SB2731 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB093 17673 AMC 43349 b

93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004
SB2731

Introduced 2/4/2004, by Martin A. Sandoval

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

220 ILCS 5/13-403

from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 13-403

Amends the Public Utilities Act. Changes the requirements for approval of an application for a Certificate of Interexchange Service Authority. Adds guidelines for prepaid calling cards and point of sale services. Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning utilities.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing Section 13-403 as follows:

(220 ILCS 5/13-403) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 13-403)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2005)

Sec. 13-403. Interexchange service authority; approval. In order to protect and promote the legitimate business interests of Illinois certified prepaid calling providers providing intrastate, interstate, and international services, Illinois point of sale retailers of prepaid communication services, and Illinois consumers of these services against fraud, the The Commission shall approve an application for a Certificate of Interexchange Service Authority only upon a showing by the applicant, and a finding by the Commission, after notice and hearing, that the applicant possesses sufficient technical, financial, and managerial resources and abilities to provide interexchange telecommunications service at a reasonable quality and rate to the public on a prepaid basis, and will bear all regulatory responsibility for services sold. A prepaid calling service provider shall provide the Commission with all terms of service in Illinois at which it wishes to sell, including the expected number of cards it will release into the stream of commerce or consumers to be served in Illinois on an annual basis and the rates and surcharges to be built into the prepaid service for regulatory tracking purposes by the Commission. Each certificate approved by the Commission and the terms of service of the carrier shall be recorded by the Commission and given a final order number that can be reviewed by the public on the Commission's website or can be made available directly to consumers and retailers upon request. Each certificate shall include the final order number, the full legal name of the prepaid calling card provider, the customer service number of the prepaid calling carrier, and the corporate officer or directors bearing regulatory responsibility for the card or prepaid service. Each card or point of sale service for intrastate, interstate, or international calling issued by the prepaid calling service provider must disclose (i) all surcharges or regulatory fees that are applicable to the consumer for use of the card or service, the actual number of minutes offered by the card inclusive of surcharges, and the customer service number of the carrier and (ii) the certificated carrier name of the prepaid communication provider. All compliance reporting and documentation thereof submitted to the Commission under the prepaid calling service provider's certificate must be signed by the officer or directly listed on the certificate, as well as the name of the person who is knowledgeable and responsible for the records, and that person must certify that he or she has control of the records in question.

An Illinois retailer who wishes to conduct business with a prepaid calling service provider shall require the production of the provider's final order number that indicates that they were certified, the prepaid calling service provider's full certificated name matching the name listed on the card or service receipt, and written certification by the officer or director bearing regulatory responsibility that this is a bona fide sale by the certified Illinois provider. Upon proof that the prepaid provider is certified in the State of Illinois, the retailer shall produce a signature authorizing the sale of the carrier's prepaid calling cards out of the retailer's place of business with copies to be retained by the retailer and the carrier. This authorization and proof of certification must be maintained by the retailer for a period of one year and the retailer must be able to produce and remit copies of this authorization to the Commission or any other State agency formally requesting proof of the transactions for the regulatory purposes of investigating any authorized or unauthorized providers within 10 business days of said request. Any retailer who is found to have sold a prepaid calling card or point of sale service to an end user without the required certification is subject to fines up to $50 or 5 times the value of the card, whichever is greater, per uncertified card sold depending upon the Commission's review and finding on the particular incident. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the power of the Illinois Attorney General.

The removal from this Section of the dialing restrictions by this amendatory Act of 1992 does not create any legislative presumption for or against intra-Market Service Area presubscription or changes in intra-Market Service Area dialing arrangements related to the implementation of that presubscription, but simply vests jurisdiction in the Illinois Commerce Commission to consider after notice and hearing the issue of presubscription in accordance with the policy goals outlined in Section 13-103.

The Commission shall have authority to alter the boundaries of Market Service Areas when such alteration is consistent with the public interest and the purposes and policies of this Article. A determination by the Commission with respect to Market Service Area boundaries shall not modify or affect the rights or obligations of any telecommunications carrier with respect to any consent decree or agreement with the United States Department of Justice, including, but not limited to, the Modification of Final Judgment in United States v. Western Electric Co., 552 F. Supp. 131 (D.D.C. 1982), as modified from time to time.

(Source: P.A. 91-357, eff. 7-29-99.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.