Pennsylvania Telecommunications Carriers Beware: Fees for Paper Bills are Not Permissible
April 28, 2014
In a strongly worded and definitive 41-page Order, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (“PaPUC”) made clear its view that telecommunications carriers are not legally permitted to assess a fee to provide a monthly paper bill. The PaPUC applies its interpretation to: (1) regulated and unregulated telecommunications services; and, (2) business and residential customers. Going forward, the PaPUC plans to: (1) deny any tariff provisions seeking to assess a paper bill fee; (2) refer seven unnamed telecommunications carriers to its investigatory bureau for assessing these fees without any related provisions in their current tariffs; and, (3) initiate a rulemaking proceeding to adopt regulations consistent with its interpretation. For telecommunications carriers with tariff provisions currently in effect permitting the assessment of a fee for a paper bill, the PaPUC notes that these provisions were “inadvertently approved” and this Order makes clear that such fees are not legally permissible.
According to the PaPUC, fees to provide a paper bill violate Section 1509 of the Public Utility Code. 66 Pa. C.S. § 1509. This Section applies to all public utilities and states that “All customers shall be permitted to receive bills monthly.” This Section neither “explicitly permits” nor “explicitly prohibits” assessing a fee for a monthly paper bill and the PaPUC reasons that electronic billing was not available in 1978 when this Section became law. Therefore, according to the PaPUC, Section 1509 must be read to protect the right of customers to have a paper bill without conditions. Based on this conclusion, the PaPUC declares that failing to provide customers a paper invoice, free of charge, constitutes unreasonable service in violation of Section 1501 of the Public Utility Code. 66 Pa. C.S. § 1501. The PaPUC was not persuaded that any costs incurred to issue a paper bill could be appropriately recovered through a separate fee for paper bills. According to the PaPUC, “the costs incurred regarding the monthly bill have always been considered normal or ordinary operating costs” and, therefore, must be included in the service rate rather than as a separate line item on the bill. The PaPUC also noted that other utilities – such as electric and water companies – do offer customers online billing in lieu of paper billing. However, in contrast to the fee at issue here, those customers may participate on a strictly voluntary basis and are not assessed fees for continuing to receive paper bills.
A copy of the PaPUC’s Order is available at: https://www.puc.state.pa.us/pcdocs/1274548.docx
Verizon filed a Petition for Reconsideration asking the PaPUC to rescind its order and the Office of Consumer Advocate filed an answer in support the PaPUC’s decision. Final action on the Petition for Reconsideration is pending.
This Eckert Seamans Telecommunications Blog is intended to keep readers current on matters affecting businesses and is not intended to be legal advice. If you have any questions about this article please contact Deanne O’Dell at 717.255.3744 or dodell@eckertseamans.com.