Bill Text: NY S05812 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires certain companies to operate and maintain call centers; prevents closure without notice and a hearing before the public service commission.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - REFERRED TO ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS [S05812 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-S05812-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5812 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN SENATE May 2, 2017 ___________ Introduced by Sen. BOYLE -- 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 and the general business law, in relation to call centers The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 65 of the public service law is amended by adding a 2 new subdivision 16 to read as follows: 3 16. (a) Every telecommunication service provider and its subsidiaries 4 furnishing traditional landline telephone service, fiber optic service, 5 voice over internet protocol (VoIP), data circuits, cable or internet 6 services shall provide call center service assistance including, but not 7 limited to operator services, directory assistance bureaus and call 8 completion services for the following: (1) explaining company rates, 9 regulations, policies, procedures, equipment, customer service options 10 and common practices; (2) determining customer financial responsibility, 11 required deposits, billing rates, or handling payment and other credit 12 arrangements such as obtaining deposits, financial statements and 13 payment plans; (3) taking requests for new or additional services, 14 including, but not limited to, emergency service, completing assistance 15 with dialing, using calling cards, connecting collect calls, busy line 16 verification or relay centers for the hearing impaired, providing 17 requested local and national telephone numbers, reverse number searches 18 and taking requests for and completing the publishing and non-publishing 19 of a telephone number, and providing assistance to payphone customers; 20 and (4) preparing installation and repair service orders and obtaining 21 access to subscriber's premises. 22 (b) No telecommunication service provider nor its subsidiaries shall 23 close a call center or other facility providing the customer assistance 24 set forth in paragraph (a) of this subdivision or relocate such customer EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD05486-01-7S. 5812 2 1 assistance to another area of New York state or outside of New York 2 state without notice and public hearing before the commission. Upon 3 receipt of the notice required pursuant to this paragraph, the commis- 4 sion shall provide notice of the proceeding to interested parties and 5 the public; and shall promptly fix a date for the commencement of a 6 public hearing thereon not less than sixty days after such receipt. The 7 testimony presented at such hearing may be presented in writing or oral- 8 ly, provided that the commission may make rules designed to exclude 9 repetitive, redundant or irrelevant testimony while giving all inter- 10 ested parties the opportunity to present their documentary and/or testi- 11 monial evidence. The commission shall make a record of all testimony in 12 all contested hearings. For purposes of this section "public hearing" 13 means a public forum at a physical location, attended by commission 14 members or their designees, where oral testimony is accepted and written 15 testimony may be submitted for inclusion in the record. Such forum shall 16 be open to parties to the proceeding and the general public for the 17 presentation of comments that shall be limited to relevant facts direct- 18 ly related to the proceeding in question. Such hearing shall be 19 commenced upon proper notice to the parties to the proceeding and the 20 public at least thirty days prior to the scheduled date. Should the 21 commission rule in favor of closing a call center or other facility 22 providing the customer assistance set forth in paragraph (a) of this 23 subdivision or relocating such customer assistance to another area of 24 New York state then the telecommunication service provider or its 25 subsidiaries shall provide notification one hundred eighty calendar days 26 in advance of closing or relocation. 27 (c) This subdivision shall not apply to the collection of debt where 28 by company policy such debt is directed to a collection agency or simi- 29 lar service companies. 30 § 2. The general business law is amended by adding a new section 399- 31 yyy to read as follows: 32 § 399-yyy. Cable service provider. 1. Every cable service provider and 33 its subsidiaries furnishing traditional landline telephone service, 34 fiber optic service, voice over internet protocol (VoIP), data circuits, 35 cable or internet services shall provide call center service assistance 36 including, but not limited to operator services, director assistance 37 bureaus and call completion services for the following: (a) explaining 38 company rates, regulations, policies, procedures, equipment, customer 39 service options and common practices; (b) determining customer financial 40 responsibility, required deposits, billing rates, or handling payment 41 and other credit arrangements such as obtaining deposits, financial 42 statements and payment plans; (c) taking requests for new or additional 43 services, including, but not limited to, emergency service, completing 44 assistance with dialing, using calling cards, connecting collect calls, 45 busy line verification or relay centers for the hearing impaired, 46 providing requested local and national telephone numbers, reverse number 47 searches and taking requests for and completing the publishing and non- 48 publishing of a telephone number, and providing assistance to pay phone 49 customers; and (d) preparing installation and repair service orders and 50 obtaining access to subscriber's premises. 51 2. No cable service provider nor its subsidiaries shall close a call 52 center or other facility providing the customer assistance set forth in 53 subdivision one of this section or relocate such customer assistance to 54 another area of New York state or outside of New York state without 55 notice and public hearing before the commission. Upon receipt of the 56 notice required pursuant to this subdivision, the commission shallS. 5812 3 1 provide notice of the proceeding to interested parties and the public; 2 and shall promptly fix a date for the commencement of a public hearing 3 thereon not less than sixty days after such receipt. The testimony 4 presented at such hearing may be presented in writing or orally, 5 provided that the commission may make rules designed to exclude repeti- 6 tive, redundant or irrelevant testimony while giving all interested 7 parties the opportunity to present their documentary and/or testimonial 8 evidence. The commission shall make a record of all testimony in all 9 contested hearings. For purposes of this section "public hearing" means 10 a public forum at a physical location, attended by commission members or 11 their designees, where oral testimony is accepted and written testimony 12 may be submitted for inclusion in the record. Such forum shall be open 13 to parties to the proceeding and the general public for the presentation 14 of comments that shall be limited to relevant facts directly related to 15 the proceeding in question. Such hearing shall be commenced upon proper 16 notice to the parties to the proceeding and the public at least thirty 17 days prior to the scheduled date. Should the commission rule in favor 18 of closing a call center or other facility providing the customer 19 assistance set forth in subdivision one of this section or relocating 20 such customer assistance to another area of New York state then the 21 cable service provider or its subsidiaries shall provide notification 22 one hundred eighty calendar days in advance of closing or relocation. 23 3. This section shall not apply to the collection of debt where by 24 company policy such debt is directed to a collection agency or similar 25 service companies. 26 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
