[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3798 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3798

   To amend section 258 of the Communications Act of 1934 to protect 
telephone consumers against ``cramming'' of charges on their telephone 
                                 bills.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 6, 1998

 Mr. Menendez introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend section 258 of the Communications Act of 1934 to protect 
telephone consumers against ``cramming'' of charges on their telephone 
                                 bills.

    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 Billing Fairness Act''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE BLOCKING UPON SUBSCRIBER REQUEST.

    Section 258 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 258) is 
amended--
            (1) in the section heading, by inserting ``and required 
        blocking of billing for certain services'' before the period at 
        the end; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) Blocking of Certain Charges Upon Customer Request.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Commission shall, by regulation, 
        require each provider of telephone exchange service and each 
        provider of telephone toll service, and any billing agent for 
        any such provider, upon the oral or written request of a 
        subscriber to the provider, to block from inclusion in the 
        subscriber's telephone bill any charges for any products or 
        services that are not telephone exchange or toll service for 
        the subscriber provided by such provider.
            ``(2) Consent to inclusion.--The regulations under this 
        subsection shall provide that, notwithstanding a request for 
        blocking made in accordance with the requirement under 
        paragraph (1), a provider of telephone exchange or telephone 
        toll service shall include in a subscriber's telephone bill the 
        charges for specific products or services that would otherwise 
        be blocked from such inclusion, but only--
                    ``(A) upon--
                            ``(i) a written request that (I) requests 
                        the inclusion of the charges for specific 
                        products or services provided by a specific 
                        provider, and (II) is signed and dated by the 
                        subscriber; and
                            ``(ii) a subsequent oral confirmation by 
                        the subscriber of the accuracy of the 
                        information provided under subclauses (I) and 
                        (II) of clause (i); or
                    ``(B) upon--
                            ``(i) a request made orally by the 
                        subscriber that includes the information 
                        described in subclause (I) of clause (i); and
                            ``(ii) a subsequent written confirmation 
                        meeting the requirements under subparagraph 
                        (A).
            ``(3) Notice to subscribers of availability of blocking.--
        The Commission shall require each provider of telephone 
        exchange service and each provider of telephone toll service, 
        and any billing agent for any such provider, to include in each 
        subscriber's telephone bill for such service, not less 
        frequently than once each calendar quarter, a statement 
        informing the subscriber that the customer may--
                    ``(A) obtain blocking of charges from inclusion in 
                the subscriber's telephone bill as provided in 
                paragraph (1);
                    ``(B) obtain such blocking by making an oral or 
                written request to the provider; and
                    ``(C) may, despite obtaining blocking, consent to 
                the inclusion in the subscriber's bill of specific 
                charges for services that otherwise would be blocked by 
                making an oral or written request to the provider, 
                which will be subject to separate confirmation by the 
                provider.
            ``(4) Telephone toll service.--For purposes of this 
        subsection, the term `telephone toll service' does not 
        include--
                    ``(A) commercial mobile services; and
                    ``(B) pay-per-call services, as such term is 
                defined in section 228(i).''.
                                 <all>