An Act To Require Oral Disclosure of the Cost of Certain Public Telephone Calls
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 35-A MRSA §7305, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 651, §2, is amended to read:
1. Notice of charges. Any person who owns, controls, operates or manages a public telephone shall provide oral notice of the cost of a telephone call to a person making a collect, operator-assisted or credit card call before the call is placed and a written notice within the immediate vicinity of the telephone and plainly visible to any person using the telephone. The written notice must:
A. Identify the name, address and telephone number of the person who owns, controls, operates or manages the public telephone to whom complaints regarding that telephone may be directed;
B. Inform the person using the public telephone how to contact a local telephone company operator or "911" service operator in case of emergency;
C. Specify the rates or charges for use of the public telephone, including charges for local calls, intrastate calls, "800" or other toll-free calls, uncompleted calls, incoming calls, collect calls, 3rd-party calls and credit card calls; and
D. Contain the identity of the long-distance company that serves the public telephone, explain how the user of the public telephone may, at no charge, obtain information on the rates or charges imposed by the long-distance company, and any additional charges imposed on the user for long distance services.
SUMMARY
This bill requires a person who owns, controls, operates or manages a public telephone to provide oral notice of the cost of a collect, operator-assisted or credit card call to the person making that telephone call before the call is placed.