New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 14 - PUBLIC UTILITIES › Chapter 10 - TELECOMMUNICATIONS › Subchapter 11 - ANTI-SLAMMING REQUIREMENTS FOR TSPs › Section 14:10-11.8 - Unauthorized service termination and transfer (slamming)

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) In the event a
				customer notifies the Board that slamming, as defined in this subchapter, has
				allegedly occurred, that portion of the bill that relates to the alleged
				slamming shall be considered in dispute pursuant to
				14:3-7.1 3. In addition, in the
				case of a residential customer, the basic residential local telephone service
				provider, as defined in
				14:3-7.1 7, shall neither apply
				residual or partial payments to the customer's charges for the slammed service
				nor discontinue the customer's slammed service because of nonpayment. A
				customer is required to pay all interLATA and intraLATA toll and local exchange
				charges that are not affected by the unauthorized TSP change.
(b) Reimbursement procedures and TSP
				liability for slamming shall be in conformance with FCC rules at
				47 CFR §
										64.1140, and §§
									64.1160
				and 1170 as amended or supplemented. As of September 17, 2007, the substance of
				those regulations is as follows:
1. Any
				submitting TSP that violates the procedures prescribed in this subsection shall
				be liable to the primary TSP in an amount equal to 150 percent of all charges
				paid to the submitting TSP by such customer after such violation, as well as
				for additional amounts as prescribed in (b)4 below. The remedies provided in
				this subsection are in addition to any other remedies available by
				law;
2. Any customer whose
				selection of a primary TSP is switched without authorization verified in
				accordance with the procedures set forth in this subchapter is absolved from
				liability for charges as follows:
i. If the
				customer has not already paid charges to the unauthorized TSP, the customer is
				absolved of liability for charges imposed by the unauthorized TSP for service
				provided during the first 30 days after the unauthorized switch. Upon being
				informed by a customer that an unauthorized switch has occurred, the recipient
				of the call, that is, the authorized carrier, the unauthorized TSP, or the
				executing TSP, shall inform the customer of this 30-day absolution period. Any
				charges imposed by the unauthorized TSP on the customer for service provided
				after this 30-day period shall be paid by the customer to the authorized TSP at
				the rates the customer was paying to the authorized carrier at the time of the
				unauthorized switch in accordance with (b)3v below;
ii. If the customer has already paid charges
				to the unauthorized carrier, and the authorized TSP receives payment from the
				unauthorized TSP as provided for in (b)1 above, the authorized carrier shall
				refund or credit to the customer any amounts determined in accordance with the
				provisions of (b)4vi below; and
iii. If the customer has been absolved of
				liability as prescribed by this subsection, the unauthorized TSP shall also be
				liable to the customer for any charge required to return the customer to his or
				her properly authorized carrier, if applicable;
3. Absolution procedures where the customer
				has not paid charges are as follows:
i. This
				paragraph shall only apply after a customer has alleged that an unauthorized
				switch has occurred and the customer has not paid charges to the allegedly
				unauthorized TSP for service for 30 days, or a portion thereof, after the
				unauthorized switch is alleged to have occurred;
ii. An allegedly unauthorized TSP shall
				remove all charges incurred for service provided during the first 30 days after
				the alleged unauthorized switch from a customer's bill upon notification that
				such unauthorized switch is alleged to have occurred;
iii. An allegedly unauthorized TSP may
				challenge a customer's allegation that an unauthorized switch has occurred. An
				allegedly unauthorized TSP choosing to challenge such allegation shall
				immediately notify the complaining customer that: the unauthorized TSP is
				required to file the challenge with the Board within 30 days of the date of
				removal of charges from the complaining customer's bill in accordance with
				(b)3ii above. The TSP, upon investigation, is required to provide the Board
				with the name, address, phone number of the customer, the date of the alleged
				slam, the name of the unauthorized TSP to which service was switched, the type
				of services that were switched, and any evidence to substantiate the TSP's
				position. The alleged unauthorized TSP may reinstate charges to a customer's
				bill which were removed pursuant to the provisions of (b)3ii above upon notice
				that an investigation was completed by the Division of Customer Assistance that
				determined the switch was authorized;
iv. If it is determined after reasonable
				investigation that an unauthorized switch, as defined by
				14:10-11.1, has occurred, the
				Board or its designees will issue a notice indicating that the customer is
				entitled to absolution from the charges incurred during the first 30 days after
				the unauthorized TSP switch occurred, and neither the authorized nor
				unauthorized TSP may pursue any collection against the customer for those
				charges;
v. If the customer has
				incurred charges for services provided for more than 30 days after the
				unauthorized TSP switch, the unauthorized TSP shall forward the billing
				information for such services to the authorized TSP, which may bill the
				customer for such services using either of the following means:
(1) The amount of the charge may be
				determined by a re-rating of the services provided based on what the authorized
				TSP would have charged the customer for the same services had an unauthorized
				switch not occurred; or
(2) The
				amount of the charge may be determined using a 50 percent proxy rate as
				follows: Upon receipt of billing information from the unauthorized TSP, the
				authorized TSP may bill the customer for 50 percent of the rate the
				unauthorized TSP would have charged the customer for the services provided.
				However, the customer shall have the right to reject use of this 50 percent
				proxy method and require that the authorized carrier perform a re-rating of the
				services provided, as described in (b)3v(1) above;
vi. If the unauthorized TSP received payment
				from the customer for services provided after the first 30 days after the
				unauthorized switch occurred, the obligations for payments and refunds provided
				for in this subsection shall apply to those payments; and
vii. If the Board or its designee determines
				after reasonable investigation that the TSP switch was authorized, the TSP may
				re-bill the customer for charges incurred; and
4. Reimbursement procedures where the
				customer has paid charges are as follows:
i.
				The procedures in this paragraph shall only apply after an unauthorized switch
				has occurred and the customer has paid charges to an allegedly unauthorized
				TSP;
ii. If the Board or its
				designee had determined after reasonable investigation that an unauthorized
				switch has occurred, it shall issue a notice directing the unauthorized carrier
				to forward to the authorized TSP the following:
(1) An amount equal to 150 percent of all
				charges paid by the customer to the unauthorized TSP; and
(2) Copies of any telephone bills from the
				unauthorized carrier to the customer;
iii. A copy of the notice under (b)4ii above
				shall be sent to the customer, the unauthorized TSP, and the authorized
				TSP;
iv. Compliance with (b)4ii and
				iii above does not preclude the Board from seeking additional administrative
				remedies where deemed appropriate;
v. Within 10 days of receipt of the amount
				provided for in (b)4ii(1) above, the authorized TSP shall provide a refund or
				credit to the customer in the amount of 50 percent of all charges paid by the
				customer to the unauthorized TSP. The customer has the option of asking the
				authorized TSP to re-rate the unauthorized carrier's charges based on the rates
				of the authorized TSP and, on behalf of the customer, seek an additional refund
				from the unauthorized TSP, to the extent that the re-rated amount exceeds the
				50 percent of all charges paid by the customer to the unauthorized TSP. The
				authorized TSP shall also send notice to the Board Secretary and the Director
				of Customer Assistance that it has given a refund or credit to the
				customer;
vi. If an authorized TSP
				incurs billing and collection expenses in collecting charges from the
				unauthorized TSP, the unauthorized TSP shall reimburse the authorized TSP for
				reasonable expenses;
vii. If the
				authorized TSP has not received payment from the unauthorized TSP as required
				by (b)4v above, the authorized TSP is not required to provide any refund or
				credit to the customer. The authorized TSP shall, within 45 days of receiving
				the notice or decision as described in (b)4ii and iii above, inform the
				customer and the Director of Customer Assistance if the unauthorized TSP has
				failed to forward to it the appropriate charges, and also inform the customer
				of his or her right to pursue a claim against the unauthorized TSP for a refund
				of all charges paid to the unauthorized TSP; and
viii. Where possible, the properly authorized
				TSP shall reinstate the customer in any premium program in which that customer
				was enrolled prior to the unauthorized switch, if the customer's participation
				in that program was terminated because of the unauthorized switch. If the
				customer has paid charges to the unauthorized TSP, the properly authorized TSP
				shall also provide or restore to the customer any premiums to which the
				customer would have been entitled had the unauthorized switch not occurred. The
				authorized TSP must comply with the requirements of this paragraph regardless
				of whether it is able to recover from the unauthorized TSP any charges that
				were paid by the customer.