SB2748 Summary

• Adds new section to Chapter 269, Hawaii Revised Statutes prohibiting telecommunications carriers from including unauthorized charges on subscriber bills.

• Requires written orders for products or services to be separate documents from solicitations, using minimum 10-point type and unambiguous language.

• Mandates billing telephone companies clearly identify and separate charges by entity, with each charge including amount, service description, and dispute resolution contact information including Public Utilities Commission phone number.

• Establishes that service disconnection may only occur for nonpayment of basic local exchange, intraLATA long distance, interLATA long distance, and international telephone service charges.

• Requires entities generating charges to resolve disputes within 30 days, with rebuttable presumption that unverified charges were unauthorized, and directs Public Utilities Commission to adopt implementing rules by July 1, 2015.