The Florida Senate

364.3376  Operator services.--

(1)(a)  A person may not provide operator services as defined in s. 364.02 without first obtaining from the commission a certificate of public convenience and necessity as an operator services provider.

(b)  This section does not apply to operator services provided by a local exchange telecommunications company or by an intrastate interexchange telecommunications company, except as required by the commission in the public interest.

(2)  Notwithstanding any finding by the commission that a service or facility is subject to competition and should be regulated pursuant to ¹s. 364.338, all intrastate operator service providers are subject to the jurisdiction of the commission and shall render operator services pursuant to tariffs approved by the commission.

(3)  For operator services, the commission shall establish maximum rates and charges for all providers of such services within the state.

(4)  Operator service providers shall:

(a)  Require operators to:

1.  Clearly identify the operator service provider to all end users before the call is made.

2.  When requested, provide rate and service information.

3.  When requested, provide the number to call for complaints and inquiries.

4.  When requested, provide the procedure for reporting service difficulties and methods of obtaining refunds.

(b)  Not intentionally charge for incompleted calls and provide full refund or credit for any misbilled or incomplete calls.

(c)  Bill for services approved in their tariff and only at the tariff or otherwise approved rate, and disclose their names on bills which include charges for services rendered.

(5)  Each call aggregator shall post in the immediate vicinity of each telephone available to the public the name of the operator service provider, a toll-free customer service number, a statement that rate quotes are available upon request, and instructions on how the end user may access other operator service providers and such other information determined by the commission to be necessary in the public interest.

(6)  Neither the operator service provider nor the call aggregator shall block or prevent an end user's access to the end user's operator service provider of choice, except that the commission shall grant limited waivers to operator service providers or call aggregators upon a showing that such waiver is in the public interest.

(7)  The local exchange telecommunications company shall not disconnect local service for properly contested nonpayment of any operator services bill.

(8)  The commission shall adopt and enforce requirements for the provision of services by operator services companies and call aggregators.

(9)  Operator service providers and local exchange companies providing billing and collection services shall only bill and collect the tariffed rates and charges.

(10)  Notwithstanding any finding by the commission that a service or facility is subject to competition and should be regulated pursuant to ¹s. 364.338, a local exchange telecommunications company shall not perform billing and collection functions relating to regulated telecommunications services provided by an operator services provider unless the operator services provider has filed a statement with the local exchange telecommunications company signed by a corporate officer, or by another authorized person having personal knowledge, that all regulated telecommunications services to be billed shall be rendered pursuant to tariffs approved by the commission.

(11)  The commission shall have the responsibility for conducting an effective program of random, no-notice compliance investigations of the operator services providers and call aggregators operating within the state. When the commission finds a blocking violation, it shall determine whether the blocking is the responsibility of the call aggregator or the operator services provider and may fine the responsible party in accordance with s. 364.285 Upon the failure of the responsible party to correct a violation within a mandatory time limit established by the commission or upon a proven pattern of intentional blocking, the commission shall order the discontinuance of the call aggregator's telephone service or revoke the operator services provider's certificate, as applicable.

History.--ss. 36, 49, ch. 90-244; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 17, ch. 2003-32.

¹Note.--Repealed by s. 36, ch. 95-403.