Connecticut Administrative Code › Title 16 - Public Service Companies › 3 - Termination of Electric, Gas, Water and Sewage Utility Service › Section 16-3-101 - Termination of telephone service

Current through July 10, 2024
A.
Definitions
as used in this section
1. "Complaint" means any allegation or charge
			 of an error in billing or disputed charge; and investigation, hearing and
			 appeal shall mean those activities arising under the regulations in Section
			 16-3-101 from such allegations or charges.
2. "Customer" means any person or entity
			 which has contracted with a telephone company for telephone service.
3. "Delinquent account" means a bill for
			 telephone service, any portion of which has remained unpaid for a period of
			 more than thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of the bill. In the case of
			 a residential account in which toll charges accrued and not yet billed exceed
			 twice the average monthly bill for the previous three months, a bill may be
			 rendered immediately and such bill shall then be considered delinquent.
Payment will be accomplished by receipt at a business office or
				authorized collection agency of the utility. Any subsequent bills issued to a
				delinquent account for telephone service shall be considered part of said
				delinquent account upon receipt thereof. No partial payment of any delinquent
				account shall affect the delinquent status of the amount remaining unpaid on
				such account.
4. "Public
			 Utilities Control Authority, authority or PUCA"means the department of public
			 utility control.
5. "PUCA hearing
			 officer" means a hearing officer designated by the PUCA to conduct hearings
			 pursuant to Section 16-3-101, C, 5, (b). A Hearing Officer shall have all the
			 powers of a Presiding Officer, as defined in Section
			 16-1-2, C,
			 of the Authority's regulations. A Hearing Officer may be a member of the PUCA's
			 staff who performs other unrelated functions as well, but shall not be a person
			 who has participated in the investigation in the same case pursuant to Section
			 16-3-101, C, 5, (a).
6. "Receipt or
			 received" means three days after the date of mailing by first class
			 mail.
7. "Residential telephone
			 service" means telephone service provided by a telephone company to a customer
			 at a place of residence, the major use of which by the customer is of a social
			 or domestic nature and not for business purposes, as defined in the Tariffs of
			 the telephone company.
8. "Review
			 officer" means a person designated by the telephone company to investigate
			 customer complaints and to undertake reviews as provided in Section 16-3-101,
			 C, 4. A Review Officer may be an employee of the telephone company who also
			 performs functions unrelated to his or her review responsibilities. However,
			 the Review Officer shall not be a member of such company's credit department. A
			 Review Officer shall be empowered to review and overrule determinations of
			 members of the company's credit department on subjects within his or her
			 authority as further described in Section 16-3-101, C, 4.
9. "Telephone company" or "company" means any
			 telephone company, corporation, or other entity within the jurisdiction of the
			 Public Utilities Control Authority which provides telephone service.
10. "Telephone service" means local exchange
			 service, toll, foreign exchange, private line service, and any other service
			 provided by the telephone company pursuant to Tariffs filed with and approved
			 by the PUCA furnished to customers by a telephone company.
11. "Termination" or "terminate" means the
			 intentional discontinuance or interruption of service to an individual
			 telephone customer, and shall not include interruption or curtailment of
			 service resulting from mistakes, errors, omissions, or forces beyond the
			 control of the telephone company including but not limited to fire, floods,
			 Acts of God, forced outages, energy or capacity shortages or other
			 emergencies.
12. "Amortization over
			 a reasonable period of time" means payment over a period of time (normally not
			 to exceed three months). The PUCA may specify a reasonable period of time upon
			 completion of a PUCA hearing regarding a disputed bill.
13. "Disputed bill" means that portion of a
			 customer's bill deemed by the PUCA to be in dispute.
14. "Identification" means a social security
			 number, the number of an identity card issued pursuant to section
			 1-1h of the
			 general statutes, the number of a motor vehicle operator's license issued
			 pursuant to section
			 14-36
			 of the general statutes or any other means of identification approved by the
			 department of public utility control.