Full Text of HB0728 96th General Assembly
HB0728ham002 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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Rep. Kevin Joyce
Filed: 3/31/2009
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| AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 728
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| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 728, AS AMENDED, by | 3 |
| replacing everything after the enacting clause with the | 4 |
| following:
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| "Section 5. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business | 6 |
| Practices Act is amended by changing Section 2TT as follows:
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| (815 ILCS 505/2TT)
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| Sec. 2TT. Prepaid calling service. | 9 |
| (a) For purposes of this Section, the terms "Prepaid | 10 |
| Calling Service", "Prepaid Calling Service Provider", "Prepaid | 11 |
| Calling Service Retailer", and "Prepaid Calling Service | 12 |
| Reseller" shall have the same definitions as those in Sections | 13 |
| 13-230, 13-231, 13-232, and 13-233, respectively, of the Public | 14 |
| Utilities Act. | 15 |
| For purposes of this Section, "prepaid calling card" or | 16 |
| "card" means any right of use purchased for a sum certain that |
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| contains an access number and authorization code that enables a | 2 |
| consumer to use a prepaid calling service. The rights of use | 3 |
| may be embodied on a card or other physical object or may be | 4 |
| purchased by an electronic or telephonic means through which | 5 |
| the purchaser obtains access numbers and authorization codes | 6 |
| that are not physically located on a card, its packaging, an | 7 |
| Internet website, or other promotional materials. "Prepaid | 8 |
| calling card" or "card" does not include cards or other rights | 9 |
| of use that provide access to any of the following: | 10 |
| (1) a telecommunications service where the card or | 11 |
| other rights of use and telecommunications service are | 12 |
| provided for free or at no additional charge as a | 13 |
| promotional item accompanying a product or service | 14 |
| purchased by a consumer; or | 15 |
| (2) a wireless telecommunications service account | 16 |
| where the purchaser has a pre-existing relationship with | 17 |
| the wireless service provider or establishes a | 18 |
| carrier-customer relationship through the purchase of the | 19 |
| object. | 20 |
| For the purposes of this Section, "international preferred | 21 |
| destination" means a prepaid calling service that advertises a | 22 |
| specific international destination that is advertised or | 23 |
| promoted either on the card, the packaging material | 24 |
| accompanying the card, or through an offering of sale of the | 25 |
| card or service.
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| (b) On and after July 1, 2005, it is an unlawful practice |
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| under this Act for any prepaid calling service provider or | 2 |
| prepaid calling service reseller to sell or offer to sell | 3 |
| prepaid calling service to any prepaid calling service retailer | 4 |
| unless the prepaid calling service provider has applied for and | 5 |
| received a Certificate of Prepaid Calling Service Provider | 6 |
| Authority from the Illinois Commerce Commission pursuant to the | 7 |
| Public Utilities Act and the prepaid calling service provider | 8 |
| or prepaid calling service reseller shows proof of the prepaid | 9 |
| calling service provider's Certificate of Prepaid Calling | 10 |
| Service Provider Authority to the prepaid calling service | 11 |
| retailer. | 12 |
| (c) On and after July 1, 2005, it is an unlawful practice | 13 |
| under this Act for any prepaid calling service retailer to sell | 14 |
| or offer to sell prepaid calling service to any consumer unless | 15 |
| the prepaid calling service retailer retains proof of | 16 |
| certification of the prepaid calling service provider by the | 17 |
| Illinois Commerce Commission pursuant to the Public Utilities | 18 |
| Act. The prepaid calling service retailer must retain proof of | 19 |
| certification for one year or the duration of the contract with | 20 |
| the reseller, whichever is longer. A prepaid calling service | 21 |
| retailer with multiple locations selling prepaid calling cards | 22 |
| under contract with a prepaid calling service provider may keep | 23 |
| the certification at a central location ; provided, however, | 24 |
| that the prepaid calling service retailer make a copy of the | 25 |
| certification available upon reasonable request within 48 | 26 |
| hours. |
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| (d) On and after July 1, 2005, no prepaid calling service | 2 |
| provider or prepaid calling service reseller shall sell or | 3 |
| offer to sell prepaid calling service, as those terms are | 4 |
| defined in Article XIII of the Public Utilities Act, to any | 5 |
| Illinois consumer, either directly or through a prepaid calling | 6 |
| service retailer, unless the following disclosures are made | 7 |
| clearly and conspicuously: | 8 |
| (1) At a minimum, the following terms and conditions | 9 |
| shall be disclosed clearly and conspicuously on the prepaid | 10 |
| calling card, if applicable: | 11 |
| (A) the full name of the Prepaid Calling Service | 12 |
| Provider as certificated by the Illinois Commerce | 13 |
| Commission; | 14 |
| (B) the toll-free customer service number , and if | 15 |
| such service is not provided 24 hours per day, 7 days | 16 |
| per week, then the hours of service ; | 17 |
| (C) an access number that is toll-free or a number | 18 |
| local to the prepaid calling retailer; and | 19 |
| (D) the refund policy or a statement that the | 20 |
| refund policy is located on the packaging materials. | 21 |
| (2) At a minimum, all the material terms and conditions | 22 |
| pertaining to the specific prepaid calling card shall be | 23 |
| disclosed clearly and conspicuously on the prepaid calling | 24 |
| card or the packaging materials accompanying the prepaid | 25 |
| calling card , or visibly displayed at the point of sale, | 26 |
| including, but not limited to, the following, if |
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| applicable: | 2 |
| (A) the value of the card in minutes or the | 3 |
| domestic rate per minute of the card; | 4 |
| (B) all surcharges , limitations on the use of | 5 |
| minutes available, and fees applicable to the use of | 6 |
| the domestic prepaid calling service; | 7 |
| (C) all applicable rates for international | 8 |
| preferred destinations; | 9 |
| (D) all applicable surcharges and fees for | 10 |
| international preferred destinations;
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| (E) a disclosure statement indicating that all | 12 |
| rates, surcharges, and fees applicable to | 13 |
| international calls are available through the | 14 |
| toll-free customer service number and on the prepaid | 15 |
| calling service provider's website and a statement | 16 |
| disclosing if international rates vary from domestic | 17 |
| rates; and
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| (F) applicable policies relating to refund, | 19 |
| recharge, decrement, and expiration.
If the card is | 20 |
| enclosed in opaque packaging, then the disclosures | 21 |
| shall be printed on the outside of the packaging of the | 22 |
| card the expiration policy .
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| (3) At a minimum, the following information must shall | 24 |
| be disclosed clearly and conspicuously and accurately | 25 |
| provided through the toll-free customer service telephone | 26 |
| number through which the customer is able to speak with a |
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| live customer service representative: | 2 |
| (A) the Illinois Commerce Commission certificate | 3 |
| number of the Prepaid Calling Service Provider; | 4 |
| (B) all applicable rates, terms, surcharges, and | 5 |
| fees for domestic and international calls; | 6 |
| (C) all information necessary to determine the | 7 |
| cost of a given call;
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| (D) the balance of use in the consumer's account; | 9 |
| and | 10 |
| (E) the applicable expiration date or period. | 11 |
| (4) In the case of a prepaid calling service that | 12 |
| consumers access and purchase via the Internet, the | 13 |
| disclosures required under this subsection (d)
shall be | 14 |
| displayed in a clear and conspicuous location, including | 15 |
| conspicuous instructions and directions to any link to such | 16 |
| disclosures, on the Internet site that the consumer must | 17 |
| access prior to purchasing service. | 18 |
| (5) The disclosures required in this subsection (d) | 19 |
| shall also be printed on any signs for display by retail | 20 |
| merchants and on any other promotional material used at the | 21 |
| point of sale that is prepared by, or at the direction of, | 22 |
| a prepaid calling service provider, prepaid calling | 23 |
| service reseller, or prepaid calling service retailer. | 24 |
| (6) If a language other than English is predominately | 25 |
| used on a prepaid telephone calling card or its packaging | 26 |
| or in point of sale advertising or promotional material of |
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| a prepaid calling service provider, prepaid calling | 2 |
| service reseller, or prepaid calling service retailer, | 3 |
| then the disclosures required by this subsection (d) shall | 4 |
| be disclosed in that language on the card, packaging, | 5 |
| advertisement, or promotional material. | 6 |
| Subject to the requirements of item (ii) of subsection (j) | 7 |
| of this Section, the disclosures required under this subsection | 8 |
| (d) do not apply to the recharging of dollars or minutes to a | 9 |
| previously purchased card allowing prepaid calling service. | 10 |
| (e) It shall be a violation of this Act for any prepaid | 11 |
| calling service provider, prepaid calling service reseller, or | 12 |
| prepaid calling service retailer to assess any fee associated | 13 |
| with the prepaid calling card or prepaid calling service, or | 14 |
| impose any charge for any permitted use of the prepaid calling | 15 |
| card or prepaid calling service if the fee or charge is not | 16 |
| disclosed as required under subsection (d) of this Section. | 17 |
| (f) It shall be a violation of this Act for any prepaid | 18 |
| calling service provider, prepaid calling service reseller, or | 19 |
| prepaid calling service retailer to make available fewer | 20 |
| minutes than the number of minutes promoted or advertised on | 21 |
| any prepaid calling card, any point of sale material relating | 22 |
| to the card, or the other advertising related to any prepaid | 23 |
| calling card or service. Any limitation on the period of time | 24 |
| for which the displayed, promoted, or advertised minutes will | 25 |
| be available to the customer shall be conspicuously displayed | 26 |
| on the card, packaging, and promotional material that lists the |
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| minutes, and be consistent with subsection (d) of this Section. | 2 |
| (g) It shall be a violation of this Act for any prepaid | 3 |
| calling service provider, prepaid calling service reseller, or | 4 |
| prepaid calling service retailer to distribute any prepaid | 5 |
| calling card that the prepaid calling service provider, prepaid | 6 |
| calling service reseller, or prepaid calling service retailer | 7 |
| knows provides fewer minutes than the number of minutes | 8 |
| promoted or advertised on any prepaid calling card, any point | 9 |
| of sale material relating to such card, any voice prompt | 10 |
| indicating the number of minutes available, or other | 11 |
| advertising relating to any prepaid calling card or service. | 12 |
| Any limitations on the period of time for which the displayed, | 13 |
| promoted, or advertised minutes will be available to the | 14 |
| customer shall be conspicuously displayed on the card, | 15 |
| packaging, and promotional material that lists the minutes, and | 16 |
| be consistent with subsection (d) of this Section. | 17 |
| (h) It shall be a violation of this Act for any prepaid | 18 |
| calling service provider to provide fewer minutes than the | 19 |
| number of minutes promoted or advertised through any voice | 20 |
| prompt given to a customer at the time the customer places a | 21 |
| call to a dialed destination with the prepaid calling card. | 22 |
| (i) It shall be a violation of this Act for any prepaid | 23 |
| calling service reseller or prepaid calling service retailer to | 24 |
| distribute prepaid calling cards that it knows provide fewer | 25 |
| minutes than the number of minutes promoted or advertised | 26 |
| through any voice prompt given to a customer at the time the |
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| customer places a call to a dialed destination with the prepaid | 2 |
| calling card. | 3 |
| (j) Unless a different expiration date is clearly disclosed | 4 |
| pursuant to the disclosure requirements under subsection (d) of | 5 |
| this Section, it shall be unlawful for any prepaid calling | 6 |
| service provider, prepaid calling service reseller, or prepaid | 7 |
| calling service retailer to provide, issue, resell, or | 8 |
| distribute a prepaid calling card that expires (i) less than | 9 |
| one year after the date on which the card or service is first | 10 |
| used or (ii) in the case of a prepaid calling card that permits | 11 |
| the consumer to purchase additional usage minutes or add | 12 |
| additional value to the card, less than one year from the date | 13 |
| on which the consumer last purchased additional usage minutes | 14 |
| or added additional value to the card. | 15 |
| (k) It shall be a violation of this Act for any prepaid | 16 |
| telephone calling service provider to assess any fee or charge | 17 |
| for any unconnected telephone call. For purposes of this | 18 |
| subsection (k), a telephone call shall not be considered | 19 |
| connected if the person placing the call receives a busy signal | 20 |
| or if the call is unanswered. | 21 |
| (l) Liability under this Section may not be avoided by | 22 |
| simply stating that the displayed, promoted, or advertised | 23 |
| minutes are subject to fees or charges. A prepaid calling | 24 |
| service provider, prepaid calling service reseller, or prepaid | 25 |
| calling service retailer shall not be liable for lawful fees, | 26 |
| charges, and limitations, including lawful conditions of use, |
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| that are disclosed. | 2 |
| The disclosures required under this subsection (d) do not | 3 |
| apply to the recharging of dollars or minutes to a previously | 4 |
| purchased card allowing prepaid calling service.
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| (Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 7 |
| becoming law.".
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