electrical or gas corporation customers. 
   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  or gas  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  or gas 
corporation and approved by the Public Utilities Commission pursuant
to Section 755 of the Public Utilities Code.
  SEC. 2.  Section 755 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
   755. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that an electrical
 or gas  corporation that offers customers convenient
 bill payment options, such as payment by  credit
card or debit card  payment options  , may recover the
 additional net  expenses incurred by the electrical
 or gas  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  or gas  corporation may offer
convenient  bill payment options to customers, including
 credit card and debit card  bill  payment options.
The electrical  or gas  corporation may pass on reasonable
transaction  costs   fees  incurred by the
electrical  or gas  corporation in the form of fees charged
to those customers that choose to pay by those payment options.
   (c) The commission shall determine  through existing
regulatory mechanisms  the reasonableness of any transaction
fees charged to customers that choose to pay an electrical  or
gas  corporation by a convenient credit card or debit card
 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. 
 The commission shall determine how any associated costs or
potential savings as a result of those customers paying by the
convenient credit card or debit card payment option shall be passed
on to electrical or gas corporation customers.