P.R. Laws tit. 27, § 262b
All authorities, public corporations, and government instrumentalities which provide essential services to the citizenry shall provide for an administrative procedure for the suspension of its services for nonpayment which must be adjusted to grant the minimum mechanisms and guarantees to subscribers pursuant to the procedure provided below:
(a) After an invoice for the payment of rates, duties, leases and other charges billed for essential services, the subscriber shall have twenty (20) days to pay or raise objections and to request an investigation thereof before the designated official in the local office from which he/she receives the service, who shall be empowered to correct mistakes or overcharges. The objection and the request for an investigation may be made by mail, telephone, and fax or through the Internet, provided the same is submitted to the addresses and/or specific numbers supplied by the Electric Power Authority and the Aqueducts and Sewers Authority, as the case may be, for these purposes.
(b) The instrumentality must conclude the investigation and notify the outcome thereof to the subscriber within sixty (60) days from the original objection, and in those cases in which additional time is required, the instrumentality, if it so determines, shall do as provided in §§ 2101 et seq. of Title 3. The subscriber shall be notified of the outcome of the investigation in writing, and if the outcome of the investigation is adverse, he/she shall have ten (10) days from the date of notice to pay the bill or object the decision of the official of the local Office, before another official designated as representative of the region or district in which the subscriber receives the service, who shall have twenty (20) days from the date of the objection to resolve such request.
(c) The decision of the official of the region or district shall be notified to the subscriber in writing, who, if the decision is adverse, shall have ten (10) days from the date of notice to pay, or request a revision of that decision and a hearing before the executive director of the authority concerned.
(d) At no time while these administrative procedures are being developed can the instrumentality suspend the service.
(e) If the subscriber requests the revision and administrative hearing provided for in subsection (c) of this section, he/she must pay an amount equal to the average monthly or bimonthly consumption bill, as the case may be, before the hearing is held, taking as a base the consumer’s consumption record for the preceding twelve (12) months. In those cases in which the consumer has been subscribed to the service for less than twelve (12) months, the time during which the service has been used shall be considered for the average consumption, for billing purposes.
(f) In this last stage, the instrumentality shall appoint an attorney, who shall be an employee thereof, to act as examiner or arbitrator and elucidate the subscriber’s complaint, within ninety (90) days following the date on which the case was submitted.
(g) If the examiner or arbitrator resolves against the subscriber and confirms the payment of the bill, the subscriber must pay the balance of the debt in a term of twenty (20) days from the notification of the decision. The instrumentality may, at its discretion, establish a payment plan of the debt. If the subscriber does not pay, the instrumentality may suspend, disconnect or discontinue the service.
(h) The subscriber shall have twenty (20) days from the notice of the examiner’s or arbitrator’s decision to resort in an appeal for review at the Court of First Instance of Puerto Rico, according to the provisions of Act No. 11 of July 24, 1952, as amended, and to the Rules Applicable to the Appeals for the Review of Administrative Decisions before the Court of First Instance. The court shall review the decision of the examiner based on the administrative record, and only with respect to the conclusions of law; the determinations of fact shall be conclusive for the court if they are sustained by substantial evidence.
History —June 27, 1985, No. 33, p. 123, § 3; Aug. 11, 1994, No. 59, § 1; July 29, 1996, No. 83, § 1; Dec. 16, 2003, No. 304, § 1; Sept. 30, 2004, No. 545, § 1.