ASSEMBLY, No. 4185

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

218th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED JUNE 18, 2018

 


 

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  AMY H. HANDLIN

District 13 (Monmouth)

Assemblywoman  ANGELICA M. JIMENEZ

District 32 (Bergen and Hudson)

Assemblyman  ANTHONY S. VERRELLI

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Requires telecommunications service providers to warn residential customers of potential scams or other frauds committed through use of these services.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

  


An Act concerning certain communication requirements by telecommunications service providers and supplementing Title 56 of the Revised Statutes.

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.    As used in P.L.    , c.    (C.        ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):

     “Director” means the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety.

     “Division” means the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety.

     “Subscriber” means a resident of this State that receives a telecommunications service from a telecommunications service provider on telecommunications infrastructure located in the State.

     “Telecommunications service provider” or “provider” means any person, business, or organization that provides a subscriber with a telecommunications service for a fee.

     “Telecommunications service” means the electronic transmission, conveyance, or routing of voice, data, audio, video, or other information, including, but not limited to, Internet access or electronic mail service, to a point, or between or among points, regardless of the telecommunications infrastructure used.

 

     2.    a.  A telecommunications service provider shall, consistent with federal law, publish a statement on every bill sent to a subscriber a warning statement describing the potential for active scams that the provider may be aware, to the best of the knowledge of the provider, or other types of fraud that may be committed through the use of the telecommunications service offered by the provider.  The warning statement shall include information as determined by the director by regulation, pursuant to section 3 of P.L.    , c.    (C.        ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and shall include, but not be limited to, contact information for the division and any other appropriate State or federal government agency for a subscriber to report a suspected scam or other type of suspected fraud.

     b.    A telecommunications service provider shall publish the warning statement required, pursuant to subsection a. of this section, on a prominent location on the homepage of the provider’s Internet website.

 

     3.    The director shall adopt rules and regulations, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), necessary to implement the provisions of P.L.    , c.    (C.        ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

     4.    This act shall take effect immediately, but shall remain inoperative for 60 days following the date of enactment.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This bill requires a “telecommunications service provider” (service provider), as that term is defined in the bill, to publish, in a manner consistent with federal law, a statement on every bill sent to a service subscriber who is a resident of this State a warning statement describing the potential for active scams that the service provider may be aware, to the best of the knowledge of the service provider, or other types of suspected fraud that may be committed through the use of a telecommunications service offered by the service provider.  The warning statement is to include information as determined by the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs (division) by regulation, and is to include, but not be limited to, contact information for the division and other appropriate State or federal government agency for customers of service providers to report a suspected scam or other types of fraud.