65- 407 C.M.R. ch. 297, § 6

Current through 2024-51, December 18, 2024

Section 407-297-6 - PENALTY

The Commission may impose an administrative penalty against any person, corporation, or entity that violates this rule, applicable statute, or order adopted pursuant to this rule. Before imposing such a penalty, the Commission must provide the offending party the opportunity to be heard regarding the imposition and amount of the penalty.

A. Violations Subject to Penalty. The Commission, in an adjudicatory proceeding, may impose an administrative penalty upon the following entities for the following violations:

1. A service provider who forwards charges for an unauthorized service;

a. A service provider or billing aggregator who is required to be registered under section 3 and who is not properly registered pursuant to that section;

b. A billing agent who bills on behalf of a service provider who is required to be registered under section 3 and who is not properly registered pursuant to that section at the time the billing agent's bill is generated; and

c. A billing agent that fails to comply with any of the requirements of section 5 regarding complaint procedures.

B. Recommendation of Director of the Consumer Assistance Division. The Director of the Consumer Assistance Division (CAD) will provide the Commission with a description of the violation and its severity and make arecommendation to the Commission regarding theamount of any penalty.

C. Penalty Amount. The amount of any administrative penalty imposed under paragraph A may not exceed $1,000 per for violation arising out of the same incident or complaint. In situations where more than one entity is involved with the violation, e.g. a service provider and a billing aggregator, each entity in violation of the rule will be liable for a penalty up to $1,000 per violation. The amount of the penalty must be based on:

1. The severity of the violation, including the intent of the violator, the nature, circumstances, extent and gravity of any prohibited acts;

2. The history of previous violations; and

3. The amount necessary to deter future violations.

For purposes of this subsection, in situations where a service provider, billing aggregator, or a billing agent is notified by a customer that a charge appearing on the customer's local telephone bill is unauthorized and the service provider, billing aggregator, or billing agent either fails to remove the charge from the customer's bill or reinstitutes the charge to the customer's bill without sufficient evidence of authorization from the customer, each time the unauthorized charge reappears on the customer's bill will be considered a separate violation.

D. Repeat Violations. If the Commission finds that a service provider or billing aggregator has repeatedly violated this rule, the Commission shall order the service provider or the billing aggregator to take corrective action as necessary. In addition, the Commission, if consistent with the public interest, may suspend, restrict or revoke the registration of the service provider or billing aggregator.

65- 407 C.M.R. ch. 297, § 6