[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3990 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3990

To amend the Telephone Disclosure and Dispute Resolution Act to prevent 
 unfair and deceptive practices in telephone billing for miscellaneous 
                         products or services.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 4, 1998

  Mr. Dingell  (for himself and Mr. Gordon) introduced the following 
         bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Telephone Disclosure and Dispute Resolution Act to prevent 
 unfair and deceptive practices in telephone billing for miscellaneous 
                         products or services.

    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 ``Anti-Cramming Protection Act of 
1998''.

SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF TELEPHONE DISCLOSURE AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION ACT 
              REMEDIES TO TELEPHONE BILLING FOR MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTS 
              OR SERVICES.

    The Telephone Disclosure and Dispute Resolution Act (15 U.S.C. 5701 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new title:

 ``TITLE V--UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE ACTS AND PRACTICES IN CONNECTION WITH 
                   MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTS OR SERVICES

``SEC. 501. BILLING OF MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCT OR SERVICE CHARGES.

    ``(a) Billing Rules.--The Commission shall, in accordance with the 
requirements of this section, prescribe rules to protect consumers from 
unfair and deceptive acts and practices in the billing of miscellaneous 
product or service charges. Such rules shall--
            ``(1) prohibit any person (including billing aggregators 
        and service providers) from submitting for billing on telephone 
        bills miscellaneous product or service charges that have not 
        been authorized by the subscriber to be billed;
            ``(2) require that any person submitting miscellaneous 
        product or service charges for billing--
                    ``(A) include an account authorization code that 
                would not generally be known by anyone other than the 
                subscriber and the entity issuing the telephone bill 
                and that reliably indicates that the subscriber 
                authorized the charge; or
                    ``(B) comply with such other procedures as the 
                Commission may require to reliably indicate that the 
                subscriber authorized the charge;
            ``(3) require that the bill for each provider of 
        miscellaneous products or services--
                    ``(A) be on a page of the telephone bill that is 
                separate from the charges for telephone exchange and 
                telephone toll services;
                    ``(B) describe in reasonable detail each 
                miscellaneous product or service billed;
                    ``(C) identify any miscellaneous product or service 
                charges that are recurring; and
                    ``(D) include the name and toll free telephone 
                number of each miscellaneous product or service 
                provider and the name and toll free telephone number of 
                any billing aggregator;
            ``(4) require that a telephone bill that includes 
        miscellaneous product or service charges includes a 
        notification, on each page that summarizes or itemizes 
        miscellaneous product or service charges, that the subscriber 
        may direct billing disputes to the common carrier issuing the 
        bill and provide a toll-free telephone number for that purpose;
            ``(5) require that a subscriber initiating a billing 
        dispute by calling the telephone number referred to in 
        paragraph (4) within 90 days after the date on which the charge 
        appears on the telephone bill of the subscriber shall 
        immediately receive a credit for any disputed miscellaneous 
        product or service charges; and
            ``(6) provide that--
                    ``(A) a subscriber may--
                            ``(i) instruct its common carrier not to 
                        bill for any miscellaneous product or service 
                        charges; or
                            ``(ii) to the extent the Commission from 
                        time to time determines is technically feasible 
                        for the common carrier to implement, instruct 
                        its common carrier not to bill for 
                        subcategories of products or services or for 
                        particular providers or billing aggregators, as 
                        specified by the subscriber;
                    ``(B) such instruction may be given either orally 
                or in writing (at the election of the subscriber);
                    ``(C) a subscriber may instruct a common carrier to 
                resume billing miscellaneous charges either orally or 
                in writing (at the election of the subscriber); and
                    ``(D) in verifying such instructions the common 
                carrier shall use adequate internal control procedures 
                for verifying that the request is authorized by the 
                subscriber.
    ``(b) Dispute Resolution Rules.--To the extent not already covered 
by Federal statutes or regulations in effect on the date of enactment 
of this section, the Commission shall adopt rules governing the 
procedures for a subscriber and a miscellaneous product or service 
provider to resolve a billing dispute after the disputed charges have 
been credited to the subscriber's account in accordance with subsection 
(a). Such rules shall include rules designed to prevent fraudulent 
submission of billing disputes by subscribers.
    ``(c) Right To Discontinue Billing.--
            ``(1) Authority to discontinue billing.--Subject to 
        paragraph (2), if a common carrier reasonably believes that 
        charges are being submitted for billing in violation of this 
        section, the regulations adopted under this section, or any 
        other Federal or State statute or regulation, the carrier, 
        after written notice to the Commission describing the action 
        and the reasons therefor--
                    ``(A) may discontinue billing for any miscellaneous 
                product or service provider or any billing aggregator 
                submitting miscellaneous product or service charges;
                    ``(B) may discontinue billing for any type or 
                category of miscellaneous product or service; or
                    ``(C) may discontinue billing for any type or 
                category of miscellaneous product or service submitted 
                by an individual product or service provider or billing 
                aggregator.
            ``(2) Authority subject to other law.--No action by a 
        common carrier under paragraph (1) shall be exempt from any 
        other Federal or State law prohibiting anticompetitive or 
        discriminatory acts or practices.
    ``(d) Rulemaking.--
            ``(1) Schedule and procedure.--The Commission shall 
        prescribe the rules under this section within 270 days after 
        the date of enactment of this Act. Such rules shall be 
        prescribed in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United 
        States Code.
            ``(2) Treatment of rule.--A rule prescribed under this 
        subsection shall be treated as a rule issued under section 
        18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 
        57(a)(1)(B)).
    ``(e) Enforcement.--Any violation of any rule prescribed under 
subsection (a) shall be treated as a violation of a rule under section 
5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) regarding unfair 
or deceptive acts or practices. Notwithstanding section 5(a)(2) of such 
Act (15 U.S.C. 45(a)(2)), communications common carriers shall be 
subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission for purposes of this 
title.
    ``(f) Applicability.--The regulations required by this section 
shall apply to miscellaneous product or service charges first billed 
after the effective date of those regulations.

``SEC. 502. RELATION TO STATE LAWS.

    ``(a) State Law Applicable Unless Inconsistent.--This title does 
not annul, alter, or affect, or exempt any person subject to the 
provisions of this title from complying with, the laws of any State 
with respect to telephone billing or other credit billing practices, 
except to the extent that those laws are inconsistent with any 
provision of this title, and then only to the extent of the 
inconsistency. The Commission is authorized to determine whether such 
inconsistencies exist. The Commission may not determine that any State 
law is inconsistent with any provision of this chapter if the 
Commission determines that such law gives greater protection to the 
consumer.
    ``(b) Regulatory Exemptions.--The Commission shall by regulation 
exempt from the requirements of this title any class of acts and 
practices subject to the rules prescribed under subsection (a) within 
any State if it determines that under the law of that State that class 
of transactions is subject to requirements substantially similar to 
those imposed under this chapter or that such law gives greater 
protection to the consumer, and that there is adequate provision for 
enforcement.

``SEC. 503. ENFORCEMENT BY COMMISSION.

    ``The Commission shall enforce the requirements of this title. For 
the purpose of the exercise by the Commission of its functions and 
powers under the Federal Trade Commission Act, a violation of any 
requirement imposed under this title shall be deemed a violation of a 
requirement imposed under that Act. All the functions and powers of the 
Commission under that Act are available to the Commission to enforce 
compliance by any person with the requirements imposed under this 
title, irrespective of whether that person is engaged in commerce or 
meets any other jurisdictional tests in that Act. The Commission may 
prescribe such regulations as are necessary or appropriate to implement 
the provisions of this title.

``SEC. 504. ACTIONS BY STATES.

    ``(a) In General.--Whenever an attorney general of any State has 
reason to believe that the interests of the residents of that State 
have been or are being threatened or adversely affected because any 
person has engaged or is engaging in a pattern or practice which 
violates any rule of the Commission under section 501(a), the State may 
bring a civil action on behalf of its residents in an appropriate 
district court of the United States to enjoin such pattern or practice, 
to enforce compliance with such rule of the Commission, to obtain 
damages on behalf of their residents, or to obtain such further and 
other relief as the court may deem appropriate.
    ``(b) Notice.--The State shall serve prior written notice of any 
civil action under subsection (a) upon the Commission and provide the 
Commission with a copy of its complaint, except that if it is not 
feasible for the State to provide such prior notice, the State shall 
serve such notice immediately upon instituting such action. Upon 
receiving a notice respecting a civil action, the Commission shall have 
the right (1) to intervene in such action, (2) upon so intervening, to 
be heard on all matters arising therein, and (3) to file petitions for 
appeal.
    ``(c) Venue.--Any civil action brought under this section in a 
district court of the United States may be brought in the district 
wherein the defendant is found or is an inhabitant or transacts 
business or wherein the violation occurred or is occurring, and process 
in such cases may be served in any district in which the defendant is 
an inhabitant or wherever the defendant may be found.
    ``(d) Investigatory Powers.--For purposes of bringing any civil 
action under this section, nothing in this Act shall prevent the 
attorney general from exercising the powers conferred on the attorney 
general by the laws of such State to conduct investigations or to 
administer oaths or affirmations or to compel the attendance of 
witnesses or the production of documentary and other evidence.
    ``(e) Effect on State Court Proceedings.--Nothing contained in this 
section shall prohibit an authorized State official from proceeding in 
State court on the basis of an alleged violation of any general civil 
or criminal antifraud statute of such State.
    ``(f) Limitation.--Whenever the Commission has instituted a civil 
action for violation of any rule or regulation under this Act, no State 
may, during the pendency of such action instituted by the Commission, 
subsequently institute a civil action against any defendant named in 
the Commission's complaint for violation of any rule as alleged in the 
Commission's complaint.
    ``(g) Actions by Other State Officials.--
            ``(1) Nothing contained in this section shall prohibit an 
        authorized State official from proceeding in State court on the 
        basis of an alleged violation of any general civil or criminal 
        statute of such State.
            ``(2) In addition to actions brought by an attorney general 
        of a State under subsection (a), such an action may be brought 
        by officers of such State who are authorized by the State to 
        bring actions in such State for protection of consumers and who 
        are designated by the Commission to bring an action under 
        subsection (a) against persons that the Commission has 
        determined have or are engaged in a pattern or practice which 
        violates a rule of the Commission under section 501(a).

``SEC. 505. DEFINITIONS.

    ``As used in this title:
            ``(1) Billing aggregator.--The term `billing aggregator' 
        means a person who aggregates the charges of one or more 
        providers of miscellaneous products or services and transmits 
        them to be included in a telephone bill.
            ``(2) Billing dispute.--The term `billing dispute' consists 
        of any one or more of the following claims:
                    ``(A) that a miscellaneous product or service 
                charge was not authorized by the subscriber;
                    ``(B) that a miscellaneous product or service 
                charge was not in an amount authorized by the 
                subscriber; or
                    ``(C) that a miscellaneous product or service 
                charge was transmitted for a product or service that 
                was not provided to the subscriber.
            ``(3) Commission.-- The term `Commission' means the Federal 
        Trade Commission.
            ``(4) Common carrier, local exchange carrier, telephone 
        exchange service, and telephone toll service.--The terms 
        `common carrier', `local exchange carrier', `telephone exchange 
        service', and `telephone toll service' have the meanings 
        provided in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934.
            ``(5) Miscellaneous product or service.--The term 
        `miscellaneous product or service' means any product or service 
        that is not--
                    ``(A) telephone exchange service, telephone toll 
                service, or services that are provided by the 
                subscriber's selected provider of telephone exchange 
                service or telephone toll service and that the 
                Commission defines by rule as services that are 
                ancillary to telephone exchange service or telephone 
                toll service;
                    ``(B) pay-per-call services subject to the 
                provisions of title II of this Act; or
                    ``(C) telephone billed purchases subject to the 
                provisions of title III of this Act.
            ``(5) Miscellaneous product or service charges.--The term 
        `miscellaneous product or service charges' means charges for 
        miscellaneous product or services that are billed on a 
        telephone bill.
            ``(6) Subscriber.--The term `subscriber' means the party 
        identified in the account records of a common carrier issuing a 
        telephone bill (or on whose behalf a telephone bill is issued), 
        any other person identified in such records as authorized to 
        change the services subscribed to or to charge services to the 
        account, and any person otherwise lawfully authorized to 
        represent such party.
            ``(7) Telephone bill.--The term `telephone bill' means a 
        bill--
                    ``(A) for telephone exchange service and other 
                services issued by or on behalf of a common carrier to 
                its telephone exchange service customers; or
                    ``(B) for telephone toll service and other services 
                issued by or on behalf of a common carrier to its 
                telephone toll service customers.''.
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