Wisconsin Administrative Code
Public Service Commission
Chapter PSC 172 - Police and fire protection fee on communications connections
Section PSC 172.05 - Assessment of fee
Universal Citation: WI Admin Code ยง PSC 172.05
Current through February 26, 2024
(1) SUBSCRIPTION COMMUNICATIONS PLAN.
(a)
Application of fee. A
communications provider shall apply a fee of $0.75 per month on each
communications service connection established under a subscription
telecommunications plan. The communications provider shall remit the fee to the
department using the procedure specified in s.
PSC
172.06.
(b)
Partial month of
service. If a communications provider charges a subscriber for less
than a full month of subscription communications plan service, the
communications provider shall assess the fee in the same way that it assesses
the countywide 911 charges under s.
256.35(3),
Stats. A provider that does not assess the 911 fees may assess a full fee if
its billing system does not permit the fee to be prorated.
(c)
Multi-line service.
1. If a communications provider furnishes
multiple communications service connections to a single subscriber account, the
communications provider shall impose a fee according to the following schedule:
a. For subscribers with 10 or fewer
communications service connections, $0.75 per connection, per month.
b. For subscribers with more than 10
communications service connections, $7.50 for the first 10 connections plus
$0.075 per service connection in excess of 10, per month.
2.
a. If a
subscriber receives service from more than one communications provider, the
communications providers serving the subscriber may not add together the
communication service connections to determine the fee imposed on the
subscriber. Each communications provider shall determine the fee to be imposed
on a subscriber based upon the communication service connections the provider
itself provides.
b. A
communications provider may not add together the communications service
connections from multiple accounts to determine the fee imposed. Only service
connections within an account may be added together.
c. Notwithstanding subd. 2. b., a
communications provider's billing practices may not have the effect of making
it unlikely or impossible for a subscriber with multiple communications service
connections billed under a single account to qualify for the reduced fee under
subd. 1. b.
(d)
Partial payments. If a
subscriber remits to the communications provider an amount less than the full
amount billed to the subscriber in a given month, the communications provider
shall first apply the partial payment to any amount the subscriber owes to the
communications provider for the communications service provided.
(e)
Billing identification and
information.
1. On its bill, a
communications provider shall identify the fee in one of the following ways:
a. List the fee separately from other charges
on a subscriber's bill and identify the fee as "police and fire protection
fee."
b. Combine the fee with a
charge imposed under s.
256.35(3),
Stats., and identify the combined fee and charge as "charge for funding
countywide 911 systems plus police and fire protection fee."
c. Combine the fee with basic rates and
either do not identify the fee separately, or state that the basic rate
includes the "police and fire protection fee."
2. On the first bill on which the fee
appears, a communications provider offering a subscription communications plan
shall inform its subscribers by bill message of all of the following:
a. The addition of the fee to the monthly
bill.
b. The purpose the fee is
intended to serve.
(2) PREPAID WIRELESS COMMUNICATION PLAN.
(a)
Application of fee. Any
retailer or communications provider that sells a Wisconsin communications
service connection established under a prepaid wireless communications plan
shall impose a $0.38 fee on each prepaid wireless retail transaction. The fee
does not apply to the sale of related wireless handset equipment and
accessories.
(b)
Determining Wisconsin connection. A communications provider or
retailer shall determine if a communications service connection that it sells
is a Wisconsin communications service connection as follows:
1. If a customer receives the purchased item
at a seller's business location, the sale is sourced to that business
location.
2. If a customer does not
receive the purchased item at a seller's business location, the sale is sourced
to the location where the customer, or the customer's designated recipient,
receives the product, including the location indicated by the instructions
known to the seller for delivery to the customer or the customer's designated
recipient.
3. If the location of a
sale of a purchased item cannot be determined under subd. 1. or 2., the sale is
sourced to the customer's address as indicated by the seller's business
records, if the records are maintained in the ordinary course of the seller's
business and if the seller's use of that address to establish the location of a
sale is not in bad faith.
4. If
the location of a sale of a purchased item cannot be determined under subds. 1.
to 3., the sale is sourced to the customer's address as obtained during the
consummation of the sale, including the address indicated on the customer's
payment instrument, if no other address is available and if the seller's use of
that address is not in bad faith.
5. If a customer buys a prepaid wireless
communications plan and the location of the sale cannot be determined under
subds. 1. to 4., the sale is sourced to the location associated with the
telephone number associated with the plan, as determined by the seller.
(c)
Remission
of fee.
1. If a prepaid wireless
retail transaction is completed by a retailer, that retailer shall impose the
fee and remit it using the procedure specified in s.
PSC
172.06.
2.
If a prepaid wireless retail transaction is completed by a communications
provider, that provider shall impose the fee and remit it using the procedure
specified in s.
PSC
172.06.
(d)
Invoice or sales receipt
identification. A communications provider or retailer may state the
amount of the fee separately on a bill, invoice, sales receipt, or other
document associated with the prepaid wireless retail transaction. If a retailer
or communications provider lists the fee separately, it shall identify the fee
as "police and fire protection fee."
(e) When a communications provider or
retailer does not state the amount of the fee separately on a bill, invoice,
sales receipt or other document associated with the prepaid wireless retail
transaction, the communications provider or retailer shall ensure that the
customer is aware that the fee is included in the total sales price of the
prepaid wireless retail transaction and that the sales price is the amount
received exclusive of the fee.
For example, a 50 minute card for a prepaid wireless account is sold in a vending machine for $20.00. A sign is conspicuously posted on the vending machine that the "Price Includes the Police and Fire Protection Fee." The sales price of the card is $19.62, the amount paid by the customer less the fee ($20.00 - $0.38 = $19.62).
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