Regulators suspend the telecom (consumers)bill of rights (in CA)

[papau]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-puc28jan28.story
PUC Shelves Phone Rules
Regulators suspend the telecom (consumers)bill of rights, which had been opposed by carriers. Consumer advocates vow to lobby for protection laws.
By Alex Pham
Times Staff Writer

January 28, 2005

California regulators voted Thursday to shelve the first set of consumer protection rules in the nation to cover both conventional and cellular phones, handing a victory to carriers that had complained bitterly about them.

Consumer advocates said the California Public Utilities Commission's 3-1 vote effectively killed the so-called telecommunications bill of rights.

"This is not the end of the issue," said Janee Briesemeister, a senior policy analyst with Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports magazine. "Since the majority of the PUC has turned their backs on consumers, we're going to take it to the Legislature."

The rules — which were adopted by the commission May 27 and technically took effect Dec. 6 — spelled out 15 requirements aimed at protecting people from deceptive marketing and billing.

One would have let customers cancel new service within 30 days without penalty; the current industry norm is 14 days. Other provisions would have forced carriers to give the state's 20 million cellular customers more detailed pricing information and to print phone bills in at least 10-point type to ensure readability. <snip>

[Liberty Belle]

1. The commissioner leading this is a Schwarzenegger appointee.

Here's what a consumer advocate has to say about this:

...Bob Finkelstein, director of the Utility Reform Network in San Francisco, called the vote "a travesty."

"It took four years of concerted effort on the part of consumers and industry alike to come up with the bill of rights the commission adopted in 2004," he said. "They've managed to undo all that in a matter of days."

The article also says that State Senator Debra Bowen (a Democrat who may run for Secretary of State) is considering introducing legislation to protect consumers, effectively reinstating the rules.

There's a detailed article on this in today's San Diego Union-Tribune. I read it in my daily paper; not sure if it's online but the paper's website is www.uniontrib.com.

[papau]

2. thanks for the link

:-)

[Liberty Belle]

3. The UT just posted the wire story online, unfortunately.