Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH F. VITALE
District 19 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Exempts cable television subscriber from notifying cable television company, Office of Cable Television, or other complaint officer of cable television service outage to receive credit or rebate.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning cable television service outage credits or rebates and amending P.L.1987, c.422.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.1987 c.422 (C.48:5A-11a) is amended to read as follows:
1. a. The director, with the approval of the board, shall adopt rules and regulations providing for a credit or rebate for outages of cable television service which are six or more hours in duration. The amount of the credit or rebate shall be in one day units, prorated on the basis of the subscriber's monthly rate for each service so interrupted. [In order to obtain a credit or rebate, a subscriber shall notify by telephone or in writing] A cable television company shall, within 30 days of a subscriber's cable television service outage, issue to a subscriber a credit or rebate for the cable television service outage, regardless of whether the subscriber notifies the cable television company, the Office of Cable Television or other designated complaint officer [within 30 days after any such outage] of the cable television service outage. The regulations may provide for appropriate exceptions and limitations.
b. The director shall permit any cable television company that has a service outage lasting six or more hours in duration, to provide to its subscribers other forms of compensation, in lieu of a credit or rebate, to compensate subscribers for the loss of service caused by the outage. Nothing in this section shall authorize a cable television company to require a subscriber to accept an alternative form of compensation in lieu of a credit or rebate to which the subscriber is entitled pursuant to subsection a. of this section.
(cf: P.L.2013, c.97, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill amends existing law
to provide that a cable television (CATV) company is to issue, within 30 days
of a subscriber's CATV service outage, a credit or rebate for a subscriber's
cable television service outage, regardless of whether the subscriber notifies
the CATV company, the Office of Cable Television, or
other designated complaint officer of the service outage. Under existing law, a
CATV subscriber is to notify the CATV company, the Office of Cable Television,
or other designated complaint officer of a service outage to receive a credit
or rebate.