(4) Customer rights. At the initiation of
service, a CTU must provide to a customer information regarding customer rights
in writing and free of charge.
(A) The
informational disclosures relating to customer protections required by
subparagraph (C) of this paragraph must be:
(i) sent to the new customer before payment
for a full bill is due;
(ii)
clearly labeled to indicate the customer protection disclosures contain
information regarding customer rights;
(iii) provided in a readable format and
written in plain, non-technical language; and
(iv) provided in the same language in which
the CTU markets the service.
(B) The CTU must also provide:
(i) the information in subparagraph (C) of
this paragraph to each customer at least every other year at no charge;
or
(ii) a printed statement on the
bill or a billing insert identifying where the information in subparagraph (C)
of this paragraph can be obtained. The statement must be provided to each
customer every six months.
(C) The following informational disclosures
relating to customer protections must be provided by the CTU:
(i) the CTU's customer credit requirements
and the circumstances under which a customer deposit or an additional deposit
may be required, the manner in which a deposit and interest paid on deposits
are calculated, the time frame and requirements for return of the deposit to
the customer, and any other terms and conditions related to deposits;
(ii) the time period for payment of
outstanding bills without incurring a penalty and the amount and conditions
under which a penalty may be applied to delinquent bills;
(iii) the grounds for suspension or
disconnection of service;
(iv) the
requirements a CTU must meet to suspend or disconnect service;
(v) the requirements a CTU must meet for
resolving billing disputes and how disputes affect suspension or disconnection
of service;
(vi) information on
alternative payment plans offered by the CTU, including payment arrangements
and deferred payment plans. A CTU must provide to each customer a statement
that the customer has the right to request these alternative payment
plans;
(vii) the requirements to
have the customer's service restored or reconnected after involuntary
suspension or disconnection;
(viii)
a customer's right to continue local service as long as full payment for local
service is timely made;
(ix)
information regarding protections against unauthorized billing charges
("cramming") and selection of telecommunications utilities ("slamming") as
required by §
26.32 of this title (relating to
Protection Against Unauthorized Billing Charges ("Cramming")) and §
26.130 of this title (relating to
Selection of Telecommunications Utilities), respectively;
(x) the customer's right to file a complaint
with the CTU, the procedures for a supervisory review, and the customer's right
to file a complaint with the commission regarding any matter concerning the
CTU's service. The commission's contact information: PUCT, Consumer Protection
Division, P.O. Box 13326, Austin, Texas 78711-3326, (512) 936-7120 or in Texas
(toll-free) 1-888-782-8477, e-mail address: consumer@puc.texas.gov, Internet
address:
www.puc.texas.gov, and Relay
Texas (toll-free) 1-800-735-2989, must accompany this information;
(xi) the hours, addresses, and telephone
numbers of each CTU office where bills may be paid and customer service
information may be obtained, or a toll-free number at which the customer may
obtain such information;
(xii) a
toll-free telephone number or equivalent, such as the use of wide area
telephone service or acceptance of collect calls, that a customer may call to
report service problems or make billing inquiries;
(xiii) a statement that each CTU service is
provided without discrimination as to a customer's race, color, sex,
nationality, religion, marital status, income level, source of income, or from
unreasonable discrimination on the basis of geographic location;
(xiv) a summary of the company's policy
regarding the provision of credit history based upon the credit history of a
customer's former spouse;
(xv)
notice of any special services such as readers or notices in Braille, if
available, the phone number for Relay Texas: 1-800-735-2989, and any
teletypewriter or text telephone service offered by the CTU;
(xvi) how a customer with a physical
disability, and those who care for them, can identify themselves to the CTU so
that special action can be taken to appropriately inform these persons of their
rights; and
(xvii) if a CTU is
offering Lifeline Service in accordance with §26.412 (relating to Lifeline
Service Program), how information about customers who qualify for Lifeline
Service may be shared between each relevant state agency and the customer's
phone service provider.