Article 3.5. Cable Television And Video Provider Customer Service And Information Act of California Government Code >> Division 2. >> Title 5. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 1. >> Article 3.5.

This act shall be known and may be cited as the Cable Television and Video Provider Customer Service and Information Act.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
  (a) In an unregulated environment, customers of cable and video providers should get their money's worth for the service they subscribe to, and one way to ensure this is to encourage that customer service standards be established and that customers be informed to those standards.
  (b) Cable television and video providers have made efforts to provide high-quality service to their customers. Cable television and video providers should continue to establish standards for customer service so as to further the development of high-quality customer service.
  (c) It is not the intent of this article to establish standards for customer service, but to encourage cable television and video providers to inform their customers about the standards they have established and to work to achieve these customer service goals.

As used in this article:
  (a) "Cable television operator" means the person or entity providing cable television services through the cable television system.
  (b) "Cable television system" means a community antenna television system, under common ownership and control, serving a franchise area or two or more contiguous or electronically connected franchise areas.
  (c) "Video provider" means any person, company, or service which provides one or more channels of video programming to a residence, including a home, condominium, apartment, or mobilehome, where some fee is paid, whether directly or as included in dues or rental charges, for that service, whether or not public rights-of-way are utilized in the delivery of the video programming. A "video provider" shall include, but not be limited to, providers of cable television, master antenna television, satellite master antenna television, direct broadcast satellite, multipoint distribution service, and other providers of video programming, whatever their technology.

Each cable television operator or video provider in the state shall establish customer service standards. These customer service standards shall include, but not be limited to, standards regarding the following:
  (a) Installation, disconnection, service and repair obligations, employee identification and service call response time and scheduling.
  (b) Customer telephone and office hours; procedures for billing, charges, refunds, and credits.
  (c) Procedures for termination of service.
  (d) Notice of the deletion of a programming service, the changing of channel assignments, or an increase in rates.
  (e) Complaint procedures and procedures for bill dispute resolution.

(a) Each cable television operator or video provider shall annually distribute to employees, to each customer, and to the city, county, or city and county in which the cable television operator or video provider furnishes service to customers, a notice describing these customer service standards. New customers shall also be provided with this notice when service is initiated.
  (b) The notice given to new customers pursuant to this section shall include, in addition to all of the information described in subdivisions (a) to (e), inclusive, of Section 53055, all of the following:
  (1) A listing of the services offered by the cable television operator or video provider which clearly describes all levels of service, and including the rates for each level of service, provided that, if the information concerning levels of service and rates is otherwise distributed to new customers upon installation by the cable television operator or video provider, the information need not be included in the notice to new customers required by this section.
  (2) The telephone number or numbers through which customers may subscribe to, change, or terminate service, request customer service, or seek general or billing information.
  (3) A description of the rights and remedies which the cable television operator or video provider may make available to its customers if the cable television operator or video provider does not materially meet its customer service standards.

After the customer service standards established pursuant to Section 53055 have been in effect for one year, each cable television operator and video provider shall report annually on the performance of that cable television operator or video provider with regard to meeting its customer service standards. This report shall be included in the annual notice required by Section 53055.1.

No provision of this article shall be construed to preempt the prerogative of a city, county, or city and county to enforce customer protection standards that are contained in a franchise or license granted to a cable television operator or video provider pursuant to Section 53066.1 or that are otherwise authorized by law for other cable television operators or video providers.

(a) The legislative body of the city, county, or city and county in which the cable television operator or video provider furnishes service to customers may, by ordinance, provide a schedule of penalties for the failure of the cable television operator or video provider to distribute the annual notice required by Section 53055.1, not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500) for each year in which the notice is not distributed to all customers.
  (b) The city, county, or city and county shall give a cable television operator or video provider written notice of any alleged failure to distribute to all customers the annual notice required by Section 53055.1 before imposing any penalty pursuant to subdivision (a). If the cable television operator or video provider distributes this notice to all customers within 60 days after receipt of the notice from the city, county, or city and county pursuant to this subdivision, no penalty shall be imposed upon the cable television operator or video provider pursuant to subdivision (a).