New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 14 - PUBLIC UTILITIES › Chapter 3 - ALL UTILITIES › Subchapter 7 - BILLS AND PAYMENTS FOR SERVICE › Section 14:3-7.1 - Billing general provisions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) The customer(s)
				of record, as defined at
				14:3-1.1, shall be responsible for
				payment for all utility service rendered.
(b) Except pursuant to (c) below, each
				utility shall provide an option for discontinuance notices in Spanish, by
				including on each bill a statement, written in Spanish, informing the customer
				that they may request that any notice of discontinuance be provided to them in
				Spanish. The bill shall provide a toll free telephone number for the customer
				to call in order to make such a request. Once the utility receives a request to
				provide a written notice of discontinuance in Spanish, all subsequent written
				notices of discontinuance to the requesting customer shall be provided in both
				Spanish and English.
(c) A utility
				that provides all written notices of discontinuance in both Spanish and English
				shall not be required to provide the option and toll free telephone numbers for
				Spanish discontinuance notices, required under (b) above. Such a utility shall
				instead demonstrate to the Board that it provides all discontinuance notices in
				Spanish, as well as English. The utility shall submit copies of the notices,
				and shall certify that the utility's notice practices provide Spanish speaking
				customers with a notice of discontinuance that is equivalent to or better than
				that which would be provided through compliance with (b) above. If such a
				utility stops providing all written notices of discontinuance in both Spanish
				and English, the utility shall provide the option and toll free telephone
				number in accordance with (b) above.
(d) A public utility shall pay or credit
				interest at the rate prescribed by the Board in
				14:3-3.5, Return of deposits, on
				any overpayment made by a residential customer due to a billing error, unless
				the overpayment is fully refunded or credited to the customer's account within
				two billing cycles after the customer notifies the utility in writing,
				identifying, describing and documenting the error in detail. The following
				shall apply to this provision:
1. For
				purposes of this subsection, "billing error" shall mean a charge to a
				residential customer in excess of that approved by the Board for the type of
				service supplied to that customer or in excess of the charge due for the
				service supplied to that customer as measured or recorded by a meter or other
				device; except that neither the amount of any estimated bill in and of itself,
				nor the amount due on a budget account installment shall constitute a billing
				error;
2. The period of time
				constituting "two billing cycles" shall be determined by the billing practices
				of the public utility in place at the time of receipt by the utility of the
				written notification by the customer of the error. In no event shall such
				period be considered to be less than 60 days; and
3. Each public utility shall annually provide
				written notice of the requirements in this subsection to each of its
				residential customers.