Wisconsin Administrative Code › Public Service Commission › Chapter PSC 172 - Police and fire protection fee on communications connections › Section PSC 172.05 - Assessment of fee

Current through June 24, 2024
(1) SUBSCRIPTION COMMUNICATIONS PLAN.
(a)
Application of fee.
A
			 communications provider shall apply a fee of $0.75 per month on each
			 communications service connection established under a subscription
			 telecommunications plan. The communications provider shall remit the fee to the
			 department using the procedure specified in s.
			 PSC
			 172.06.
(b)
Partial month of
			 service.
If a communications provider charges a subscriber for less
			 than a full month of subscription communications plan service, the
			 communications provider shall assess the fee in the same way that it assesses
			 the countywide 911 charges under s.
			 256.35(3),
			 Stats. A provider that does not assess the 911 fees may assess a full fee if
			 its billing system does not permit the fee to be prorated.
(c)
Multi-line service.
1. If a communications provider furnishes
			 multiple communications service connections to a single subscriber account, the
			 communications provider shall impose a fee according to the following schedule:
a. For subscribers with 10 or fewer
			 communications service connections, $0.75 per connection, per month.
b. For subscribers with more than 10
			 communications service connections, $7.50 for the first 10 connections plus
			 $0.075 per service connection in excess of 10, per month.
2.
a. If a
			 subscriber receives service from more than one communications provider, the
			 communications providers serving the subscriber may not add together the
			 communication service connections to determine the fee imposed on the
			 subscriber. Each communications provider shall determine the fee to be imposed
			 on a subscriber based upon the communication service connections the provider
			 itself provides.
b. A
			 communications provider may not add together the communications service
			 connections from multiple accounts to determine the fee imposed. Only service
			 connections within an account may be added together.
c. Notwithstanding subd. 2. b., a
			 communications provider's billing practices may not have the effect of making
			 it unlikely or impossible for a subscriber with multiple communications service
			 connections billed under a single account to qualify for the reduced fee under
			 subd. 1. b.
(d)
Partial payments
. If a
			 subscriber remits to the communications provider an amount less than the full
			 amount billed to the subscriber in a given month, the communications provider
			 shall first apply the partial payment to any amount the subscriber owes to the
			 communications provider for the communications service provided.
(e)
Billing identification and
			 information.
1. On its bill, a
			 communications provider shall identify the fee in one of the following ways:
a. List the fee separately from other charges
			 on a subscriber's bill and identify the fee as "police and fire protection
			 fee."
b. Combine the fee with a
			 charge imposed under s.
			 256.35(3),
			 Stats., and identify the combined fee and charge as "charge for funding
			 countywide 911 systems plus police and fire protection fee."
c. Combine the fee with basic rates and
			 either do not identify the fee separately, or state that the basic rate
			 includes the "police and fire protection fee."
2. On the first bill on which the fee
			 appears, a communications provider offering a subscription communications plan
			 shall inform its subscribers by bill message of all of the following:
a. The addition of the fee to the monthly
			 bill.
b. The purpose the fee is
			 intended to serve.