Bill Text: IL HB5211 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act concerning product and services charges billed on telephone bills. Provides that a third-party vendor shall not bill a consumer for goods or services that will appear as a charge on a consumer's telephone bill. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 56-19)

Status: (Passed) 2012-07-18 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 97-0822 [HB5211 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HB5211-Chaptered.html

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Public Act 097-0822
HB5211 Enrolled LRB097 18755 JLS 63990 b
AN ACT concerning business.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business
Practices Act is amended by changing Section 2HHH as follows:
(815 ILCS 505/2HHH)
Sec. 2HHH. Product Authorization and verification for
product and service charges to be billed on a telephone bill
prohibited.
(a) Definitions. For purposes of this Section:
"Billing agent" means a person that submits charges for
services or goods to a telecommunications carrier on behalf of
a third-party vendor.
"Third-party vendor" means an entity not affiliated with a
telecommunications carrier that sells services or goods to a
consumer.
"Telecommunications carrier" has the same meaning as
defined in Section 13-202 of the Public Utilities Act.
(b) A third-party vendor shall not bill, directly or
through an intermediary, a consumer for goods or services that
will appear as a charge on a consumer's telephone bill.
(c) A billing agent, on behalf of a third-party vendor,
shall not submit, directly or through an intermediary, a charge

to a telecommunications carrier for goods or services that will
appear as a charge on a consumer's telephone bill.
(d) Any person who violates this Section commits an
unlawful practice within the meaning of this Act.
(e) This Section does not apply to:
(1) services or goods provided by a telecommunications
carrier subject to the provisions of Section 13-903 of the
Public Utilities Act;
(2) services or goods sold by any affiliate of the
telecommunications carrier issuing the bill to the
consumer;
(3) services or goods sold by any third-party vendor
that has a direct contractual arrangement for the joint or
cooperative sale of such services or goods with the
telecommunications carrier issuing the bill to the
consumer; provided however, that the telecommunications
carrier issuing the bill to the consumer shall be
responsible for assuring that such services or goods are
not sold without the informed authorization of the
consumer;
(4) wireless services, as described in Section 13-804
of the Public Utilities Act and any other services or goods
billed by or through a provider of wireless services;
(5) message telecommunications services that are
initiated by dialing 1+, 0+, 0-, or 1010XXX and calls that
are subject to the Pay-Per-Call Services Consumer

Protection Act; or
(6) contributions to any charitable organization
subject to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
"Billing agent" means any entity that submits charges to
the billing carrier on behalf of itself or any service
provider.
"Billing carrier" means any telecommunications carrier, as
defined in Section 13-202 of the Public Utilities Act, that
issues a bill directly to a customer for any product or service
not provided by a telecommunications carrier.
"Service provider" means any entity that offers a product
or service to a consumer and that directly or indirectly
charges to or collects from a consumer's bill received from a
billing carrier an amount for the product or service.
(b) This Section does not apply to the provision of
services and products by a telecommunications carrier subject
to the provisions of Section 13-903 of the Public Utilities
Act, by a telecommunications carrier's affiliates, or an
affiliated cable or video provider, as that term is defined in
Section 22-501 of the Public Utilities Act, or by a provider of
public mobile services, as defined in Section 13-214 of the
Public Utilities Act.
(c) Requirements for submitting charges.
(1) A service provider or billing agent may submit
charges for a product or service to be billed on a
consumer's telephone bill on or after the effective date of

this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly only if:
(A) the service provider offering the product or
service has clearly and conspicuously disclosed all
material terms and conditions of the product or service
being offered, including, but not limited to, all
charges; and the fact that the charges for the product
or service shall appear on the consumer's telephone
bill;
(B) after the clear and conspicuous disclosure of
all material terms and conditions as described in
paragraph (A) of this item (1), the consumer has
expressly consented to obtain the product or service
offered and to have the charges appear on the
consumer's telephone bill and the consent has been
verified as provided in item (2) of this subsection
(c);
(C) the service provider offering the product or
service or any billing agent for the service provider
has provided the consumer with a toll-free telephone
number the consumer may call and an address to which
the consumer may write to resolve any billing dispute
and to answer questions; and
(D) the service provider offering the product or
service or the billing agent has taken effective steps
to determine that the consumer who purportedly
consented to obtain the product or service offered is

authorized to incur charges for the telephone number to
be billed.
(2) The consumer consent required by item (1) of this
subsection (c) must be verified by the service provider
offering the product or service before any charges are
submitted for billing on a consumer's telephone bill. A
record of the consumer consent and verification must be
maintained by the service provider offering the product or
service for a period of at least 24 months immediately
after the consent and verification have been obtained. The
method of obtaining consumer consent and verification must
include one or more of the following:
(A) A writing signed and dated by the consumer to
be billed that clearly and conspicuously discloses the
material terms and conditions of the product or service
being offered in accordance with paragraph (A) of item
(1) of this subsection (c) and clearly and
conspicuously states that the consumer expressly
consents to be billed in accordance with paragraph (B)
of item (1) of this subsection (c) as follows:
(i) if the writing is in electronic form, then
it shall contain the consumer disclosures required
by Section 101(c) of the federal Electronic
Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act;
and
(ii) the writing shall be a separate document

or easily separable document or located on a
separate screen or webpage containing only the
disclosures and consent described in item (1) of
this subsection (c).
(B) Third party verification by an independent
third party that:
(i) clearly and conspicuously discloses to the
consumer to be billed all of the information
required by paragraph (A) of item (1) of this
subsection (c);
(ii) operates from a facility physically
separate from that of the service provider
offering the product or service;
(iii) is not directly or indirectly managed,
controlled, directed, or owned wholly or in part by
the service provider offering the product or
service;
(iv) does not derive commissions or
compensation based upon the number of sales
confirmed;
(v) tape records the entire verification
process, with prior consent of the consumer to be
billed; and
(vi) obtains confirmation from the consumer to
be billed that he or she authorized the purchase of
the offered good or service.

(C) All verifications must be conducted in the same
language that was used in the underlying sales
transaction.
(3) Unless verification is required by federal law or
rules implementing federal law, item (2) of this subsection
(c) does not apply to customer-initiated transactions with
a certificated telecommunications carrier for which the
service provider has the appropriate documentation.
(4) This Section does not apply to message
telecommunications service charges that are initiated by
dialing 1+, 0+, 0-, 1010XXX, or collect calls and charges
for video services if the service provider has the
necessary records to establish the billing for the call or
service.
(d) Records of disputed charges.
(1) Every service provider or billing agent shall
maintain records of every disputed charge for a product or
service placed on a consumer's bill.
(2) The record required under this subsection (d) shall
contain for every disputed charge all of the following:
(A) any affected telephone numbers and, if
available, addresses;
(B) the date the consumer requested that the
disputed charge be removed from the consumer's bill;
(C) the date the disputed charge was removed from
the consumer's telephone bill; and

(D) the date action was taken to refund or credit
to the consumer any money that the consumer paid for
the disputed charges.
(3) The record required by this subsection (d) shall be
maintained for at least 24 months.
(e) Billing agents shall take reasonable steps designed to
ensure that service providers on whose behalf they submit
charges to a billing carrier comply with the requirements of
this Section.
(f) Any service provider or billing agent who violates this
Section commits an unlawful practice within the meaning of this
Act.
(Source: P.A. 96-827, eff. 11-30-09.)