65- 407 C.M.R. ch. 280, § 10

Current through 2024-25, June 19, 2024
Section 407-280-10 - NOTICE BY ALL INTEREXCHANGE CARRIERS PRIOR TO EFFECTIVE DATE OF RATE INCREASES
A.General Requirement. At least 15 days prior to the effective date of a rate increase of 20% or more in the rate for any individual interexchange service offered by any interexchange carrier (IXC) (including LECs offering interexchange service) that is subject to the authority of the Commission, the IXC shall send notice by a bill insert or by separate mailing to all affected customers, as defined in subsection C. For the purpose of this section, a rate shall be considered to be increased by 20% if rate increases for the service, including the current increase, cumulatively amount to 20% or more over the year prior to the current increase. For the purpose of this section, a "rate increase" shall include any term and condition that has the effect of raising a rate for one or more customers.
B.Cancellation Period Added to Notice Period. If a rate (including a rate pursuant to special contract) contains a term and condition stating that cancellation of a service by a customer will not be effective until a stated time period following notice given by the customer to the interexchange carrier, the notice period applicable to the interexchange carrier required by subsection A of this section shall equal 15 days plus the length of the period required for the customer to provide notice of cancellation.
C.Affected Customer: Definition. A customer is affected by a rate if the customer has used the service that is subject to the rate increase of 20% or greater and has incurred total charges for the service of $5 or more, during either the month prior to or after the filing of the proposed increase, or has incurred charges for the service that total $15 or more for the 3 month period prior to the filing of the proposed increase.
D.Alternative Compliance. An interexchange carrier may satisfy this requirement by sending notice of all increases of 20% or more to all its customers.
E. Exemption. An incumbent local exchange carrier or any other interexchange carrier that-has complied with the notice requirements of Chapter 110, §718 following a general rate case is not required to comply with this subsection.

65- 407 C.M.R. ch. 280, § 10