COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2924
(By Delegates Capito, Rowe, Hutchins,
Mahan, Smirl and Webb)
(Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary)
[March 3, 1999]
A BILL to amend chapter twenty-four of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article two-e, relating to
limitations on subscribers purchases of phone utility
services; regulating transfers of phone service; establishing
disclosure requirements for telephone corporations for
transfer of phone services; providing for third party
conformation of transfers; establishing criteria for third
party verification companies and conformation procedures for
service transfers; prohibiting disclosure of subscriber
information for marketing purposes; creating civil remedy for
prohibited release; excepting certain transactions from this
section; specific content of mailed notice; providing notice
and verification requirements for service transfers;
establishing criteria for cancellation and refund of fees;
requiring notice on billings; providing liability to prior
phone service provider and subscribers for unauthorized fees charged; providing that this section does not limit any other
remedies; providing conformity with federal requirements; and
providing that public service commission has rulemaking and
enforcement authority.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter twenty-four of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding
a new article thereto, designated article two-e, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 2E. REQUIREMENTS FOR LONG DISTANCE PHONE SERVICE SALES.
§24-2E-1. Transfer of long distance service providers.
(a) No telephone corporation, or any person, firm, or
corporation representing a telephone corporation, may make any
change or authorize a different telephone corporation to make any
change in the provider of any telephone service generated by
telemarketing, until all of the following steps have been
completed:
(1) The telephone corporation, its representatives or agents
shall thoroughly inform the subscriber of the nature and extent of
the service being offered.
(2) The telephone corporation, its representatives or agents
shall specifically establish whether the subscriber intends to make
any change in his or her telephone service provider, and explain
any charges associated with that change.
(3) The subscriber's decision to change his or her telephone
service provider shall be confirmed by an independent third-party
verification company. For purposes of this provision, the
confirmation by a third-party verification
company shall be made as follows:
(A) The third-party verification company shall meet each of
the following criteria:
(i) Be independent from the telephone corporation that seeks
to provide the subscriber's new service.
(ii) Not be directly or indirectly managed, controlled, or
directed, or owned wholly or in part, by the telephone corporation
that seeks to provide the new service or by any corporation, firm,
or person who directly or indirectly manages, controls, or directs,
or owns more than five percent of the telephone corporation.
(iii) Operate from facilities physically separate from those of
the telephone corporation that seeks to provide the subscriber's
new service.
(iv) Not derive commissions or compensation based upon the
number of sales confirmed.
(B) The telephone corporation seeking to verify the sale shall
do so by connecting the subscriber by telephone to the third-party
verification company or by arranging for the third-party
verification company to call the subscriber to confirm the sale. (C) The third-party verification company shall obtain the subscriber's oral confirmation regarding the change, and shall
record that confirmation by obtaining appropriate verification
data. The record shall be available to the subscriber upon
request. Information obtained from the subscriber through
confirmation shall not be used for marketing purposes. Any
unauthorized release of this information is grounds for a civil
suit by the aggrieved subscriber against the telephone corporation
or its employees who are responsible for the violation. In
addition, the telephone corporation shall also authenticate the
transaction by one of the following methods:
(i) Verifying the subscriber's change in his or her telephone
service provider by obtaining the subscriber's signature on a
document fully explaining the nature and extent of the action. The
document shall be a separate document whose sole purpose is to
explain the nature and extent of the action; or
(ii) Obtaining the subscriber's authorization through an
electronic means that takes the information, including the calling
number, and confirms the change to which the subscriber has given
his or her consent.
(4) Where the telephone corporation obtains a written order
for service, the document shall thoroughly inform the subscriber of
the nature and extent of the action. The subscriber shall be
furnished with a copy of the signed document. The subscriber by
his or her signature on the document shall indicate a full understanding of the relationship being established with the
telephone corporation. When a written subscriber solicitation or
other document contains a letter of agency authorizing a change in
service provider, in combination with other information including,
but not limited to, inducements to subscribers to purchase service,
the solicitation shall include a separate document whose sole
purpose is to explain the nature and extent of the action. If any
part of a mailing to a prospective subscriber is in language other
than English, any written authorization contained in the mailing
shall be sent to the same prospective subscriber in the same
language.
(5) The telephone corporation shall retain a record of the
verification of the sale for at least one year. These records
shall be made available to the subscriber, the Attorney General, or
the commission upon request.
(b) When a subscriber changes telephone service providers, the
change shall be conspicuously noticed on the subscriber's bill.
Notice in the following form is deemed to comply with this
subdivision:
"NOTICE: Your local (or long distance) telephone service
provider has been changed from (name of prior provider) to (name of
current provider).
Cost of change: $ ____."
(c) Any telephone corporation that violates the verification procedures described in this section shall be liable to the
telephone corporation previously selected by the subscriber in an
amount equal to all charges paid by the subscriber after the
violation.
(d) In addition to the liability described in subdivision (e),
any telephone corporation that violates the verification procedures
described in this section shall credit to a subscriber any charges
paid by the subscriber in excess of the amount that the subscriber
would have been obligated to pay had the subscriber's telephone
service not been changed. The public service commission may adopt
regulations to govern credits to subscribers pursuant to subsection
(f).
(e) The remedies provided by this section are in addition to
any other remedies available by law. Violations of this section
shall be subject to orders and other actions consistent with the
public service commission's authority as provided in this chapter.
This section is intended to supplement and be in addition to
federal laws and regulations regulating phone transactions.
(f) The public service commission may promulgate rules
consistent with section one, article one of this chapter and
subsection (e) as necessary to effectuate the purposes of this
section.