§ 378:47 — Charges by Service Providers

I. (a) Upon determining that it is technically and economically feasible, the commission shall require local exchange carriers to permit a customer to place a block on an account that prevents any non-telecommunications-related charges that do not originate from the customer's local exchange or long distance carrier from appearing on the customer's local exchange carrier bill.
(b) A local exchange carrier is prohibited from terminating the essential voice local exchange service of any customer for failure to pay charges from a billing aggregator or service provider that are disputed by the customer.
II. (a) Upon determining that it is technically and economically feasible, the commission shall require electric and gas distribution companies to permit a customer to place a block on an account that prevents any charges that do not originate from the customer's energy supplier or distribution company from appearing on the customer's distribution company bill.
(b) An electric or gas distribution company is prohibited from terminating the transition service, default service, or distribution service of any customer for failure to pay charges from a billing aggregator or service provider.

Legislative History

1999, 168:1. 2002, 12:2, eff. Mar. 25, 2002.