reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 165 - Water and Aqueduct Companies › Section 10 - Testing of Meters; Report; Cost

Section 10. A customer of a company or corporation subject to this chapter, or such company or corporation, may apply to the department for an examination and test of any water meter to determine the accuracy of the same. The department shall forthwith cause such examination and test as in its judgment is practicable and reasonable to be made by a competent and disinterested person, and shall furnish to the company or corporation and to the customer a certificate of the result and expense thereof. The person designated to make such examination and test may at any reasonable time enter upon the premises where the meter to be inspected is placed for the purpose of making the inspection. If upon examination and test, it appears the appliance does not register correctly, the department may order the company or corporation to correct or remove such meter and substitute a correct meter. The department may establish such rules and regulations, fix such standards, prescribe such fees, and employ such means and methods in, and in connection with, such examinations and tests of water meters as it deems most practicable, expedient and economical, and may purchase such materials, apparatus and standard measuring instruments for such examinations and tests as it deems necessary. All fees for examination and tests shall be in the first instance paid by the person, company or corporation making the application therefor; but if the examination or test is made at the request of the customer, and the meter is found to be incorrect because too fast, the company or corporation shall pay such fees to the department, to be repaid by it to the applicant. Whoever being engaged in the sale of water maintains upon the premises of a customer for the purpose of determining the charge to be made for water supplied to him a meter which is found upon examination and test to register incorrectly as against such customer, shall refund to him such an amount as if not agreed upon, shall, upon application of the customer and after opportunity given to the vendor to be heard, be determined by the department. A meter shall be deemed to be correct for the purposes of this section if it appears from such examination or test that it does not vary more than two per cent from accuracy. This section shall not authorize or prohibit differential prices for water supplied by any such company or corporation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 165 - Water and Aqueduct Companies › Section 11 - Intentional Injury to or Interference With Meter; Penalty

Section 11. Whoever unlawfully and intentionally injures, or suffers to be injured, a water meter belonging to a city, town, district, or company engaged in supplying water, or prevents such meter from duly registering the quantity of water supplied through it, or hinders or interferes with its proper action or just registration, or attaches a pipe to a main or pipe belonging to a city, town, district or water company, or otherwise uses or causes to be used the water supplied by a city, town, district or company without the consent of the same, unless it passes through a meter set by such city, town, district or company, shall be punished by a fine of triple the amount of damages sustained thereby or $1,000, whichever is greater or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. Damages shall include the value of the water used and the cost of labor and equipment repair and replacement.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 165 - Water and Aqueduct Companies › Section 11a - Procedure for Shutting Off the Flow of Water on Failure to Pay Lawful Charges

Section 11A. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a water company may shut off the flow of water from its mains or pipes to the premises of any customer who has failed or refused to pay the lawful charges of said company for water previously consumed. The officers, employees or agents of said company may, upon any business day between the hours of eight ante meridian and four post meridian, enter upon the premises of a customer whose payments are in arrears and close a valve, remove or disconnect a meter pipe or fitting, if necessary, for the purpose of shutting off the flow of water as above authorized, provided, however, that the customer has been given thirty-six hours notice in person or by registered or certified mail directed to his last address furnished to the company. If such address is different from the address of the premises affected a copy of such notice shall also be so mailed to the address thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 165 - Water and Aqueduct Companies › Section 11b - Shutting Off Water Service to Domicile Occupied by Seriously Ill Person; Notice; Penalty

Section 11B. No water company shall intentionally shut off the water service to any domicile occupied by a person who is seriously ill if the company receives written notice from the municipal health authorities or a registered physician verifying the fact of such illness. Any company violating this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than twenty-five dollars for each day during which the violation continues.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 165 - Water and Aqueduct Companies › Section 11c - Indebtedness of Prior Property Owner; Water Supply for New Owner

Section 11C. A water company shall not refuse to supply water to any premises on application of the owner thereof because of the indebtedness of a prior owner to the said water company for water previously furnished to said premises.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 165 - Water and Aqueduct Companies › Section 11d - Entry on Premises to Examine Water Meters and Facilities

Section 11D. Any person employed by a city, town, district or company engaged in supplying water who displays on his outer garment a suitable identification badge bearing his photograph, issued to him by his employer, may at any reasonable time enter any premises supplied with water by such city, town, district or company for the purpose of examining or removing meters, pipes, fittings and works for supplying or regulating the supply of water and of ascertaining the quantity of water consumed or supplied.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 165 - Water and Aqueduct Companies › Section 12 - Application to Other Statutes

Section 12. Aqueduct companies shall, except as otherwise herein provided, be subject to chapter one hundred and fifty-eight and also to sections four to ten, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and sixty-six except that all rights and duties imposed on the department by sections four and five of said chapter one hundred and sixty-six shall in the case of aqueduct companies be exercised by the state secretary.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 165 - Water and Aqueduct Companies › Section 13 - Certificate of Payment of Capital Stock

Section 13. Immediately after the payment of the capital of an aqueduct company, as authorized by the state secretary, a certificate, signed and sworn to by its president, treasurer and a majority of its directors, stating the fact of such payment, the manner in which the capital has been paid in and has been invested or voted to be invested, and approved by said secretary, shall be filed in the office of the state secretary.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 165 - Water and Aqueduct Companies › Section 14 - Conveyance of Property in Payment for Stock

Section 14. A conveyance to an aqueduct company of real or personal property at a fair valuation shall be a sufficient payment of the capital stock to the extent of such value, if a description of such property and a statement of the value at which it has been taken in payment, in such detail as the state secretary shall require or approve, is included in the certificate mentioned in the preceding section, and a statement that he is satisfied that such valuation is fair and reasonable is endorsed by him upon such certificate.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 165 - Water and Aqueduct Companies › Section 15 - Corporations Organized Under Earlier Law; Meetings and Records

Section 15. The proprietors of an aqueduct corporation, which has been organized under chapter one hundred and ten of the Public Statutes or corresponding provisions of earlier laws, may at a legal meeting agree upon the method of calling future meetings of the corporation, and may choose a clerk, who shall be sworn and who shall record in books to be provided and kept by him for that purpose all by-laws, votes and other proceedings of the corporation. Such books shall at all times be subject to the inspection of any person appointed for that purpose by the general court.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 165 - Water and Aqueduct Companies › Section 18 - Assessments; Defaults; Sale of Shares

Section 18. The directors may make such assessments on each share as they find necessary; and, upon the default of a proprietor for thirty days after notice thereof to pay an assessment, they may sell by public auction so many of his shares as will be sufficient to pay the assessment and the necessary charges, such sale being first advertised three weeks successively in a newspaper published in the county, or notices thereof being posted thirty days at least before the sale in public places in the town. The surplus proceeds arising from the sale shall be paid to the owner of the shares sold.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 165 - Water and Aqueduct Companies › Section 20 - Opening Streets or Ways

Section 20. Such corporation may, with the written consent of the aldermen of a city or the selectmen of a town, dig up and open any street or way therein for the purpose of placing such pipes as are necessary in constructing its aqueduct or in repairing or extending the same, if the same is so done as not to prevent the convenient passing of teams and vehicles.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 165 - Water and Aqueduct Companies › Section 21 - Continuing Liability on Contracts After Dissolution

Section 21. Contracts made by or with such a corporation shall remain in force after its dissolution, and the shareholders at such dissolution shall continue liable and capable as a corporation in all its suits relative to such contracts until they are performed, if suit is commenced within six years after the dissolution or after the right of action accrued.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 165 - Water and Aqueduct Companies › Section 22 - Satisfaction of Judgment Against Shareholders After Dissolution

Section 22. If no corporate property can be found to satisfy a judgment recovered against the shareholders after the dissolution, and it is not satisfied within six months after it is recovered, the judgment creditor may satisfy the same out of the private estate of the shareholders or any of them, as if the judgment had been against them in their private capacity.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 165 - Water and Aqueduct Companies › Section 24 - Malicious Injury to Aqueduct; Penalty

Section 24. Whoever maliciously injures an aqueduct or any of its appurtenances shall forfeit not more than one hundred dollars to the use of the town where the offence is committed, and shall be liable to the corporation for treble the amount of damages sustained thereby.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 165 - Water and Aqueduct Companies › Section 25 - Conductors From Aqueducts for Fire Fighting

Section 25. A town in which such aqueduct is situated may put conductors into the pipes for the purpose of drawing therefrom, free of expense, as much water as is necessary if a building is on fire therein and such conductors are so secured that water shall not be drawn therefrom except for the purpose of extinguishing fires.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 165 - Water and Aqueduct Companies › Section 26 - Means of Taking Water for Fire Fighting

Section 26. If the selectmen consider it necessary, for the protection of persons and property in their town against fire, to take water from the conductors or pipes therein of an aqueduct corporation, they may direct the engineers of the fire department to request the corporation to put into such conductors or pipes, in such places as said engineers shall think necessary, connections or conductors for the purpose of attaching hydrants or conducting water into reservoirs. If the corporation refuses or neglects for two weeks after such request to comply therewith, said engineers may make such connections at the cost of the town, using all necessary means for making the same and using reasonable care for the protection of the pipes and works of such corporation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 165 - Water and Aqueduct Companies › Section 27 - Recovery of Land Owner for Damages

Section 27. Any person who has sustained injury in his land or by the diversion of water by the operations of an aqueduct corporation, and who is entitled to damages for such injury by the act establishing such corporation or otherwise, may recover such damages under chapter seventy-nine.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 165 - Water and Aqueduct Companies › Section 28 - Acquisition of Real Estate in Excess of Limit

Section 28. Any water or aqueduct company which is limited by its charter or by any other special law as to the amount of real estate which it may acquire and hold may apply to the department of telecommunications and energy for authority to acquire and hold real estate in excess of the amount so limited, and said department may grant such authority if it shall find that such additional real estate is necessary or convenient for such company in carrying out the purposes of its organization and that the acquisition and holding thereof will not be contrary to the public interest.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 1 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies; Subscription and Payment for Stock; Filing of Statement

Section 1. A telegraph or telephone company shall not commence the construction of its line until three fourths of its capital stock have been unconditionally subscribed for, and at least one half has been paid in in cash; and the directors shall, within ten days after commencing construction, file in the office of the state secretary a sworn statement of such subscription and payment. For the purposes of sections 1 to 10, inclusive, the word ''company'' shall not include a municipal lighting plant or cooperative which operates a telecommunications system pursuant to section 47E of chapter 164.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 3 - Liability of President and Treasurer for Wilful Neglect or Omission

Section 3. The president and treasurer of such company shall be jointly and severally liable for all its indebtedness, in case of wilful neglect or omission on their part to comply with any provision of section one, two or eleven.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 4 - Issue of Stock, Bonds, Coupon Notes and Other Evidences of Indebtedness

Section 4. Such company shall issue only such amount of stock and bonds, and of coupon notes and other evidences of indebtedness payable at periods of more than three years, as the department of telecommunications and cable may from time to time approve as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which such issue of stock, bonds, coupon notes or other evidences of indebtedness has been authorized. Said department shall on an application for such issue, within thirty days after the final hearing thereon, render a written decision assigning the reasons therefor, and, if approving such issue, specifying the respective amounts of stock, bonds, coupon notes or other evidences of indebtedness approved for the respective purposes to which the proceeds thereof are to be applied. The decision shall, within seven days after it has been rendered, be filed in the office of the department and a certificate of said decision shall, within three days after rendition and before the stock, bonds, coupon notes or other evidences of indebtedness as aforesaid are issued, be filed in the office of the state secretary, and a duplicate thereof delivered to the corporation which shall enter the same upon its records. Such corporation shall not apply the proceeds of such stock, bonds, coupon notes or other evidences of indebtedness as aforesaid to any purpose not specified in such certificate.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 5 - Enforcement of Orders of Department Relating to Stocks and Bonds

Section 5. The supreme judicial or superior court shall have jurisdiction in equity, upon the application of the department, attorney general, any stockholder or interested party, to enforce the preceding section and all lawful orders and decisions, conditions or requirements of said department in pursuance thereof. In this chapter, ''department'' or ''department of telecommunications and energy'' means the department of telecommunications and cable.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 6 - Improper Issue; Penalty

Section 6. A director, treasurer or other officer or agent of any such company who knowingly votes to authorize the issue of, or knowingly signs, certifies or issues, stock or bonds contrary to section four, or who knowingly votes to authorize the application, or knowingly applies the proceeds, of such stock or bonds contrary to said section, or who knowingly votes to assume or incur, or knowingly assumes or incurs in the name or behalf of such corporation, any debt or liability except for the legitimate purposes of the corporation shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 7 - Increase of Capital Stock; Shareholders' Rights to New Shares

Section 7. If any such company increases its capital stock, such new shares necessary to produce the amount of increased capital stock authorized shall, except as provided in the following section, be offered proportionately to its stockholders at not less than the market value thereof at the time of increase, to be determined by the department of telecommunications and cable, taking into account previous sales of stock of the corporation and other pertinent conditions, which determination shall be in writing and with the date thereof shall be certified to and recorded in the books of the corporation. The directors, upon the approval of such increase as provided in section four and the determination of the market value as hereinbefore provided, shall cause written notice of such increase to be given to each stockholder who was such at the date of the vote to increase, stating the amount of such increase, the number of shares or fractions of shares to which he, according to the proportionate number of his shares at the date of such vote, is entitled, the price at which he is entitled to take them, and fixing a time, not less than fifteen days after the date of such determination, within which he may subscribe for such additional stock. Each stockholder may, within the time limited, subscribe for his portion of such stock, which shall be paid for in cash before the issue of a certificate therefor.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 8 - Shares Authorized to Be Sold at Auction; Place of Sale

Section 8. If such increase does not exceed four per cent of the existing capital stock of the corporation, the directors, without first offering the same to the stockholders, may sell them by auction to the highest bidder at not less than the par value thereof to be actually paid in cash, and shall so sell any shares which remain unsubscribed for by the stockholders entitled to take them after the expiration of the time limited in the notice required by the preceding section. Such shares shall be offered for sale in Boston or such other city or town as the department of telecommunications and cable directs; and notice of the time and place of such sale shall be published at least five times during the ten days immediately preceding the sale in each of at least three daily newspapers approved by said department.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 9 - Issue of Stock or Scrip Before Payment for Shares at Par

Section 9. No such company established under the laws of this commonwealth shall declare any stock or scrip dividend or divide the proceeds of the sale of stock or scrip among its stockholders; nor shall any such company issue any share of stock to any person unless the par value of the shares so issued is first paid in cash to its treasurer.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 10 - Effect of Issue of Stock or Scrip Before Payment for Shares; Liability of Directors

Section 10. All certificates of stock or scrip issued in violation of the preceding section shall be void; and the directors of the corporation which issues them shall be liable to a penalty of one thousand dollars each, to be recovered by indictment in any county where any of them reside; but if any such director proves that, before such issue, he filed his written dissent thereto with the clerk, or was absent and at no time voted therefor, he shall not be so liable.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 11 - Annual Return

Section 11. Every telephone or telegraph company doing business in the commonwealth shall annually, on or before March thirty-first or such subsequent date as the department of telecommunications and cable, for good cause shown in any case, may fix, file with said department a report of its doings for the year ending December thirty-first preceding, which report shall be in such detail as the department prescribes, and shall be called the ''Annual Return.'' Such return shall be sworn to by the treasurer and by the chief accounting officer of such company, and shall include a statement of its business, receipts and expenditures within the commonwealth during the year, its dividends paid out and declared, the amount of its authorized capital and its indebtedness and financial condition. The word ''company'' in this section and in section 12 shall include every person, partnership, association, corporation and municipal lighting plant or cooperative authorized pursuant to section 47E of chapter 164 to engage in the business of the transmission of intelligence by electricity.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 12 - Failure to Make Annual Return; Penalty

Section 12. Any such company neglecting to make the annual return required by the preceding section shall, for the first fifteen days or portion thereof during which such neglect continues, forfeit five dollars a day; for the second fifteen days or any portion thereof, ten dollars a day; and for each day thereafter a sum not exceeding fifteen dollars a day. If any company unreasonably refuses or neglects to make such return, it shall, in addition thereto, forfeit not more than five hundred dollars for each offence. All forfeitures recovered under this section shall be paid to the commonwealth.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 12a - Condensed Return of Business and Financial Condition

Section 12A. Every company subject to the requirements of section eleven shall file with the department, with its annual return required under said section, a condensed return of its business and financial condition, in such form and with such detail as the department requires, signed and sworn to by the treasurer and by the chief accounting officer of such company, setting forth the amount of receipts and expenditures and the amount of each of the principal items of operating expenses, amounts accrued for interest and other carrying charges for capital, taxes, amounts accrued for depreciation and amounts reserved or available for payment of dividends, and at the same time file with the clerk of each city and town in which it operates a copy of such condensed return which shall be kept in the clerk's office and shall be open to public inspection during office hours. If in any year the annual report to the stockholders of such a company sets forth the items specified in this section, such report, duly signed and sworn to as above prescribed, may be filed with the clerk of each such city and town in place of the return herein provided for. The provisions of section twelve relative to returns under section eleven shall apply to returns and copies thereof required to be filed under this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 13 - Telephone Companies; Connections With Exchanges; Equal Facilities for All Companies; Definition of ''person'' or ''company''

Section 13. A person owning, controlling or operating a telephone exchange or service in the commonwealth shall, upon application of a telegraph company, furnish such company with the use of telephones and telephone service, and connection with his exchanges, with the subscribers thereto, and with his telephone service, without discrimination between telegraph companies as to such connection, service or use of instruments furnished or charges therefor for the same class of service. For the purposes of sections 13 to 15D, inclusive, the word ''person'' or ''company'' shall include a municipal lighting plant or cooperative which operates a telecommunications system pursuant to section 47E of chapter 164.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 14 - Connections With Exchanges; Equal Facilities for Applicants for Telephone Service; Cost of Extensions

Section 14. A person owning, controlling or operating a telephone exchange or service in the commonwealth shall, on application and the tender of the charges or rental usual or customary for the class of service required, without discrimination for the same class of service rendered, furnish the applicant with the use of a telephone and telephone service and connection with his exchanges and the subscribers thereto, if the applicant secures the rights necessary to make the connections applied for and pays to the telephone company in advance an amount sufficient to cover the actual cost of the extension, if said extension is more than one mile from any main exchange circuit of such company.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 14a - Enhanced 911 Service

Section 14A. (a) In order to establish statewide enhanced 911 service, upon the written request of the state 911 department, established by section 18B of chapter 6A, hereinafter referred to as the department, each telephone company providing local exchange service in the commonwealth shall provide and maintain enhanced 911 service in compliance with a schedule established by the department after consultation with such phone company.
(b) Each municipality in the commonwealth shall be served by a primary or regional PSAP, that utilizes enhanced 911 network features in accordance with the implementation schedule established by the department under section 18D of chapter 6A.
(c) No provision of law shall be construed to prohibit or discourage the formation of multi-department, multi-jurisdictional or regional PSAPs, or regional emergency communication centers. Any PSAP may serve the jurisdiction of more than 1 public department or a segment of the jurisdiction of a municipality.
(d) A telephone company shall forward to any PSAP or any other answering point equipped for enhanced 911 service, the telephone number and street address of any telephone used to place a 911 call. Subscriber information provided in accordance with this section shall be used only for the purpose of responding to emergency calls or for use in any ensuing investigation or prosecution, including the investigation of false or intentionally misleading reports of incidents requiring emergency service. No telephone company, nor the agents of any telephone companies, shall be liable in any action to any person for the release of information as permitted in this section.
(e) As enhanced 911 service becomes available and where facilities are available, each telephone company and owner of a private coin telephone in the commonwealth shall convert each public coin or coinless telephone within areas served by such enhanced 911 service to dial tone first capability, to allow a caller to dial 911 without first inserting a coin or paying any other charge. Each provider of public coin or coinless telephone shall provide access to enhanced 911 service, and prominently display instructions on use of such system.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 15a - Entitlement to Hand Sets as Station Equipment

Section 15A. A telephone company, upon request therefor by a subscriber who has paid to such company, for a period of not less than thirty-six months, an extra charge for the use of a hand telephone set, so called, furnished to him by such company, in lieu of a wall or desk set, shall continue to furnish, or furnish, to such subscriber such a set as station equipment without extra charge therefor.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 15b - Sales and Transfers to Similar Corporations

Section 15B. A corporation organized under the laws of the commonwealth for the transmission of intelligence by electricity or by telephone, whether by electricity or otherwise, hereinafter called the vendor corporation, may, pursuant to a vote of stockholders owning not less than two thirds of its capital stock, at a meeting duly called for the purpose, sell or transfer to a corporation organized for a similar purpose under the laws of the commonwealth or of another state, hereinafter called the vendee corporation, and which owns a majority of the stock of the vendor corporation, all or any of the property of the vendor corporation located upon, along, under and across the public ways or elsewhere; provided, that any such vendee corporation, if a foreign corporation, is at the time of such sale or transfer engaged within the commonwealth in interstate commerce and shall have been so engaged for not less than twenty years immediately preceding such sale or transfer. Any such sale or transfer of property in the public ways may include the transfer of the locations on which such property has been constructed, and such locations shall be validated and confirmed in the vendee corporation if there is filed by the vendee corporation with the clerk of each city and town in which any of such locations is situated a certificate of such sale or transfer, including a list of such locations in such city or town. Every such certificate and list so filed shall be recorded by such clerk and kept with the records of original locations for poles, wires and conduits in such city or town.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 15c - Emergency Calls; Refusal to Yield Party Line; Misrepresentation of Emergency

Section 15C. Any person who shall wilfully refuse to yield or surrender the use of a party telephone line to another person for the purpose of permitting such other person to report a fire or to summon police, medical or other aid in case of emergency and any person who shall ask for or request the use of such party line on pretext that such an emergency exists knowing that no such emergency in fact does exist shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars. Every telephone company doing business in the commonwealth shall print a copy of this section in a prominent place in each telephone directory published by it.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 15d - Energized Cables in Excavations Endangering Telephone Company Employees; Notice to Electric Company; Precautionary Cooperation

Section 15D. No telephone company which has underground wires or cables in a joint trench or other underground location used jointly with an electric company shall require an employee to perform repair work on its wires or cables in any such trench or other such location where energized wires or cables owned by the electric company are present without giving reasonable notice of the time and the place of the proposed repair work to such electric company.
Prior to any excavation at the location specified for such repair work, the electric company so notified shall notify such telephone company of all energized wires and cables owned by the electric company in the area to be excavated, and if the wires and cables of the telephone company cannot be repaired without exposing the employee of the telephone company to contact with the energized wires and cables of the electric company, the electric company shall at the time of the excavation furnish a qualified employee of the electric company to identify and designate to the telephone company employee or employees all energized wires and cables owned by the electric company in such location.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 16 - Receipt and Transmission of Despatches

Section 16. A telegraph company shall receive despatches from and for other telegraph companies and associations, and from and for any person; and, upon payment of the usual charges for transmitting despatches according to the regulations of the company, shall transmit them faithfully and impartially.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 17 - Rates to Other Telegraph Companies or by Mail

Section 17. A telegraph company shall receive, compute and transmit despatches received at its offices from another telegraph company or by mail, at the same rates of charge as for despatches received for transmission from individuals on the same day and at the same place.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 18 - Violations; Penalties

Section 18. A telegraph company which wilfully neglects or refuses to comply with any provision of the two preceding sections shall forfeit not more than one hundred dollars to the company or person who sends or desires to send the despatch.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 19 - Liability for Negligent Transmission; Claim; Exceptions

Section 19. A telegraph company shall be liable for damages to the amount of one hundred dollars actually caused by its negligence, or that of its agents, in transmitting, receiving or delivering telegraphic messages, and any limit of such liability by contract or regulation shall apply only to the damages in each case in excess of one hundred dollars; but no action therefor shall be maintained unless a written claim is presented to such company or its agent within sixty days after such right of action accrues. This section shall not apply to negligence occurring in a telegraph office established for the convenience and safety of a railroad corporation in the running of its trains, and transacting a public telegraph business only as incidental thereto, nor to negligence in the delivery of messages received at such office.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 20 - Indication of Time Filed and Received on Addressee's Copy

Section 20. Every person engaged in the business of transmitting communications by telegraph in the commonwealth and charging tolls therefor, shall cause to appear plainly upon the addressee's copy of every telegram originating at and destined for a point within the commonwealth, the hour and minute of the day on which it was filed for transmission and the hour and minute of the day of its receipt at its destination, and no charge shall be made for or on account of the additional matter required by this section. Violation of any provision of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars for every telegram in respect to which the violation occurs.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 21 - Location of Construction of Electric Transmission Lines

Section 21. A company incorporated for the transmission of intelligence by electricity or by telephone, whether by electricity or otherwise, or for the transmission of television signals, whether by electricity or otherwise, or for the transmission of electricity for lighting, heating or power, or for the construction and operation of a street railway or an electric railroad, may, under this chapter, construct lines for such transmission upon, along, under and across the public ways and, subject to chapter ninety-one, across and under any waters in the commonwealth, by the erection or construction of the poles, piers, abutments, conduits and other fixtures, except bridges, which may be necessary to sustain or protect the wires of its lines; but such company shall not incommode the public use of public ways or endanger or interrupt navigation. This section shall apply to a company incorporated under the laws of another state for the transmission of intelligence by electricity or by telephone, or television, whether by electricity or otherwise, and which is engaged in interstate commerce within the commonwealth. This section shall apply to a municipal lighting plant or cooperative that operates a telecommunications system outside the limits of its service territory pursuant to section 47E of chapter 164, but only for construction that is outside its service territory.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 21a - Coming Into Close Proximity to High Voltage Lines

Section 21A. No person shall require or permit any employee to operate a crane, power shovel or other such types of construction equipment in close proximity to overhead high voltage lines; nor to enter upon any land, building or other premises to engage in construction work, including excavation, demolition, repair or other such work or to erect, install, operate or store in or upon such premises any machinery or construction equipment, including well drilling, pile driving or hoisting equipment, where it is intended to perform such work or operate such equipment in close proximity to overhead high voltage lines unless and until contact with said high voltage lines has been effectively guarded against in the manner hereinafter prescribed. For the purposes of this section and sections twenty-one B to twenty-one G the words ''in close proximity to overhead high voltage lines'' shall mean within six feet of such lines.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 21b - Protection of Overhead High Voltage Lines

Section 21B. The operation or erection of any tools, machinery or equipment, or any part thereof capable of vertical, lateral, or swinging motion; the handling or storage of any supplies, materials or apparatus or the moving of any house or other building, or any part thereof, under, over, by or near overhead high voltage lines, shall be prohibited, if at any time during such operation or other manipulation it is intended or necessary to bring such equipment, tools, materials, buildings or any part thereof within six feet of such overhead high voltage lines, except where such high voltage lines have been effectively guarded against danger from accidental contact, by either:
(1) The erection of mechanical barriers to prevent physical contact with high voltage conductors; or
(2) De-energizing the high voltage conductors and grounding where necessary. Only in the case of either of such exceptions may the six foot clearance required be reduced. The required six foot clearance shall not be provided by movement of the conductors through strains impressed by attachments or otherwise upon the structures supporting the overhead high voltage lines, nor upon any equipment, fixtures, or attachments thereon.
If neither (1) or (2) are practicable in the opinion of the utility company or other owner or operator of such overhead lines, and it is necessary to temporarily relocate the high voltage conductors, mutually agreeable arrangements shall be made with the owner or operator of such lines for their temporary relocation.
(3) In addition to (1) and (2), an insulated cagetype guard or other effective protective device of a type approved by the commissioner of labor and industries shall be installed about the boom or arm of all hoisting or other such construction equipment, except backhoes or dippers, being operated in proximity of overhead high voltage lines.
(4) All mechanical barriers and all insulated protective devices referred to herein shall be of such character and construction as are suited to work operations, and adequate for the electrical conditions to be encountered.
(5) All mechanical barriers and all insulated protective devices shall be maintained in good functioning condition and shall be subject to periodic inspection.
The provisions of this section and the preceding section, insofar as they require the erection of mechanical barriers or the de-energizing of high voltage conductors, shall not apply to the transportation of a crane, power shovel or other similar types of construction equipment upon a public way when such equipment is being transported to a construction site.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 21c - Warnings; Operation of Equipment Near High Voltage Lines

Section 21C. The owner, agent or employer responsible for the operation of equipment shall post and maintain in plain view of the operator on each crane, derrick, power shovel, drilling rig, hay loader, hay stacker, pile driver, or similar apparatus, any part of which is capable of vertical, lateral or swinging motion, an approved weather-resistant warning sign legible at twelve feet reading ''WARNING—Unlawful to operate this equipment within SIX FEET of high voltage lines.''
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 166 - Telephone and Telegraph Companies, and Lines for the Transmission of Electricity › Section 21d - Warning Signs; Size; Posting

Section 21D. Warning signs shall be placed: (1) Within the equipment readily visible to operator of cranes and other equipment when at the controls of such equipment;
(2) On the outside of equipment in such number and locations as to be readily visible to mechanics or other persons engaged in the work operations.
Warning signs shall be not less than five inches in height, nor less than seven inches in width.