[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1825 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1825

        To empower telephone consumers, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 28, 1999

Mr. Rockefeller introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
        To empower telephone consumers, 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 ``Phone Bill Fairness Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Customer bills for telecommunications services are 
        unreasonably complicated, and many Americans are unable to 
        understand the nature of services provided to them and the 
        charges for which they are responsible.
            (2) One of the purposes of the Telecommunications Act of 
        1996 (Public Law 104-104) was to unleash competitive and market 
        forces for telecommunications services.
            (3) Unless customers can understand their 
        telecommunications bills they cannot take advantage of the 
        newly competitive market for telecommunications services.
            (4) Confusing telecommunications bills allow a small 
        minority of providers of telecommunications services to commit 
        fraud more easily. The best defense against telecommunications 
        fraud is a well informed consumer. Consumers cannot be well 
        informed when their telecommunications bills are 
        incomprehensible.
            (5) Certain providers of telecommunications services have 
        established new, specific charges on customer bills commonly 
        known as ``line-item charges''.
            (6) These line-item charges have proliferated and are often 
        described with inaccurate and confusing names.
            (7) These line-item charges have generated significant 
        confusion among customers regarding the nature and scope of 
        universal service and of the fees associated with universal 
        service.
            (8) The National Association of Regulatory Utility 
        Commissioners adopted a resolution in February 1998 supporting 
        action by the Federal Communications Commission to require 
        interstate telecommunications carriers to provide accurate 
        customer notice regarding the implementation and purpose of 
        end-user charges for telecommunications services.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to require the Federal 
Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission to protect 
and empower consumers of telecommunications services by assuring that 
telecommunications bills, including line-item charges, issued by 
telecommunications carriers nationwide are both accurate and 
comprehensible.

SEC. 3. INVESTIGATION OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIER BILLING PRACTICES.

    (a) Investigation.--
            (1) Requirement.--The Federal Communications Commission and 
        the Federal Trade Commission shall jointly conduct an 
        investigation of the billing practices of telecommunications 
        carriers.
            (2) Purpose.--The purpose of the investigation is to 
        determine whether the bills sent by telecommunications carriers 
        to their customers accurately assess and correctly characterize 
        the services received and fees charged for such services, 
        including any fees imposed as line-item charges.
    (b) Determinations.--In carrying out the investigation under 
subsection (a), the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal 
Trade Commission shall determine the following:
            (1) The prevalence of incomprehensible or confusing 
        telecommunications bills.
            (2) The most frequent causes for confusion on 
        telecommunications bills.
            (3) Whether or not any best practices exist, which, if 
        utilized as an industry standard, would reduce confusion and 
        improve comprehension of telecommunications bills.
            (4) Whether or not telecommunications bills that impose 
        fees through line-item charges characterize correctly the 
        nature and basis of such fees, including, in particular, 
        whether or not such fees are required by the Federal Government 
        or State governments.
    (c) Review of Records.--
            (1) Authority.--For purposes of the investigation under 
        subsection (a), the Federal Communications Commission and the 
        Federal Trade Commission may obtain from any telecommunications 
        carrier any record of such carrier that is relevant to the 
        investigation, including any record supporting such carrier's 
        basis for setting fee levels or percentages.
            (2) Use.--The Federal Communications Commission and the 
        Federal Trade Commission may use records obtained under this 
        subsection only for purposes of the investigation.
    (d) Disciplinary Actions.--
            (1) In general.--If the Federal Communications Commission 
        or the Federal Trade Commission determines as a result of the 
        investigation under subsection (a) that the bills sent by a 
        telecommunications carrier to its customers do not accurately 
        assess or correctly characterize any service or fee contained 
        in such bills, the Federal Communications Commission or the 
        Federal Trade Commission, as the case may be, may take such 
        action against such carrier as such Commission is authorized to 
take under law.
            (2) Characterization of fees.--If the Federal 
        Communications Commission or the Federal Trade Commission 
        determines as a result of the investigation under subsection 
        (a) that a telecommunications carrier has characterized a fee 
        on bills sent to its customers as mandated or otherwise 
        required by the Federal Government or a State and that such 
        characterization is incorrect, the Federal Communications 
        Commission or the Federal Trade Commission, as the case may be, 
        may require the carrier to discontinue such characterization.
            (3) Additional actions.--If the Federal Communications 
        Commission or the Federal Trade Commission determines that such 
        Commission does not have authority under law to take actions 
        under paragraph (1) that would be appropriate in light of a 
        determination described in paragraph (1), the Federal 
        Communications Commission or the Federal Trade Commission, as 
        the case may be, shall notify Congress of the determination 
        under this paragraph in the report under subsection (e).
    (e) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications Commission and the 
Federal Trade Commissions shall jointly submit to Congress a report on 
the results of the investigation under subsection (a). The report shall 
include the determination, if any, of either Commission under 
subsection (d)(3) and any recommendations for further legislative 
action that such Commissions consider appropriate.

SEC. 4. TREATMENT OF MISLEADING TELECOMMUNICATIONS BILLS AND 
              TELECOMMUNICATIONS RATE PLANS.

    (a) Federal Trade Commission.--The Federal Trade Commission shall 
treat any telecommunications billing practice or telecommunications 
rate plan that the Commission determines to be intentionally misleading 
as an unfair business practice under the Federal Trade Commission Act 
(15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.).
    (b) Federal Communications Commission.--The Federal Communications 
Commission shall, upon finding that any holder of a license under the 
Commission has repeatedly and intentionally engaged in a telephone 
billing practice, or has repeatedly and intentionally utilized a 
telephone rate plan, that is misleading, treat such holder as acting 
against the public interest for purposes of the Communications Act of 
1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.).

SEC. 5. REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL BILLS FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES.

    (a) Average Per Minute Rate Calculation.--Each telecommunications 
carrier shall display on the first page of each customer bill for 
telecommunications services the average per-minute charge of 
telecommunications services of such customer for the billing period 
covered by such bill.
    (b) Calling Patterns.--Each telecommunications carrier shall 
display on the first page of each customer bill for telecommunications 
services the percentage of the total number of telephone calls of such 
customer for the billing period covered by such bill as follows:
            (1) That began on a weekday.
            (2) That began on a weekend.
            (3) That began from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
            (4) That began from 8:01 p.m. to 7:59 a.m.
            (5) That were billed to a calling card.
    (c) Average Per-Minute Charge Defined.--In this section, the term 
``average per-minute charge'', in the case of a bill of a customer for 
a billing period, means--
            (1) the sum of--
                    (A) the aggregate amount of monthly or other 
                recurring charges, if any, for telecommunications 
                services imposed on the customer by the bill for the 
                billing period; and
                    (B) the total amount of all per-minute charges for 
                telecommunications services imposed on the customer by 
                the bill for the billing period; divided by
            (2) the total number of minutes of telecommunications 
        services provided to the customer during the billing period and 
        covered by the bill.

SEC. 6. REQUIREMENTS FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS IMPOSING CERTAIN 
              CHARGES FOR SERVICES.

    (a) Billing Requirements.--Any telecommunications carrier shall 
include on the bills for telecommunications services sent to its 
customers the following:
            (1) An accurate name and description of any covered charge.
            (2) The recipient or class of recipients of the monies 
        collected through each such charge.
            (3) A statement whether each such charge is required by law 
        or collected pursuant to a requirement imposed by a 
        governmental entity under its discretionary authority.
            (4) A specific explanation of any reduction in charges or 
        fees to customers, and the class of telephone customer that 
        such reduction, that are related to each such charge.
    (b) Universal Service Contributions and Receipts.--Not later than 
January 31 each year, each telecommunications carrier required to 
contribute to universal service during the previous year under section 
254(d) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254(d)) shall 
submit to the Federal Communications Commission a report on following:
            (1) The total contributions of the carrier to the universal 
        service fund during the previous year.
            (2) The total receipts from customers during such year 
        designed to recover contributions to the fund.
    (c) Action on Universal Service Contributions and Receipts Data.--
            (1) Review.--The Federal Communications Commission shall 
        review the reports submitted to the Commission under subsection 
        (b) in order to determine whether or not the amount of the 
        contributions of a telecommunications carrier to the universal 
        service fund in any year is equal to the amount of the receipts 
        of the telecommunications carrier from its customers in such 
        year for purposes of contributions to the fund.
            (2) Additional contributions.--If the Commission determines 
        as a result of a review under paragraph (1) that the amount of 
        the receipts of a telecommunications carrier from its customers 
        in a year for purposes of contributions to the universal 
        service fund exceeded the amount contributed by the carrier in 
        such year to the fund, the Commission shall have the authority 
        to require the carrier to deposit in the fund an amount equal 
        to the amount of such excess.
    (d) Covered Charges.--For purposes of subsection (a), a covered 
charge shall include any charge on a bill for telecommunications 
services that is separate from a per-minute rate charge, including a 
universal service charge, a subscriber line charge, and a presubscribed 
interexchange carrier charge.

SEC. 7. TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIER DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``telecommunications carrier'' has the 
meaning given that term in section 3(44) of the Communications Act of 
1934 (47 U.S.C. 153(44)).
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