Bill Text: NY S00723 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Limits certain charging practices by companies that provide prepaid telephone calling cards and increases fines for violations of limitation requirements.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS [S00723 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S00723-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           723

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                     January 6, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen. SERRANO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on  Energy  and  Telecommuni-
          cations

        AN ACT to amend the public service  law, in relation to limiting certain
          charging practices by companies that provide prepaid telephone calling
          cards and increasing fines for violations of limitation requirements

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

     1    Section 1. Section 92-f of the public service law is amended by adding
     2  a new subdivision 4-a to read as follows:
     3    4-a. No company that provides prepaid calling services through prepaid
     4  calling cards shall:
     5    a. calculate usage charges by rounding up beyond the next  minute  for
     6  telephone phone calls;
     7    b.  charge  minutes  for  unconnected telephone phone calls, including
     8  calls that are dropped or to which there is no answer or a busy signal;
     9    c. publicize or  display  advertisements  stating  that  there  is  no
    10  connection  fee  associated  with  a  plan or calling card if there is a
    11  disconnection fee associated with the plan or calling card.
    12    § 2.  Subdivision 8 of section 92-f of  the  public  service  law,  as
    13  added by chapter 651 of the laws of 1999, is amended to read as follows:
    14    8.  Enforcement.  The commission shall have the power, consistent with
    15  federal law, to assess a penalty  not  to  exceed  [one]  five  thousand
    16  dollars  against  any  company  that  provides  prepaid calling cards or
    17  services that knowingly fails or neglects to comply with  any  provision
    18  of  this section or any regulation or order of the commission implement-
    19  ing or enforcing the provisions of this section for  a  first  violation
    20  and  ten  thousand  dollars  for  a  second or subsequent violation. All
    21  moneys recovered from any administrative penalty shall be paid into  the
    22  state treasury to the credit of the general fund.
    23    §  3.    This  act  shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day
    24  after it shall have become a law.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02784-01-3