Requires telephone service providers to provide call mitigation technology to telephone customers, upon request, at no additional charge; requires the commission to levy a fine in an amount equal to twenty-five thousand dollars for each day that a provider of telephone service fails to make such call mitigation technology available to its customers.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4586
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 5, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sen. GRIFFO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommuni-
cations
AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to requiring tele-
phone service providers to provide free call mitigation technology to
certain telephone customers
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public service law is amended by adding a new section
2 91-b to read as follows:
3 § 91-b. Call mitigation technology. 1. A provider of telephone
4 service, as defined in subdivision one of section ninety-two-e of this
5 article, that provides telephone service to customers residing in the
6 state shall make call mitigation technology available to any such
7 customer, upon request, and at no additional charge. Such provider shall
8 also offer to any such customer the ability to have the provider prevent
9 calls and text messages identified as originating from a particular
10 person from being completed to the called person, upon request, and at
11 no additional charge. For purposes of this section, the term "call miti-
12 gation technology" shall mean technology that identifies an incoming
13 call or text message as being, or as probably being, an autodialed call
14 and, on that basis, blocks the call or message, diverts such call to the
15 called person's answering system, or otherwise prevents such call from
16 being completed to the called person, except that such technology
17 permits a call or text so identified to be completed when such call is
18 identified as being made by a law enforcement or public safety entity,
19 or when such call is identified as originating from a caller with
20 respect to whom the called person has provided prior express consent to
21 receive such a call or message and has not revoked that consent.
22 2. The commission shall levy a fine in an amount equal to twenty-five
23 thousand dollars for each day that a provider of telephone service fails
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04389-01-1
S. 4586 2
1 to make such call mitigation technology available to its customers in
2 accordance with this section.
3 3. The commission shall prescribe regulations to implement the
4 requirements of this section, including, if appropriate, a reasonable
5 delay in requiring implementation and offering of call mitigation tech-
6 nology if for good cause, taking into account the consumer protection
7 purposes of this section, and including procedures for addressing inci-
8 dents in which a call or text message wanted by the customer is
9 prevented from reaching the customer.
10 § 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2023. Effective immediate-
11 ly, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation
12 necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are
13 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
