Full Text of SB2731 93rd General Assembly
SB2731eng 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning utilities.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by adding | 5 |
| Sections 13-230, 13-231, 13-232, 13-233, 13-404.1, and | 6 |
| 13-404.2 as follows: | 7 |
| (220 ILCS 5/13-230 new) | 8 |
| Sec. 13-230. Prepaid calling service. "Prepaid calling | 9 |
| service" means telecommunications service that must be paid for | 10 |
| in advance by an end user, enables the end user to originate | 11 |
| calls using an access number or authorization code, whether | 12 |
| manually or electronically dialed, and is sold in predetermined | 13 |
| units or dollars of which the number declines with use in a | 14 |
| known amount. A prepaid calling service call is a call made by | 15 |
| an end user using prepaid calling service. "Prepaid calling | 16 |
| service" does not include prepaid wireless telephone service as | 17 |
| defined in Section 10 of the Wireless Emergency Telephone | 18 |
| Safety Act. | 19 |
| (220 ILCS 5/13-231 new) | 20 |
| Sec. 13-231. Prepaid calling service provider. "Prepaid | 21 |
| calling service provider" means and includes every | 22 |
| corporation, company, association, joint stock company or | 23 |
| association, firm, partnership, or individual and their | 24 |
| lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by any court | 25 |
| whatsoever that contracts directly with a telecommunications | 26 |
| carrier to resell or offers to resell telecommunications | 27 |
| service as prepaid calling service to one or more distributors, | 28 |
| prepaid calling resellers, prepaid calling service retailers, | 29 |
| or end users. | 30 |
| (220 ILCS 5/13-232 new) |
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| Sec. 13-232. Prepaid calling service retailer. "Prepaid | 2 |
| calling service retailer" means and includes every | 3 |
| corporation, company, association, joint stock company or | 4 |
| association, firm, partnership or individual and their | 5 |
| lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by any court | 6 |
| whatsoever that sells or offers to sell prepaid calling service | 7 |
| directly to one or more end users. | 8 |
| (220 ILCS 5/13-233 new) | 9 |
| Sec. 13-233. Prepaid calling service reseller. "Prepaid | 10 |
| calling service reseller" means and includes every | 11 |
| corporation, company, association, joint stock company or | 12 |
| association, firm, partnership or individual and their | 13 |
| lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by any court | 14 |
| whatsoever that purchases prepaid calling services from a | 15 |
| prepaid calling service provider and sells those services to | 16 |
| one or more distributors of prepaid calling services or to one | 17 |
| or more prepaid calling service retailers. | 18 |
| (220 ILCS 5/13-404.1 new) | 19 |
| Sec. 13-404.1. Prepaid calling service authority; rules. | 20 |
| (a) The General Assembly finds that it is necessary to | 21 |
| require the certification of prepaid calling service providers | 22 |
| to protect and promote against fraud the legitimate business | 23 |
| interests of persons or entities currently providing prepaid | 24 |
| calling service to Illinois end users and Illinois end users | 25 |
| who purchase these services. | 26 |
| (b) It shall be unlawful for any prepaid calling service | 27 |
| provider to offer or provide or seek to offer or provide to any | 28 |
| distributor, prepaid calling service reseller, prepaid calling | 29 |
| service retailer, or end user any prepaid calling service | 30 |
| unless the prepaid calling service provider has applied for and | 31 |
| received a Certificate of Prepaid Calling Service Provider | 32 |
| Authority from the Commission. The Commission shall approve an | 33 |
| application for a Certificate of Prepaid Calling Service | 34 |
| Provider Authority upon a showing by the applicant, and a |
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| finding by the Commission, after notice and hearing, that the | 2 |
| applicant possesses sufficient technical, financial, and | 3 |
| managerial resources and abilities to provide prepaid calling | 4 |
| services. The Commission may adopt rules necessary for the | 5 |
| administration of this Section. | 6 |
| (c) Any and all enforcement authority granted to the | 7 |
| Commission under this Article over any Certificate of Service | 8 |
| Authority shall apply equally and without limitation to | 9 |
| Certificates of Prepaid Calling Service Provider Authority. | 10 |
| (220 ILCS 5/13-404.2 new) | 11 |
| Sec. 13-404.2. Prepaid calling service standards. The | 12 |
| Commission may establish and implement minimum service quality | 13 |
| standards for prepaid calling service, which may include fines, | 14 |
| penalties, customer credits, remedies, and other enforcement | 15 |
| mechanisms to ensure enforcement of the rules. The rules may | 16 |
| also require each prepaid calling service provider to provide | 17 |
| to the Commission, on a quarterly basis and in a form suitable | 18 |
| for posting on the Commission's website, a public report that | 19 |
| includes performance data for prepaid calling service quality. | 20 |
| Section 10. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business | 21 |
| Practices Act is amended by adding Section 2QQ as follows: | 22 |
| (815 ILCS 505/2QQ new) | 23 |
| Sec. 2QQ. Prepaid calling service. | 24 |
| (a) For purposes of this Section 2QQ, the terms "Prepaid | 25 |
| Calling Service", "Prepaid Calling Service Provider", "Prepaid | 26 |
| Calling Service Retailer", and "Prepaid Calling Service | 27 |
| Reseller" shall have the same definitions as those in Sections | 28 |
| 13-230, 13-231, 13-232, and 13-233, respectively, of the Public | 29 |
| Utilities Act. | 30 |
| (b) It is an unlawful practice under this Act for any | 31 |
| prepaid calling service provider or prepaid calling service | 32 |
| reseller to sell or offer to sell prepaid calling service to | 33 |
| any prepaid calling service retailer unless the prepaid calling |
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| service provider has applied for and received a Certificate of | 2 |
| Prepaid Calling Service Provider Authority from the Illinois | 3 |
| Commerce Commission pursuant to the Public Utilities Act and | 4 |
| the prepaid calling service provider or prepaid calling service | 5 |
| reseller shows proof of the prepaid calling service provider's | 6 |
| Certificate of Prepaid Calling Service Provider Authority to | 7 |
| the prepaid calling service retailer. | 8 |
| (c) It is an unlawful practice under this Act for any | 9 |
| prepaid calling service retailer to sell or offer to sell | 10 |
| prepaid calling service to any consumer unless the prepaid | 11 |
| calling service retailer retains proof of certification of the | 12 |
| prepaid calling service provider by the Illinois Commerce | 13 |
| Commission pursuant to the Public Utilities Act. The prepaid | 14 |
| calling service retailer must retain proof of certification for | 15 |
| one year or the duration of the contract with the reseller, | 16 |
| whichever is longer. | 17 |
| (d) No prepaid calling service provider or prepaid calling | 18 |
| service reseller shall sell or offer to sell prepaid calling | 19 |
| service, as those terms are defined in Article XIII of the | 20 |
| Public Utilities Act, to any Illinois consumer, either directly | 21 |
| or through a prepaid calling service retailer, unless the | 22 |
| following disclosures are made clearly and conspicuously: | 23 |
| (1) At a minimum, the following terms and conditions | 24 |
| shall be disclosed clearly and conspicuously on the prepaid | 25 |
| calling card, if applicable: | 26 |
| (A) the full name of the Prepaid Calling Service | 27 |
| Provider as certificated by the Illinois Commerce | 28 |
| Commission;
The toll-free customer service number; | 29 |
| (B) the toll-free network access number; | 30 |
| (C) the authorization code, if required to access | 31 |
| service; and | 32 |
| (D) a disclosure as to where the remaining terms, | 33 |
| refund policy, and conditions are disclosed (for | 34 |
| example, on the card, in the packaging, or in the | 35 |
| display materials). | 36 |
| (2) At a minimum, all the material terms and conditions |
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| of the prepaid calling service shall be disclosed clearly | 2 |
| and conspicuously on the packaging materials accompanying | 3 |
| the prepaid calling card including, but not limited to, the | 4 |
| following, if applicable: | 5 |
| (A) the maximum charge per minute of prepaid | 6 |
| calling service; | 7 |
| (B) all surcharges and fees; and | 8 |
| (C) the expiration policy. | 9 |
| (3) At a minimum, the following information shall be | 10 |
| disclosed clearly and conspicuously and accurately through | 11 |
| the toll-free customer service telephone number for the | 12 |
| prepaid calling card, if requested: | 13 |
| (A) the Illinois Commerce Commission certificate | 14 |
| number of the Prepaid Calling Service Provider; | 15 |
| (B) all applicable rates, terms, surcharges, and | 16 |
| fees; | 17 |
| (C) the balance of use in the consumer's account; | 18 |
| and | 19 |
| (D) the applicable expiration date or period.
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