BILL NUMBER: SB 1068 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 8, 2006
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 30, 2005
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 27, 2005
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 30, 2005
INTRODUCED BY Senators Escutia and Bowen
(Coauthors: Senators Alarcon, Alquist, Ashburn, Dunn, Figueroa,
Kuehl, and Speier)
FEBRUARY 22, 2005
An act to add Article 11 (commencing with Section 905) to Chapter
4 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to
telecommunications.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1068, as amended, Escutia Telecommunications:
consumer customer protection.
(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities
Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including
telephone corporations. Pursuant to existing law, the commission
adopted a general order applicable to all commission-regulated
telecommunications utilities known as the telecommunications
consumers' Bill of Rights.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to
establish telecommunications consumer protections for landline
telecommunications and mobile telephony services, consistent with
those originally adopted by the commission in the telecommunications
consumers' Bill of Rights. The bill would require that the
commission, by July 1, 2006, develop and enforce consumer protection
rules for telecommunications service, including mobile telephony
services, as defined, that achieve certain policies and meet
specified requirements. The bill would provide that if the commission
fails to adopt rules that include specified requirements by July 1,
2006, the bill's requirements would become effective as of that date
and the commission would thereafter be prohibited from adopting rules
pursuant to the provisions requiring the adoption of rules
require a telephone service provider, for nontariffed services
and before the completion of a transaction with a customer for
telecommunications services, to clearly and conspicuously disclose
the key rates, terms, and conditions of the contract or agreement
orally and in a single written document, except as otherwise
provided. The bill would require a telephone service provider to
provide a customer with written confirmation containing the key
rates, terms, and conditions of service of every order and a copy of
each contract or agreement between the telephone service provider and
the customer upon the completion of the transaction, or within 10
days thereafter if the transaction occurs by a means by
which the written contract or agreement cannot be immediately
provided to the customer. The bill would require a
telephone service provider that negotiates primarily in specified
languages in the course of entering into a contract or agreement to
provide telecommunications services to provide to the customer a
translation of certain documents in the language in which the
contract or agreement was negotiated. The bill would require a
telephone service provider, on customer bills, to separately group
taxes, fees, and other charges that the telephone service provider is
required to collect directly from customers and remit to federal,
state, or local public agencies, or to certain third parties, for the
administration of government programs, apart from monthly service
charges and other discretionary charges, except as specified .
Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or an
order or direction of the commission is a crime.
Certain
The provisions of this bill would be part of the act
and an order or other action of the commission would be
required to implement certain of the provisions . Because a
violation of the bill's provisions or of an implementing
order or decision of the commission would be a crime, this
bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating new
crimes.
(2) The California Constitution requires the
state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain
costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish
procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 11 (commencing with Section
905) is added to Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the
Public Utilities Code , to read:
Article 11. Honesty in Telecommunications Sales Act of
2006
905. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that a disclosure,
contract, or agreement described in this article should be made in
the language used to negotiate the contract or agreement and that
Section 1632 of the Civil Code is a reasonable model for non-English
disclosures described in this article.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure truth and full
disclosure in the sales of telecommunications products and services,
including mobile telephony service, by requiring that customers
receive sufficient information to make an informed decision.
(c) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Customer" means any customer that subscribes for not more
than 20 telephone access lines from any single telephone service
provider. Any customer subscribing to more than one T-1 line is not a
customer for purposes of this section.
(2) "Telephone service provider" means a telephone corporation, a
reseller of the telephone corporation, and contracted agents of the
telephone corporation.
(d) For nontariffed services, before the completion of a
transaction with a customer for telecommunications services, a
telephone service provider shall clearly and conspicuously disclose
the key rates, terms, and conditions of the contract or agreement
orally and in a single written document, except that no oral
disclosure is required if the contract or agreement is negotiated
only by means of written or electronic communication.
(e) A telephone service provider shall provide a customer with
written confirmation containing the key rates, terms, and conditions
of service of every order and a copy of each contract or agreement
between the telephone service provider and the customer upon the
completion of the transaction, or within 10 days thereafter if the
transaction occurs by a means by which the written contract or
agreement cannot be immediately provided to the customer.
(f) A telephone service provider that negotiates primarily in
Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean, orally or in
writing, in the course of entering into a contract or agreement to
provide telecommunications services, shall provide to the customer a
translation of the documents required in subdivisions (d) and (e) in
the language in which the contract or agreement was negotiated.
(g) (1) A telephone service provider, on customer bills, shall
separately group taxes, fees, and other charges that the telephone
service provider is required to collect directly from customers and
remit to federal, state, or local public agencies, or to third
parties authorized by those agencies, for the administration of
government programs, apart from monthly charges for service and all
other discretionary charges. The separate section shall be entitled,
"Government Fees and Taxes."
(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply if those taxes, fees, and other
charges are bundled in a single rate with the monthly service and
discretionary charges.
(3) Paragraph (1) does not prevent those charges identified in the
Government Fees and Taxes section from being subdivided to the
extent required by law.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution. All matter omitted in this version of
the bill appears in the bill as amended in Assembly, June 30, 2005
(JR11)