Florida Administrative Code › 25 - PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION › 25 - Departmental › Chapter 25-4 - TELEPHONE COMPANIES › Part X - TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACCESS SYSTEM › Section 25-4.160 - Operation of Telecommunications Relay Service

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
(1) For intrastate toll calls received from
				  the relay service, each local exchange and interexchange telecommunications
				  company billing relay calls shall discount relay service calls by 50 percent
				  off of the otherwise applicable rate for a voice nonrelay call except that
				  where either the calling or called party indicates that either party is both
				  deaf or hard of hearing and visually impaired, the call shall be discounted 60
				  percent off of the otherwise applicable rate for a voice nonrelay call. The
				  above discounts apply only to time-sensitive elements of a charge for the call
				  and shall not apply to per call charges such as a credit card surcharge. In the
				  case of a tariff which includes either a discount based on number of minutes or
				  the purchase of minutes in blocks, the discount shall be calculated by
				  discounting the minutes of relay use before the tariffed rate is
				  applied.
(2) When a local exchange
				  telecommunications company passes a call to the Florida relay service provider,
				  it shall also forward the calling party's originating telephone number if the
				  calling party's central office has that capability.
(3) To fund the telecommunications access
				  system established under Part II of Chapter 427, F.S., all local exchange
				  telecommunications companies shall impose a monthly surcharge on all local
				  exchange telecommunications company subscribers, excluding federal, state, and
				  county agencies, on an individual access line basis, except that such surcharge
				  shall not be imposed upon more than 25 basic telecommunications access lines
				  per account bill rendered.
(a) A local
				  exchange telecommunications company shall consider an account bill rendered in
				  a manner consistent with its billing practices for other telecommunications
				  services.
(b) Except as otherwise
				  provided by law, the surcharge billed by the local exchange telecommunications
				  companies is not subject to any sales, use, franchise, income, municipal
				  utility, gross receipts, or any other tax, fee, or assessment, nor shall it be
				  considered revenue of the local exchange telecommunications companies for any
				  purpose.
(c) All local exchange
				  telecommunications companies shall include the surcharge as a part of the local
				  service charge that appears on the customer's bill except that the surcharge
				  may be itemized if a company monthly itemizes all local service charges.
				  However, the local exchange telecommunications company shall itemize the
				  surcharge on the initial bill to the subscriber and itemize it at least once
				  annually. The local exchange telecommunications company may deduct and retain 1
				  percent of the total surcharge amount collected each month to recover the
				  billing, collecting, remitting, and administrative costs attributed to the
				  surcharge. All moneys received by the local exchange telecommunications
				  company, less the authorized amount retained, shall be submitted so as to be
				  received by the Administrator within fifteen days after the end of the previous
				  month. Each local exchange telecommunications company shall follow the same
				  procedures for collecting this surcharge as for collecting for other regulated
				  telecommunications services.