North Carolina § 62-54 - Notification of opportunity to object to telephone solicitation.

§ 62-54. Notification of opportunity to object to telephone solicitation.

The Commission shall require each local exchange company and each competing local provider certified to do business in North Carolina to notify all telephone subscribers who subscribe to residential service from that company of the provisions of Article 4 of Chapter 75 of the General Statutes and of the federal laws and regulations allowing consumers to object to receiving telephone solicitations. The notification shall be drafted pursuant to G.S. 75-102(m), shall be distributed at least annually, and shall be distributed by one of the following methods: bill insert or bill message, direct mail, or e-mail when the subscriber has affirmatively selected e-mail as a means of notification. The Commission shall also ensure that this information is printed in a clear, conspicuous manner in the consumer information pages of each telephone directory distributed to residential customers. History (2000-161, s. 3; 2003-411, s. 5; 2009-122, s. 2.) Cross References. - As to increased consumer protections from unwanted telephone solicitations, see G.S. 75-100 et seq. Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2000-161, s. 3, enacted this section as G.S. 62-53. It was recodified as this section at the direction of the Revisor of Statutes. Session Laws 2003-411, s. 6, provides: "Should one or more of the terms or provisions of this act or any application thereof be held or declared unenforceable or invalid to any extent, the remainder of this act, and the applications thereof that have not been held or declared unenforceable or invalid, shall remain in effect. In the specific event that the provisions of G.S. 75-102, 75-103, 75-104, or 75-105 as enacted in Section 3 of this act, are declared to be preempted or otherwise unenforceable in relation to interstate telephone calls, those provisions shall remain in force and effect with respect to intrastate telephone calls." Session Laws 2003-411, s. 5, rewrote the section. Session Laws 2003-411, s. 7, provides: "Consistent with protected speech rights of businesses that engage in telephone solicitations, the provisions of this act shall be given broad construction so as to protect telephone subscribers from unwanted telephone solicitations and from problematic sales techniques and payment procedures often associated with these solicitations." Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2009-122, s. 1, effective October 1, 2009, substituted "The notification shall be drafted pursuant to G.S. 75-102(m), shall be distributed at least annually, and shall be distributed by one of the following methods: bill insert or bill message, direct mail, or e-mail when the subscriber has affirmatively selected e-mail as a means of notification" for "by enclosing a bill insert, drafted pursuant to G.S. 75-102(m), at least annually, in at least one telephone bill mailed to every residential customer" near the middle. §§ 62-55 through 62-59: Reserved for future codification purposes.