2023 New York Laws › PBS - Public Service › Article 5 - Provisions Relating to Telegraph and Telephone Lines and to Telephone and Telegraph Corporations › 92 - Rate Schedules.

§  92.  Rate  schedules.  1.  Every  telegraph  corporation  and every
telephone corporation shall print and file with the commission schedules
showing all rates, rentals and charges for service  of  each  and  every
kind  by  or over its line between points in this state and between each
point upon its line and all points upon every line leased or operated by
it and between each point upon its line  or  upon  any  line  leased  or
operated  by  it  and all points upon the line of any other telegraph or
telephone corporation whenever a through service  or  joint  rate  shall
have  been  established  between any two points. If no joint rate over a
through line has been  established  the  several  corporations  in  such
through  line  shall file with the commission the separately established
rates and charges applicable where through  service  is  afforded.  Such
schedule  shall  plainly  state  the  places  between which telephone or
telegraph service, or both,  will  be  rendered  and  shall  also  state
separately  all  charges  and  all  privileges  or facilities granted or
allowed and any rules or regulations or forms of contract which  may  in
any  wise change, affect or determine any or the aggregate of the rates,
rentals or charges for the service  rendered.  Such  schedule  shall  be
plainly printed and kept open to public inspection. The commission shall
have the power to prescribe the form of every such schedule and may from
time  to  time  prescribe,  by  order,  changes in the form thereof. The
commission shall also have power to establish rules and regulations  for
keeping  such  schedules  open to public inspection and may from time to
time  modify  the  same.  Every  telegraph  corporation  and   telephone
corporation  shall file with the commission as and when required by it a
copy of any contract, agreement or arrangement in writing with any other
telegraph  corporation  or  telephone  corporation  or  with  any  other
corporation,   association   or  person  relating  in  any  way  to  the
construction, maintenance or use of a telegraph line or  telephone  line
or  service by or rates and charges over or upon any such telegraph line
or telephone line.
2. (a) No change shall be made in any rate, charge or rental, or joint
rate, charge or rental applicable to regulated basic services,  switched
carrier  access  services,  charges  for  interconnection  between local
exchange carriers, and toll services within a local access and transport
area which shall have been filed by a telegraph corporation or telephone
corporation  hereinafter  in  this  subdivision  called  a  utility   in
compliance  with  this  chapter, except after thirty days' notice to the
commission and to each county, city, town and  village  served  by  such
utility which had filed with such utility within the prior twelve months
a  request  for  such  notice  and  shall be affected by such change and
publication of a notice to the public of such proposed  change  once  in
each  week  for  four  successive  weeks  in  a newspaper having general
circulation in each county containing territory affected by the proposed
change. No other change shall be made in any rate, charge or rental,  or
joint  rate,  charge  or  rental  filed  by  a utility, except after ten
business days' notice to the commission and publication of one notice at
least ten business days prior to the effective date of the change  in  a
newspaper of general circulation in each county affected by the proposed
change.  Such  notices  shall plainly state the changes proposed and the
time when they go into  effect.  For  the  purpose  of  this  paragraph,
"regulated  basic  services"  are  defined  as:  residential, individual
business, and public access line network access, connection charges  for
such  network access, local usage, local coin usage rates, tone dialing,
access  to  emergency  services,  statewide  relay  services,   operator
assistance  services,  director  listings,  and  provisions  that affect
privacy protections.
(b) All proposed changes shall be shown by  filing  new  schedules  or
shall  be plainly indicated upon the schedules filed and in force at the
time and kept open to public inspection. The commission, for good  cause
shown, may, except in the case of major changes, allow changes in rates,
charges  or  rentals  to take effect prior to the end of such thirty-day
period or such ten-day period and without publication of notice  to  the
public under such conditions as it may prescribe. All such changes shall
be  immediately  indicated  upon  its  schedules  by  such  utility. The
commission may delegate to the secretary of the commission its authority
to approve a change to a schedule postponing the effective date of  such
schedule  previously  filed with the commission and for good cause shown
to allow the postponement to take  effect  prior  to  the  end  of  such
thirty-day period or ten-day period and without publication of notice to
the public.
(c) For the purpose of this subdivision, "major changes" shall mean an
increase  in  rates,  charges  and  rentals  which  would  increase  the
aggregate revenues of the  applicant  more  than  the  greater  of  five
hundred  thousand  dollars  or  two  and one-half percent, but shall not
include changes in rates, charges or rentals allowed to go  into  effect
by  the  commission  or  made by the utility pursuant to an order of the
commission after hearings held upon notice to the public. If an increase
in rates, charges and rentals would increase the aggregate  revenues  of
the applicant by less than five hundred thousand dollars, the commission
may  hold a hearing pursuant to paragraph (e) of this subdivision and/or
provide a statement pursuant to subdivision four of this section.
(d) No utility shall charge, demand, collect or  receive  a  different
compensation  for any service rendered or to be rendered than the charge
applicable as specified in its schedule on file and in effect. Nor shall
any utility refund or remit directly or indirectly any  portion  of  the
rate  or  charge  so  specified,  nor  extend  to any person any form of
contract or agreement, or any rule or regulation, or  any  privilege  or
facility,  except  such  as  are  specified in its schedule filed and in
effect and regularly and uniformly extended to all  persons  under  like
circumstances for the like or substantially similar service.
(e)  Whenever there shall be filed with the commission by any utility,
any schedule stating a new rate or charge, or any change in any form  of
contract  or  agreement  or any rule or regulation relating to any rate,
charge or  service,  or  in  any  general  privilege  or  facility,  the
commission  may  at  any  time within sixty days from the date when such
schedule would or has become effective, either upon  complaint  or  upon
its own initiative, and, if it so orders, without answer or other formal
pleading  by  the  utility,  but  upon reasonable notice, hold a hearing
concerning the propriety of a change proposed by  the  filing.  If  such
change  is  a  major  change  the  commission shall hold such a hearing.
Pending such hearing and decision thereon, the commission,  upon  filing
with such schedule and delivering to the utility, a statement in writing
of its reasons therefor, may suspend the operation of such schedule, but
not for a longer period than one hundred and twenty days beyond the time
when  it  would  otherwise  go  into effect. After full hearing, whether
completed before or after it goes into effect, the commission  may  make
such order in reference thereto as would be proper in a proceeding begun
after the rate, charge, form of contract or agreement, rule, regulation,
service,  general  privilege  or facility has become effective.. If such
hearing cannot be concluded within the period  of  suspension  as  above
stated,  the  commission may extend the suspension for a further period,
not exceeding six months. The commission may, as authorized  by  section
ninety-seven  of  this  article,  establish  temporary rates, charges or
rentals, for any period of suspension under this section.
(f) At any hearing involving a change or a proposed change  of  rates,
the  burden  of  proof  to  show  that  the change or proposed change if
proposed by the utility, or that the existing rate, if it is proposed to
reduce the rate, is just and reasonable shall be upon the  utility;  and
the  commission  may  give to the hearing and decision of such questions
preference over all other questions pending before it.
(g) During the suspension by the commission  as  above  provided,  the
schedule,   rates,   charges,  form  of  contract  or  agreement,  rule,
regulation, service, general privilege or facility  in  force  when  the
suspended  schedule,  rate,  charge, form of contract, rule, regulation,
service, general privilege or facility was filed shall continue in force
unless the commission shall establish a temporary rate.
3. No telegraph corporation or telephone corporation  subject  to  the
provisions  of this chapter shall, directly or indirectly, give any free
or reduced service, or any free pass or frank for  the  transmission  of
messages  by  either  telephone  or telegraph between points within this
state, except to its officers, employees, agents, pensioners,  surgeons,
physicians,   attorneys-at-law   and   their  families;  to  persons  or
corporations exclusively engaged in charitable and eleemosynary work and
ministers of religions; to officers and  employees  of  other  telegraph
corporations  and  telephone  corporations,  railroad  corporations  and
street railroad corporations. But this subdivision shall  not  apply  to
state, municipal or federal contracts.
3-a.  Notwithstanding  the  provisions  of  subdivision  three of this
section, the division of military and naval affairs, in cooperation with
the office  of  general  services,  shall  negotiate  with  a  telephone
corporation  or  telephone  corporations  for the provision of telephone
service at bulk rates to residents of this state in military service, as
defined in section three hundred one of  the  military  law,  and  their
families,  which shall include spouses, domestic partners, children, and
parents and such others as meet criteria established by the division.
4. The commission shall require each telephone  corporation  providing
local  exchange service in the state to provide with any application for
a major rate change, as defined in subdivision two of  this  section,  a
statement  of the effect the proposed rate change is expected to have on
the goal of universal service to residential customers.  The  commission
may require such a statement with respect to any other application for a
rate  change  and  shall specifically consider any such statement in its
rate determination.
5. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of  subdivision  three  of  this
section,  the  commission may authorize a telephone corporation to offer
free or reduced basic service for a limited period of time to  introduce
a  present or potential customer to a service not previously received by
the customer.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions one  and  three  of
this section, a telephone corporation may offer free or reduced services
other  than  basic services for a period of time to be determined by the
telephone corporation to a new customer or to an existing  customer  for
the purpose of inducing the customer to maintain such services.
6.  The  commission shall provide that any net decrease in a telephone
corporation's real property tax expense resulting from the provisions of
a chapter of the laws of nineteen hundred eighty-seven phasing  out  the
taxation  of  certain  property  subject  to such tax shall inure to the
benefit of the ratepayers of such corporation.
7. The commission shall provide that any net decrease in  a  telephone
company's real property tax expense resulting from the provisions of the
chapter  of  the  laws  of nineteen hundred ninety-five which added this

subdivision shall inure  to  the  benefit  of  the  ratepayers  of  such
company.