W. Va. Code R. § 150-6-13

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024

Section 150-6-13 - Provision of operator services

13.1. Responsibilities of Operator Service Providers.

a. Operator service providers shall require their customers (aggregators) to prominently note, on or near telephone sets in guest rooms, dormitories, hospital rooms, etc., and on public and semi-public telephone sets, the following information:

1. Name, address and toll-free telephone number of the operator service provider providing "0+" service to the associated telephone line.

2. Notification that other operator service providers may be used by dialing their carrier access code.

3. Complaint procedures and methods for requesting refunds.

4. Emergency calling information.

5. Dialing instructions for obtaining rate information.

6. Amount of surcharge, if any, imposed by the aggregator.

This requirement shall also be in effect for guest room, dormitory, hospital room, public, semi-public, etc., telephone sets owned by operator service providers.

b. Operator service provider operators shall, upon request and without charge, provide rate information to callers.

c. Operator service providers shall, upon request and without charge, instruct callers who wish to use another carrier to disconnect and dial the preferred carrier's designated access code. If an operator service provider transfers a caller to his or her preferred carrier, such transfer shall not cause the originating billing point to become anything other than the actual telephone exchange from which the caller is calling.

d. Operator service providers shall clearly identify themselves to the callers in sufficient time to enable callers to discontinue their attempt to complete a call without charge, whether the calls are handled on a manual or mechanized basis.

e. Operator service providers shall require, by contract, that their subscribers not block access to local exchange carriers, interexchange carriers or other operator service providers. In the event that an operator service provider believes that blocking at a particular subscriber location is required to prevent fraudulent use of its facilities, the operator service provider can request a waiver from the Commission to permit blocking at that location. Such request will be considered on a location-by-location basis, and will be granted only for such time as is required to eliminate the technical or other problems which make fraudulent use possible. Any waiver request should be limited to a specific location and should include detailed information concerning the location, the number of telephones involved, the serving operator service provider, the volume of operator service calls originating from that location in the most recent month for which data is available, the amount of commissions paid for the traffic, the type of customer premise equipment (CPE) used at the location, the changes required to unblock the equipment, the anticipated cost of unblocking, and the time period that is expected to elapse before unblocking will occur. If a waiver is granted because CPE lacks blocking capability, the waiver will be limited to that particular CPE and that particular location.

f. There shall be no charge for any uncompleted call.

g. Operator service provider operators shall take service complaints from callers and promptly forward the complaints to the appropriate operator service provider personnel for timely resolution. Operator service providers shall have a toll-free telephone number which users may utilize, twenty-four (24) hours daily, to voice complaints and make inquiries. Operator service providers shall retain billing data for each call for a minimum of one-hundred eighty (180) days from the date the call is made.

h. Bills for operator service provider calls shall be sent to the callers or to their designees within sixty (60) calendar days of the date the calls are made.

i. Each local exchange carrier shall arrange for provision of full-time emergency call routing service to every access line originating in its serving area. Such service may be provided in a telephone exchange by the local exchange carrier serving the exchange or by another operator service provider as designated by the local carrier serving the exchange.

j. Provision of emergency call routing service shall be subject to all of the following requirements:

1. The provider shall have a complete and current list of all emergency service telephone numbers for each telephone exchange for which emergency call routing service is offered. These lists shall include, but need not be limited to, the following types of emergency services inasmuch as these services are available:

A. Local Police;

B. Fire;

C. Ambulance;

D. Rescue;

E. Sheriff;

F. State police;

G. Poison control; and

H. Bomb squad.

2. The caller shall not be charged for the routing of an emergency call to the appropriate emergency service provider.

3. The operator service provider operator shall stay on the call until such time that the operator determines that the caller has been connected to the proper emergency services provider and that the operator is not needed for further assistance, such as providing the caller's location.

4. The service shall be provided on a full-time basis.

5. Emergency calls made to an operator service provider on a "0-" basis shall be immediately and directly routed to the appropriate emergency service provider or to the appropriate 9-1-1 public safety answering point. Such emergency calls shall not be rerouted to another operator service provider nor shall the operator service provider advise the caller that the caller should hang up and try another calling method to obtain aid.

k. An operator service provider shall not receive "0-" calls from a telephone line unless that operator service provider has the capability of providing emergency call routing service for that telephone line's service location.

l. When a caller seeks to charge a call on a telephone company credit card identifiable as other than that issued by the operator service provider, the caller shall be informed that the operator service provider's rates will apply.

m. Full toll call detail billing shall not be required for operator service provider bills issued by entities other than regulated telephone utilities.

n. No operator service provider shall be allowed to bill a caller for any surcharges levied by the business establishment providing the telephone over which the operator services provider was contacted. Only tariffed charges shall be billed by the operator service provider or the operator service provider's billing entity.

o. Fraud Prevention.

1. An operator service provider may not bill an aggregator for calls which originated from the aggregator's line through the use of access codes (e.g., 10XXX+; 10XXX+01; 950-XXX) or toll-free prefixes (e.g., 1+800, 1+888), or when the call originating from that line otherwise reached an operator position, if the originating line subscribed to outgoing call screening and the call was placed after the effective date of the outgoing call screening order.

2. An operator service provider may not bill a call aggregator for any charges for collect or third number billed calls, if the line to which the call was billed was subscribed to incoming call screening and the call was placed after the effective date of the call screening service order.

3. Any calls billed through the local exchange carrier in violation of '150CSR6-13.1.o.1 and 13.1.o.2. must be removed from the call aggregator's bill by the local exchange carrier upon identification. If investigation by the local exchange carrier determines that the pertinent call screening was operational when the call was made, the local exchange carrier may return the charges for the call to the operator service provider as not billable.

4. Any call billed directly by an operator services provider, or through a billing method other than the local exchange carrier, which is billed in violation of '150CSR6-13.1.o.1 and 13.1.o.2., must be removed from the call aggregator's bill. The telecommunications company providing the service may request an investigation by the local exchange carrier. If the local exchange carrier, after investigation, determines that call screening was subscribed to by the call aggregator, but was not operational at the time the call was placed, the operator service provider shall bill the local exchange carrier for the call.

p. Operator service providers shall have the ability to perform line busy verification and call-in-progress interruption services or shall, upon request for such service and without charge to the caller, transfer the caller to an operator service provider who can perform such services.

W. Va. Code R. § 150-6-13