I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1559

To prevent unfair billing and charging practices for information services

provided over calls to 800 numbers, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 3, 1995

Mr. GORDON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To prevent unfair billing and charging practices for information services provided over calls to 800 numbers, and

for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Freedom From Toll

5 Fraud Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) Reforms required by the Telephone Disclo9 sure and Dispute Resolution Act of 1992 have im10 proved the reputation of the pay-per-call industry
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1 and resulted in regulations that have reduced the in2 cidence of misleading practices that are harmful to

3 the public interest.

4 (2) Among the successful reforms is a prohibi5 tion on charges being assessed for calls to 800 tele6 phone numbers or other telephone numbers adver7 tised or widely understood to be toll free.

8 (3) Nevertheless, certain interstate pay-per-call

9 businesses are taking advantage of an exception in

10 the prohibition on charging for information conveyed

11 during a call to a ‘‘toll-free’’ number to continue to

12 engage in misleading practices. These practices are

13 not in compliance with the intent of Congress in

14 passing the Telephone Disclosure and Dispute Reso15 lution Act.

16 (4) Therefore, it is necessary for Congress to

17 clarify that its intent is that charges for information

18 provided during a call to an 800 number or other

19 number widely advertised and understood to be toll

20 free shall not be assessed to the calling party unless

21 the calling party agrees to be billed according to the

22 terms of a written subscription agreement.
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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF

2 1934.

3 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 228(c) of the Commu4 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 228(c)) is amended—

5 (1) by striking subparagraph (C) of paragraph

6 (7) and inserting the following:

7 ‘‘(C) the calling party being charged for in8 formation conveyed during the call unless—

9 ‘‘(i) the calling party has a written

10 subscription agreement with the informa11 tion provider that meets the requirements

12 of paragraph (8); or

13 ‘‘(ii) the calling party is charged in

14 accordance with paragraph (9); or’’; and

15 (2) by adding at the end the following new

16 paragraphs:

17 ‘‘(8) SUBSCRIPTION AGREEMENTS FOR BILLING

18 FOR INFORMATION PROVIDED VIA TOLL-FREE

19 CALLS.—

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para21 graph (7)(C)(i), a written subscription agree22 ment shall specify the terms and conditions

23 under which the information is offered and in24 clude—

25 ‘‘(i) the rate at which charges are as26 sessed for the information;
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1 ‘‘(ii) the information provider’s name;

2 ‘‘(iii) the information provider’s busi3 ness address;

4 ‘‘(iv) the information provider’s regu5 lar business telephone number;

6 ‘‘(v) the information provider’s agree7 ment to notify the subscriber at least 30

8 days in advance of all future changes in

9 the rates charged for the information;

10 ‘‘(vi) the signature of a legally com11 petent subscriber agreeing to the terms of

12 the agreement; and

13 ‘‘(vii) the subscriber’s choice of pay14 ment method, which may be by phone bill

15 or credit or calling card.

16 ‘‘(B) BILLING ARRANGEMENTS.—If a sub17 scriber elects, pursuant to subparagraph

18 (A)(vii), to pay by means of a phone bill—

19 ‘‘(i) the agreement shall clearly ex20 plain that the subscriber will be assessed

21 for calls made to the information service

22 from the subscribers phone line;

23 ‘‘(ii) the phone bill shall include, in

24 prominent type, the following disclaimer:
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1 ‘Common carriers may not dis2 connect local or long distance tele3 phone service for failure to pay dis4 puted charges for information serv5 ices.’; and

6 ‘‘(iii) the phone bill shall clearly list

7 the 800 number dialed.

8 ‘‘(C) USE OF PIN’S TO PREVENT UNAU9 THORIZED USE.—A written agreement does not

10 meet the requirements of this paragraph unless

11 it provides the subscriber a personal identifica12 tion number to obtain access to the information

13 provided, and includes instructions on its use.

14 ‘‘(D) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding

15 paragraph (7)(C), a written agreement that

16 meets the requirements of this paragraph is not

17 required—

18 ‘‘(i) for services provided pursuant to

19 a tariff that has been approved or per20 mitted to take effect by the Commission or

21 a State commission; or

22 ‘‘(ii) for any purchase of goods or of

23 services that are not information services.

24 ‘‘(E) TERMINATION OF SERVICE.—On

25 complaint by any person, a carrier may termi-
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1 nate the provision of service to an information

2 provider unless the provider supplies evidence of

3 a written agreement that meets the require4 ments of this section. The remedies provided in

5 this paragraph are in addition to any other

6 remedies that are available under title V of this

7 Act.

8 ‘‘(9) CHARGES BY CREDIT OR CALLING CARD IN

9 ABSENCE OF AGREEMENT.—For purposes of para10 graph (7)(C)(ii), a calling party is not charged in ac11 cordance with this paragraph unless the calling

12 party is charged by means of a credit or calling card

13 and the information service provider includes in re14 sponse to each call an introductory disclosure mes15 sage that—

16 ‘‘(A) clearly states that there is a charge

17 for the call;

18 ‘‘(B) clearly states the service’s total cost

19 per minute and any other fees for the service or

20 for any service to which the caller may be

21 transferred;

22 ‘‘(C) explains that the charges must be

23 billed on either a credit or calling card;

24 ‘‘(D) asks the caller for the credit or call25 ing card number;
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1 ‘‘(E) clearly states that charges for the call

2 begin at the end of the introductory message;

3 and

4 ‘‘(F) clearly states that the caller can hang

5 up at or before the end of the introductory mes6 sage without incurring any charge whatsoever.

7 ‘‘(10) DEFINITION OF CALLING CARD.—As used

8 in this subsection, the term ‘calling card’ means an

9 identifying number or code unique to the individual,

10 that is issued to the individual by a common carrier

11 and enables the individual to be charged by means

12 of a phone bill for charges incurred independent of

13 where the call originates.’’.

14 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Federal Communications

15 Commission shall revise its regulations to comply with the

16 amendment made by subsection (a) of this section within

17 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

18 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO TITLE II OF TDDRA.

19 Section 204(1) of the Telephone Disclosure and Dis20 pute Resolution Act is amended to read as follows:

21 ‘‘(1) The term ‘pay-per-call services’ has the

22 meaning provided in section 228(i)(1) of the Com23 munications Act of 1934, except that the Commis24 sion by rule may, notwithstanding subparagraphs

25 (B) and (C) of such section, extend such definition
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1 to other similar services providing audio information

2 or audio entertainment if the Commission deter3 mines that such services are susceptible to the unfair

4 and deceptive practices that are prohibited by the

5 rules prescribed pursuant to section 201(a).’’.

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