Bill Text: NY A10666 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Enacts the "internet service outage consumer protection act"; requires every internet service provider operating in this state to issue a prorated bill credit to consumers for any internet service outage lasting more than one hour.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-07-22 - referred to corporations, authorities and commissions [A10666 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A10666-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10666

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      July 22, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  COMMITTEE  ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Santabar-
          bara) -- read once and referred  to  the  Committee  on  Corporations,
          Authorities and Commissions

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  public service law, in relation to enacting the
          "internet service outage consumer protection act"

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Short  title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
     2  the "internet service outage consumer protection act".
     3    § 2. The public service law is amended by adding a new  section  224-d
     4  to read as follows:
     5    §  224-d.  Prorated  bill credits for internet service outages. 1. For
     6  the purposes of this section:
     7    (a) "internet service provider" means any person, business  or  organ-
     8  ization  qualified  to  do business in this state that provides individ-
     9  uals, corporations, or other entities with the ability to connect to the
    10  internet;
    11    (b) "outage" means any period of time during which a consumer's inter-
    12  net service is unavailable, excluding scheduled maintenance  periods  of
    13  which  the  consumer  has  been  notified  at least twenty-four hours in
    14  advance; and
    15    (c) "consumer" means any person  or  entity  that  purchases  internet
    16  service for personal or business use.
    17    2. Every internet service provider operating in this state shall issue
    18  a  prorated  bill  credit  to  consumers for any internet service outage
    19  lasting more than one hour. Such credit shall be calculated based on the
    20  consumer's monthly service  rate,  prorated  for  the  duration  of  the
    21  outage.    Such  credit shall be automatically applied to the consumer's
    22  next bill cycle without requiring any action or request from the consum-
    23  er.  Internet service providers shall notify consumers of the outage and
    24  the applied credit  within  twenty-four  hours  of  the  restoration  of
    25  service.
    26    3.  Internet  service  providers shall maintain records of all outages
    27  and corresponding bill credits issued for  a  minimum  period  of  three

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD15906-01-4
        A. 10666                            2

     1  years.    Such  records  shall  be made available to the commission upon
     2  request for the purpose of ensuring compliance with this section.
     3    4. Any internet service provider that fails to issue the required bill
     4  credits  in  accordance with this section shall be subject to penalties,
     5  including but not limited to fines, as determined by the commission.
     6    § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
     7  have become a law.