HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3194 FILED ON: 1/14/2009
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3078
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the Year Two Thousand Nine
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An Act relative to telecommunications and telephone plans. ..
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Chapter 166 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 15 E the following section:-
Section 15F. (A) At no time shall any telecommunications carrier add any additional service to, nor bill, said subscriber without the prior written approval of said subscriber. A telephone bill may only contain charges for products or services, the purchase of which the subscriber has authorized. Any offer to add such services shall be in writing in clear and concise language easily discernable by said subscriber in the same type set as all other information on all bills or applications offered to said subscriber.
(B) Requirements for billing authorized charges. A telecommunications carrier shall meet all of the following requirements before submitting charges for any product or service to be billed on any subscriber’s telephone bill:
(1) Inform the subscriber. The telecommunications carrier offering the product or service must thoroughly inform the subscriber of the product or service being offered, including all associated charges, and explicitly inform the subscriber that the associated charges for the product or service will appear on the subscriber’s telephone bill.
(2) Obtain subscriber authorization. The subscriber must have clearly and explicitly consented to obtaining the product or service offered and to having the associated charge appear on the subscriber’s telephone bill. A record of the consent must be maintained by the telecommunications carrier offering the product or service for at least 24 months immediately after the consent was obtained.