[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2120 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2120

 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to strengthen and expand the 
procedures for preventing the slamming of interstate telephone service 
                  subscribers, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 9, 1997

 Mr. DeFazio (for himself, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Franks of New Jersey, Mr. 
  Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. Shays, Mr. Blumenauer, and Mr. Smith of 
   Oregon) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to strengthen and expand the 
procedures for preventing the slamming of interstate telephone service 
                  subscribers, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Telephone Consumer Slamming 
Prevention Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. LONG DISTANCE SLAMMING PROHIBITION.

    Section 258 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 258) is 
amended--
            (1) in the first sentence of subsection (a), by inserting 
        ``the requirements of this section and'' after ``in accordance 
        with''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsections:
    ``(c) Verification Procedures Required With Respect to Subscriber 
Selections of Interstate Carrier.--
            ``(1) Written carrier selections required.--No 
        telecommunications carrier shall submit or execute a change in 
        a subscriber's selection of a provider of interstate telephone 
        service unless the carrier to which the subscriber will be 
        changed (or such carrier's agent) has obtained from the 
        subscriber a written change authorization that--
                    ``(A) clearly and simply describes the nature of 
                the subscription change;
                    ``(B) is signed and dated by the subscriber;
                    ``(C) is solicited in accordance with the 
                requirements of paragraph (2); and
                    ``(D) is in a form (including typeface and language 
                used) that is prescribed or approved by the Commission.
            ``(2) Solicitation procedures.--A written change 
        authorization shall--
                    ``(A) not (i) be a part of, or attached to, any 
                other document, (ii) be included together with any 
                billing for telephone service, (iii) contain any 
                promotional offer or inducement; or (iv) represent that 
                endorsement entitles the subscriber to any benefit 
                other than the change in carrier selection; and
                    ``(B) be provided to the subscriber in duplicate, 
                and permit the subscriber to retain the duplicate.
    ``(d) Liability to Subscribers for Unauthorized Changes of 
Interstate Telephone Service.--Any telecommunications carrier that 
violates the requirements of subsection (c) shall be liable to the 
subscriber in an amount equal to the sum of the following charges:
            ``(1) Switching fees.--Any fees imposed for changing the 
        subscriber's service to or from the unauthorized carrier.
            ``(2) Long distance charges.--Any charges for interstate 
        telephone service used by the subscriber during the period that 
        begins upon the occurrence of the unauthorized change in 
        service that constituted the violation and ends upon the 
        earlier of (A) the date that the service of the subscriber is 
        changed from the unauthorized carrier pursuant to a valid 
change authorization under subsection (c), or (B) the expiration of the 
6-month period beginning on the date of the unauthorized change in 
service.
    ``(e) Administration of Slamming Complaint System.--
            ``(1) State option to administer.--
                    ``(A) In general.--If a State has made a 
                certification under subparagraph (B) to the Commission 
                (and has not thereafter terminated the effectiveness of 
                such certification), the State commission for such 
                State shall administer a slamming complaint system for 
                subscribers of interstate telephone service in such 
                State that meets the requirements pursuant to 
                subsection (f).
                    ``(B) Certification requirements.--A certification 
                under this subparagraph for a State is a certification 
                by the State commission for the State , submitted to 
                the Commission in the form and manner prescribed by the 
                Commission, that the State commission has established 
                and will maintain a slamming complaint system for the 
                State that meets the requirements pursuant to 
                subsection (f). A certification shall be effective for 
                purposes of this subsection upon submission to the 
                Commission, notwithstanding any review or approval by 
                the Commission. The Commission may prescribe the form 
                and manner for States to terminate the effectiveness of 
                such certifications.
            ``(2) Administration by commission.--The Commission shall, 
        for each State not described in paragraph (1)(A), maintain and 
        administer a slamming complaint system for subscribers of 
        interstate telephone service in such State that meets the 
        requirements pursuant to subsection (f).
    ``(f) Slamming Complaint System Requirements.--A slamming complaint 
system for a State meets the requirements pursuant to this subsection 
if the system--
            ``(1) makes available a procedure for any subscriber of 
        interstate telephone service in such State to register a 
        complaint that the subscriber's selection of a provider of such 
        service has been changed without the written authorization of 
        the subscriber required under subsection (c), and maintains a 
        record of such complaint;
            ``(2) with respect to each such complaint, provides for the 
        determination (in such manner as the Commission shall provide) 
        of whether a violation of the requirement under subsection (c) 
        occurred and of liability under subsection (d);
            ``(3) maintains a record of each determination of a 
        violation of the requirement under subsection (c) involving a 
        subscriber of interstate telephone service in the State, 
        including the telecommunications carrier to which interstate 
        telephone service was illegally changed;
            ``(4) on a monthly basis--
                    ``(A) determines, for each telecommunications 
                carrier providing interstate telephone service within 
                the State, the number of such violations determined to 
                have occurred involving the illegal change of service 
                to such carrier; and
                    ``(B) in the case only of a system administered by 
                a State commission pursuant to subsection (e)(1), 
                provides the information under subparagraph (A) to the 
                Commission; and
            ``(5) complies with any regulations as the Commission may 
        prescribe to carry out this subsection.
    ``(g) Notice to Subscribers of Availability of Slamming Complaint 
System.--The Commission shall require each telecommunications carrier 
providing interstate telephone service (or the billing agent for such 
carrier) to include, in each subscriber's phone bill for such service, 
a statement--
            ``(1) informing the subscriber that a complaint regarding 
        an unauthorized change in the subscriber's selection of a 
        provider of such service may be registered under the applicable 
        slamming complaint system for the State of the subscriber;
            ``(2) providing a phone number for contacting such slamming 
        complaint system; and
            ``(3) providing the location of the carrier's principal 
        office (including the street address, city, State or province 
        (or other region), country, and zip or postal code).
    ``(h) Performance Limits.--
            ``(1) Establishment by commission.--Not later than one year 
        after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Commission 
        shall conduct a study of the number and rates of incidence of 
        changes in subscribers' selections of providers of interstate 
        telephone service occurring without the authorization of the 
        subscriber. Pursuant to the study, the Commission shall 
        establish performance limits that are the maximum acceptable 
        rates of unauthorized changes. The Commission may, from time to 
time, review and adjust the performance limits established under this 
paragraph.
            ``(2) Comparison of number of violations to performance 
        limits.--After the establishment of the performance limits 
        under paragraph (1), the Commission shall compare the 
        information for each month for each telecommunications carrier 
        providing interstate telephone service within each State that 
        is submitted by State commissions (pursuant to subsection 
        (f)(4)(B)) and collected by the Commission (pursuant to 
        subsection (f)(4)(A) for States to which subsection (e)(2) 
        applies) to the applicable performance limit established under 
        paragraph (1).
    ``(i) Forfeiture Penalty for Exceeding Performance Limit.--
            ``(1) In general.--If the Commission determines that, for 
        any month, for any single telecommunications carrier, the 
        number of violations of the requirements under subsection (c) 
        determined to have occurred which involve changing the 
        interstate telephone service of subscribers of interstate 
        telephone service in a State to such carrier exceeds the 
        applicable performance limit for such State established under 
        subsection (h)(1), such carrier shall be considered to have 
        willfully failed to comply with this Act and shall be liable to 
        the United States for a forfeiture penalty under section 
        503(b)(1)(B).
            ``(2) Considerations in determining amount of penalty.--In 
        taking into account the extent and gravity of a violation under 
        paragraph (1) for purposes of determining the amount of the 
        forfeiture penalty pursuant to section 503(b)(2)(D), the 
        Commission shall consider--
                    ``(A) the number of violations of the requirements 
                of subsection (c) determined to have occurred in excess 
                of the number of violations necessary to exceed the 
                applicable performance limit; and
                    ``(B) the ratio of the number of violations 
                determined to have occurred to the number of violations 
                necessary to exceed the applicable performance limit.
    ``(j) Effect on Other Law.--
            ``(1) Consumer protection laws.--Nothing in this section 
        shall relieve any telecommunications carrier, local exchange 
        carrier, or any other person from the obligation to comply with 
        any Federal, State, or local statute or regulation relating to 
        consumer protection or unfair trade.
            ``(2) State authority.--Nothing in this section shall 
        preclude any State from enacting and enforcing additional and 
        complementary oversight and regulatory systems or procedures, 
        or both, so long as such systems and procedures do not 
        significantly impede the enforcement of this section or other 
        Federal statutes.''.

SEC. 3. LIMITATION OF EXISTING SLAMMING LIABILITY PROVISION TO 
              INTRASTATE SERVICE.

    Section 258(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 258(b)) 
is amended by striking ``described in subsection (a)'' and inserting 
``prescribed pursuant to subsection (a) for changing a subscriber's 
selection of a provider of intrastate telephone service'' after 
``subsection (a)''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE AND REGULATIONS.

    (a) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this Act shall take 
effect upon the expiration of the 12-month period beginning on the date 
of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Regulations.--The Commission shall prescribe such regulations 
as may be necessary to carry out the amendments made by this Act, which 
shall include prescribing a standard form for written change 
authorizations that meets the requirements of section 258(c) of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (as added by section 2 of this Act) for use 
for such purpose. Such final regulations shall be issued and shall take 
effect not later than the effective date under subsection (a).
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