TRUE Fees Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 510 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for certain require- ments relating to charges for internet, television, and voice services, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 14, 2019 Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WYDEN, and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for certain requirements relating to charges for internet, tel- evision, and voice services, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Truth-in-Billing, Rem- 4 edies, and User Empowerment over Fees Act of 2019’’ 5 or the ‘‘TRUE Fees Act of 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S510.IS S510 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 510 IS SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO CHARGES FOR COV- 1 ERED SERVICES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Communications 3 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by adding 4 at the end the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 723. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO CHARGES FOR 6 COVERED SERVICES. 7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 ‘‘(1) ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION.— 9 The term ‘alternative dispute resolution’ has the 10 meaning given the term in section 3 of the Y2K Act 11 (15 U.S.C. 6602). 12 ‘‘(2) COVERED DISPUTE.—The term ‘covered 13 dispute’ means a dispute between a provider of a 14 covered service and a consumer in which the con- 15 sumer alleges that— 16 ‘‘(A) the amount charged by the provider 17 for or relating to the provision of the covered 18 service (including any related taxes, administra- 19 tive fees, equipment rental fees, or other 20 charges)— 21 ‘‘(i) was increased without notice 22 being provided to the consumer as required 23 by subsection (d)(1)(A)(i); or 24 ‘‘(ii) during the period covered by any 25 promotional rate or other discount that 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S510.IS S510 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 510 IS was included in the price that the con- 1 sumer agreed to pay for or relating to the 2 provision of the covered service, did not re- 3 flect the promotional rate or other dis- 4 count; or 5 ‘‘(B) the provider billed the consumer— 6 ‘‘(i) for the provision of a service or 7 for any related taxes, administrative fees, 8 or other charges to which the consumer did 9 not subscribe during the period covered by 10 the bill; or 11 ‘‘(ii) for rental of equipment or for 12 any related taxes, administrative fees, or 13 other charges that the consumer did not 14 rent during the period covered by the bill. 15 ‘‘(3) COVERED SERVICE.—The term ‘covered 16 service’— 17 ‘‘(A) means— 18 ‘‘(i) internet access service; 19 ‘‘(ii) voice service, as defined in sec- 20 tion 227(e)(8); 21 ‘‘(iii) commercial mobile service, as 22 defined in section 332(d); 23 ‘‘(iv) commercial mobile data service, 24 as defined in section 6001 of the Middle 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S510.IS S510 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 510 IS Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 1 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1401); and 2 ‘‘(v) service provided by a multi- 3 channel video programming distributor, as 4 defined in section 602, to the extent the 5 distributor is acting as a multichannel 6 video programming distributor; and 7 ‘‘(B) includes any other service offered or 8 provided as part of a bundle or package with 9 any service referred to in subparagraph (A). 10 ‘‘(4) INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE.—The term 11 ‘internet access service’— 12 ‘‘(A) means a mass-market retail service 13 by wire or radio that provides the capability to 14 transmit data to and receive data from all or 15 substantially all internet endpoints, including 16 any capabilities that are incidental to and en- 17 able the operation of the communications serv- 18 ice; and 19 ‘‘(B) includes any service that— 20 ‘‘(i) the Commission finds to be pro- 21 viding a functional equivalent of the service 22 described in subparagraph (A); or 23 ‘‘(ii) is used to evade the protections 24 set forth in this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S510.IS S510 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 510 IS ‘‘(b) TRANSPARENCY IN ADVERTISING.— 1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 2 graph (2), a provider of a covered service may not 3 advertise the price of the covered service unless the 4 advertised price is the total amount that the pro- 5 vider will charge for or relating to the provision of 6 the covered service, including any related taxes, ad- 7 ministrative fees, equipment rental fees, or other 8 charges, to a consumer who accepts the offer made 9 in the advertisement. 10 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) does not re- 11 quire a provider of a covered service to include in 12 the advertised price of the covered service any tax, 13 fee, or other charge that— 14 ‘‘(A) the provider is required to charge 15 under any provision of Federal law or of the 16 law of a State or political subdivision of a 17 State; and 18 ‘‘(B) is not uniform throughout the United 19 States. 20 ‘‘(c) TRANSPARENCY IN E-BILLING.—A provider of a 21 covered service may not provide a bill to a consumer in 22 an electronic format unless the provider— 23 ‘‘(1) provides the bill, or a notification that the 24 bill is available, by email or a functional equivalent 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S510.IS S510 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 510 IS of email that permits the consumer to view the bill 1 or notification without having to access an online ac- 2 count or the functional equivalent of an online ac- 3 count or to take any similar additional steps; and 4 ‘‘(2) includes in the bill or notification provided 5 in accordance with paragraph (1) an itemized state- 6 ment that breaks down the total amount charged for 7 or relating to the provision of the covered service by 8 the amount charged for the provision of the covered 9 service itself and the amount of any related taxes, 10 administrative fees, equipment rental fees, or other 11 charges, in the same level of detail as would be pro- 12 vided in a paper bill. 13 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS FOR INCREASES IN 14 CHARGES.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 16 graph (2), in the case of a provider of a covered 17 service that enters into a contract with a consumer 18 for the provision of the covered service— 19 ‘‘(A) if the provider increases the total 20 amount charged for or relating to the provision 21 of the covered service under the contract, re- 22 gardless of the amount of the increase or 23 whether the increase is in the amount charged 24 for the provision of the covered service itself or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S510.IS S510 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 510 IS in any related taxes, administrative fees, equip- 1 ment rental fees, or other charges, the provider 2 shall— 3 ‘‘(i) provide the consumer with clear 4 notice of the increase not later than 21 5 days before the increase takes effect, in the 6 same manner in which the provider pro- 7 vides to the consumer a notification that 8 the consumer’s bill is available or, if no 9 separate notification is provided, in the 10 same manner as the provider provides the 11 consumer’s bill to the consumer; and 12 ‘‘(ii) permit the consumer to termi- 13 nate the contract without paying any early 14 termination fee or other penalty; and 15 ‘‘(B) the provider may not increase any fee 16 or other charge for equipment rental unless the 17 equipment is upgraded, whether through a 18 hardware or software upgrade, so as to provide 19 a substantial increase in functionality. 20 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR ADDITIONAL OR UP- 21 GRADED SERVICE REQUESTED BY CONSUMER.— 22 Paragraph (1)(A) does not apply with respect to an 23 increase resulting from the provision, at the request 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S510.IS S510 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 510 IS of the consumer, of a service that is in addition to, 1 or an upgrade of, a service covered by the contract. 2 ‘‘(e) PROHIBITION ON COMPULSORY ALTERNATIVE 3 DISPUTE RESOLUTION.— 4 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION ON CONTRACTUAL PROVI- 5 SION.—A provider of a covered service may not in- 6 clude in a contract with a consumer for the provision 7 of the covered service a provision that requires the 8 consumer to resolve a covered dispute with the pro- 9 vider through alternative dispute resolution. 10 ‘‘(2) UNENFORCEABILITY OF CONTRACTUAL 11 PROVISION.—Any alternative dispute resolution pro- 12 vision included in a contract in violation of para- 13 graph (1) shall be void and unenforceable.’’. 14 (b) TRANSITIONAL RULE RELATING TO DEFINITION 15 OF VOICE SERVICE.—Subsection (e)(3)(A)(ii) of section 16 723 of the Communications Act of 1934, as added by sub- 17 section (a) of this section, shall apply before the effective 18 date of the amendment made to subsection (e)(8) of sec- 19 tion 227 of such Act (47 U.S.C. 227) by section 20 503(a)(2)(C) of division P of the Consolidated Appropria- 21 tions Act, 2018 (Public Law 115–141) as if such amend- 22 ment was already in effect. 23 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 723 of the Commu- 24 nications Act of 1934, as added by subsection (a) of this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S510.IS S510 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 510 IS section, shall apply beginning on the date that is 180 days 1 after the date of enactment of this Act, except that sub- 2 sections (d) and (e) of such section 723 shall not apply 3 with respect to a contract entered into, and as in effect, 4 before the date that is 180 days after the date of enact- 5 ment of this Act. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 Feb 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S510.IS S510 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS