BILL NUMBER: AB 746 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 5, 2005
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 , or water corporation
corporations . 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 , or water
corporation to offer convenient credit card and
debit card bill payment options. The bill would authorize an
electrical or , gas , or water
corporation to pass on recover
reasonable transaction fees costs
incurred by the electrical or , gas
, or water corporation in the form of fees
charged to from those customers that choose to
pay by those payment options. The bill would require the commission
to determine the reasonableness of any transaction
fees costs charged to customers that
choose to pay by a convenient credit card or debit
card bill payment option. The bill would require the commission to
determine how any associated costs or potential savings
resulting to as a result of customers choosing
to pay by a convenient credit card or debit
card bill payment option shall be passed on to electrical
or , gas corporation
, or water 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 ,
or water 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 to
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
electrical, gas, or water 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
that:
(1) An electrical or gas
electrical, gas, or water corporation that
offers customers convenient credit card or debit
card payment options, may recover the reasonable expenses
incurred by the electrical or gas electrical,
gas, or water corporation for providing the customers the
option of paying their bills by credit card or debit card,
while ensuring that only card .
(2) 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 , unless and
until the commission determines that the benefits to ratepayers
exceeds the net cost of accepting those cards.
(3) The acceptance of credit cards or
debit cards neither increases nor decreases the profitability of the
electrical, gas, or water corporation .
(b) An electrical or gas electrical, gas,
or water corporation may offer convenient
credit card and debit card bill payment options , if
approved by the commission . The electrical or gas
electrical, gas, or water corporation may
pass on reasonable transaction fees recover
reasonable transaction costs incurred by the
electrical or gas electrical, gas, or water
corporation in the form of fees charged to
only from 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 costs charged to customers that
choose to pay an electrical or gas
electrical, gas, or water corporation by a convenient
credit card or debit card bill payment option pursuant to
this section. 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
electrical, gas, or water corporation customers.
Notwithstanding subdivision (b), an electrical, gas, or water
corporation may recover the cost of accepting credit cards or debit
cards from all customers if the commission determines that the
benefits to ratepayers exceeds the net cost of accepting those cards,
taking into account the cost savings to the corporations resulting
from credit card and debit card acceptance.