Section 407-870-1 - LATE PAYMENT CHARGEA.Maximum Interest Rate. No utility may impose a late payment charge in excess of 1% per month or 12% annually on the amount overdue on any bill issued in accordance with a utility's terms and conditions of service. B.Amount Overdue. An amount is overdue when it has not been paid by the due date. The due date must be no less than 25 days after the bill is mailed or hand delivered to the customer. A bill is considered to have been mailed on the date it is postmarked. If there is no postmark, a utility must date the bill and deliver the bill on or before that date. C.Terms and Conditions. Any utility which chooses to impose a late payment charge must file terms and conditions conforming to this rule. Any utility that has existing terms and conditions that conflict with this rule must file revised terms and conditions at the time of its next general rate case or when it next revises its rate schedules whichever is earlier. This rule preempts any inconsistent terms and conditions from the time of its effective date.D.Disputed Bill. No late payment fee may be imposed for any time period in which a bill is in dispute pursuant to applicable Commission rules. A customer will have a minimum of 25 days from the data of the resolution of the dispute to remit payment to a utility in order to avoid a late payment charge.E.Exemption for Customers on Levelized Payment Plans. No late payment charges may be imposed for an amount overdue that is the sole result of a budget payment plan (in which interest is paid on credit balances) or from levelized payments under a special payment arrangement developed according to the winter disconnection requirements of the Commission's rules (Chapter 815(9)(F)(5)).F.Exemption for Customers Adhering to Terms of Payment Arrangements. No late payment charges may be imposed on a customer's past due balance while a payment arrangement is in effect, provided that the customer adheres to the terms of the payment arrangement for those arrearages.G.Minimum Amount. A utility may adopt a minimum billed amount for which a late payment charge is imposed.H.Disclosure. At least 30 days or one billing cycle, before a late payment charge program is begun or an existing late payment charge is increased, a utility must disclose to the affected customers the interest rate and methods which will be used to calculate late payment charges. Every bill issued after an approved late payment charge program begins must state the due date of the bill and the effective monthly interest rate that will be imposed if the bill is not paid by the due date.I.Applicability. A utility may seek a late payment charge for overdue residential and non-residential customers or both.65-407 C.M.R. ch. 870, § 1