South Carolina § 58-3-230 - Unauthorized change of utility provider service; authorization; penalties; "customer" defined.

§ 58-3-230. Unauthorized change of utility provider service; authorization; penalties; "customer" defined.

(A) A utility, as defined in Sections 58-5-10, 58-9-10, and 58-27-10, may not submit a change request for a customer's utility service until the customer's authorization for the change is obtained by using marketing or anti-slamming guidelines approved by the appropriate federal and state regulatory agencies. In the case of utilities defined by Section 58-9-10, the appropriate regulatory agencies are the Federal Communications Commission and the South Carolina Public Service Commission. If a utility other than that directly receiving the customer authorization subsequently effects the change into billing or operational systems, it is not:

(1) required to secure additional customer authorization; and

(2) liable pursuant to this section for errors, omissions, or unauthorized changes submitted by the utility originating the request.

(B) A utility defined in Sections 58-5-10 and 58-27-10 that violates subsection (A) is liable to the customer for all charges incurred by the customer, in excess of those normally incurred through his designated provider, during the period of the unauthorized change.

(C) A utility defined in Section 58-9-10 that violates subsection (A) is liable as specified in Federal Communications Commission guidelines promulgated pursuant to the United States Code of Laws, Chapter 1, Title 47.

(D) A utility, as defined in Sections 58-5-10, 58-9-10, and 58-27-10, that wilfully, knowingly, or repeatedly violates the provisions of subsection (A) is subject to a fine of not less than two thousand dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars for each violation. The fines collected by the Public Service Commission pursuant to this section must remain with the commission and be used to offset costs associated with this section.

(E) As used in this section "customer" means:

(1) the party identified in the account records of a utility as the one responsible for payment of the utility bill;

(2) an adult person authorized by the responsible party to change utility services or to charge services to the account; or

(3) a person contractually or otherwise lawfully authorized to represent the responsible party.

HISTORY: 2005 Act No. 5, SECTION 1, eff July 1, 2004.