Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a) The
company may discontinue or refuse service for any of the following reasons:
1) For failure to make or increase a deposit
pursuant to Sections
735.100,
735.110, and
735.120;
2) For failure to pay a past due bill owed to the
company, including one for the same class of service furnished to the applicant or
customer at the same or another location, or where the applicant or customer
voluntarily assumed, in writing, responsibility for the bills of another applicant
or customer. For purposes of this subsection (a)(2), a company may discontinue
service if the current customer is liable for a past due bill for telephone service
pursuant to Section 15 of the Rights of Married Persons Act [750 ILCS
65/15] , unless the customer, at the option of the company,
pays any past due bill and/or provides a deposit pursuant to Section
735.120 and/or enters into a
deferred payment agreement pursuant to Section
735.80;
3) For failure to provide company representatives
with necessary access to company-owned service equipment, after the company has made
a written request to do so;
4) For
failure to make payment in accordance with the terms of a deferred payment
arrangement;
5) When a company has
reason to believe that a customer has used a device or scheme to obtain service
without payment and where the company has so notified the customer prior to
disconnection;
6) For violation of or
noncompliance with a Commission order;
7) For violation of or noncompliance with any
rules of the company on file with the Commission for which the company is authorized
by tariff to discontinue service for violation or noncompliance on the part of the
customer or user;
8) For violation of or
noncompliance with municipal ordinances and/or other laws pertaining to service;
or
9) The customer's use of equipment
adversely affects the company's service to others. This disconnection may be done
without notice to the customer or user.
b) The following shall not constitute sufficient
cause for discontinuance or refusal of service:
1)
Except as specified in subsection (a)(2), failure to pay the past due bill of a
previous customer of the premises to be served, unless the applicant for service
voluntarily signed a form agreeing to assume responsibility for the bills of the
previous customer, or the previous customer is currently a member of the same
household as the applicant;
2) Failure
to pay charges for directory advertising;
3) Failure to pay the past due bill for a
different class of service (residential or business); or
4) Failure to pay charges for terminal equipment
or other telephone equipment purchased from the company, an affiliate, or a
subsidiary.
c) Discontinuance
procedures. The company may discontinue service to a customer only after it has
mailed or delivered by other means a written notice of discontinuance, substantially
in the form of Appendix A. Service shall not be discontinued until at least five
days after the notice is delivered in person or eight days after the notice is
mailed to the customer. If the notice is mailed, the company shall maintain and
retain, for a two-year period, any documentation of the date of mailing that the US
Postal Service requires for the mailing method used by the company. If the notice is
mailed by the company and the envelope is postmarked by the US Postal Service, then
the date of the postmark shall satisfy this documentation requirement.
1) The notice of discontinuance shall be delivered
separately from any other written matter or bill.
2) Notice of discontinuance shall not be delivered
or mailed before the third business day following the due date shown on the
bill.
d) The notice required
by subsection (c) shall remain in effect for 20 days beyond the date of
discontinuance shown on the notice. The company shall not discontinue service beyond
the 20 day period until at least five days after delivery of a new written notice of
discontinuance or eight days after the postmark on a mailed notice.
e) In addition to the written notice, the company
shall attempt to advise the customer when service is scheduled for discontinuance.
The company shall not deliver more than two consecutive notices of discontinuance
for past due bill without engaging in collection activity with the
customer.
f) Timing of the
discontinuance
1) Service shall not be
discontinued for a past due bill after 12 noon on a day before or on any Saturday,
Sunday, legal holiday recognized by the State of Illinois, or any day when the
utility's business offices are not open for business. Services may be discontinued
only between the hours of 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., unless the company is prepared to
restore service within three hours after receipt of payment, at the standard
restoral charge, if any.
2) Each company
shall have personnel available until at least 5 p.m. on business days authorized to
reconnect service if the conditions cited as grounds for discontinuance are
corrected and any restoral charge specified by the company's tariff is
paid.
g) Service shall not be
discontinued, and shall be restored if discontinued, when a present customer who is
indebted to the company enters into a payment arrangement pursuant to Section
735.80 and
complies with the terms of the arrangement.
h) Service shall not be discontinued, and shall be
restored if discontinued, for any reason that is the subject of a dispute or
complaint pursuant to Section
735.190 and/or
735.200 while the dispute
or complaint is pending and the complainant has complied with the provisions of
those Sections.
i) Service shall not be
discontinued for an amount due the company that has not been included in a
discontinuance notice.
j) Nothing in
this Section shall be construed to prevent immediate discontinuance of service
without notice or the refusal of service for reasons of public safety or
health.
