§ 94 — General powers and duties of commission in respect to telegraph corporations and telephone corporations

New York § 94

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law PBS: Public Service
• Art. 5: Provisions Relating to Telegraph and Telephone Lines and to Telephone and Telegraph Corporations

Text

§ 94. General powers and duties of commission in respect to telegraph\ncorporations and telephone corporations. 1. The commission and each\ncommissioner shall have power and authority to administer oaths in all\nparts of the state to witnesses summoned to testify in any inquiry,\ninvestigation, hearing or proceeding and also to administer oaths in all\nparts of the state whenever the exercise of such power is incidentally\nnecessary or proper to enable the commission or a commissioner to\nperform a duty or to exercise a power.\n 2. The commission shall have general supervision of all telegraph\ncorporations, telephone corporations and telegraph lines and telephone\nlines within its jurisdiction as hereinbefore defined and shall have\npower to and shall examine the same and keep informed as to their\ngeneral condition, their capitalization, their franchises and the manner\nin which their lines and property are leased, operated or managed,\nconducted and operated with respect to the adequacy of and accommodation\nafforded by their service and also with respect to the safety and\nsecurity of their lines and property, and with respect to their\ncompliance with all provisions of law, orders of the commission,\nfranchises and charter requirements. The commission shall have power\neither through its members or inspectors or employees duly authorized by\nit to enter in or upon and to inspect the property, equipment,\nbuildings, plants, factories, offices, apparatus, machines, devices and\nlines of any telegraph corporation or telephone corporation.\n 3. The commission and each commissioner shall have power to examine\nall books, contracts, records, documents and papers of any telegraph\ncorporation or telephone corporation and by subpoena duces tecum to\ncompel the production thereof, or of duly verified copies of the same or\nof any of them.\n 4. The commission shall require, with respect to any charge for the\ninstallation or initiation of service of a residential telephone line,\nor any nonrecurring maintenance service charge with respect to a\nresidential telephone line or equipment, that any telephone corporation\nimposing such a charge offer a plan for the deferred payment thereof in\ninstallments over a period of up to one year. For the purposes of this\nsubdivision, charges for initiation of service are charges for the\nconnection of service including but not limited to charges for central\noffice line, premises visit, inside wire and jacks, and any related\nservice.\n