65-5-106 - Operator-assisted telephone services Carriers whose rates exceed maximum approved rates.
65-5-106. Operator-assisted telephone services Carriers whose rates exceed maximum approved rates.
(a) Any telephone carrier offering or providing operator-assisted services in Tennessee whose intrastate rates exceed the maximum rate approved by the Tennessee regulatory authority or whose interstate rates exceed the maximum rates approved by the federal communications commission (FCC) shall before providing the service:
(1) Identify by name the carrier providing the service;
(2) State all costs for providing the service; and
(3) Offer to switch the customer to any other carrier offering operator-assisted services and inform the customer that the switch will be made without charge.
(b) As used in this section:
(1) Maximum rate approved by the federal communications commission (FCC) means the highest legal rate charged for handling an identical call by a carrier which has been classified by the FCC as a dominant, interstate carrier or, if no carrier has been so classified, means the highest rate approved by the FCC as just and reasonable for an identical call;
(2) Maximum rate approved by the Tennessee regulatory authority means the highest legal rate charged for handling an identical call by a carrier whose rates have been fixed by the authority based on the carrier's cost of providing service; and
(3) Operator-assisted services means all telephone calls in which the customer is assisted by either a human or mechanical operator and includes, but is not limited to, calls billed to credit cards or third parties and all collect or person-to-person calls.
(c) The authority may exempt any carrier from some or all of the provisions of this section upon a finding that the requirements are no longer necessary to protect the public interest.
(d) Any telephone carrier violating the provisions of this section is guilty of violating the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act of 1977, compiled in title 47, chapter 18, part 1, and shall be punished accordingly.
[Acts 1990, ch. 675, § 1; 1995, ch. 305, § 23; T.C.A. § 65-5-206.]