Title 15 — Commerce and TradeRelease 119-73

§5724 Definitions

Title 15 › Chapter CHAPTER 83— - TELEPHONE DISCLOSURE AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - BILLING AND COLLECTION › § 5724

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Defines key words used for rules about phone billing. "Telephone-billed purchase" means a sale that happens only because the caller completed the call or did a follow-up action like redialing or pressing keys. It does not include purchases under an existing agreement with the seller, local exchange or interexchange telephone services (or services the FCC says are closely related and have billing dispute rules), or items already covered by federal billing-dispute rules. "Billing error" means things like charges the customer did not make or that are the wrong amount; charges the customer asks for more proof about; charges not accepted or not delivered as promised; charges for calls to 800 or other toll-free numbers; failure to record a payment or credit; math or accounting mistakes; not sending the bill to the customer's last known address (unless the address was given less than 20 days before the billing cycle ended); and any other errors listed in rules under section 553 of Title 5. "Commission" means the Federal Trade Commission. "Providing carrier" means the phone company that provides service to the vendor for a disputed telephone-billed purchase, excluding local exchange services. "Vendor" means a person who offers goods or services by phone. "Customer" means a person who buys or tries to buy by phone.

Full Legal Text

Title 15, §5724

Commerce and Trade — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

As used in this subchapter—

(1)The term “telephone-billed purchase” means any purchase that is completed solely as a consequence of the completion of the call or a subsequent dialing, touch tone entry, or comparable action of the caller. Such term does not include—

(A)a purchase by a caller pursuant to a preexisting agreement with the vendor;

(B)local exchange telephone services or interexchange telephone services or any service that the Federal Communications Commission determines, by rule—

(i)is closely related to the provision of local exchange telephone services or interexchange telephone services; and

(ii)is subject to billing dispute resolution procedures required by Federal or State statute or regulation; or

(C)the purchase of goods or services which is otherwise subject to billing dispute resolution procedures required by Federal statute or regulation.

(2)A “billing error” consists of any of the following:

(A)A reflection on a billing statement for a telephone-billed purchase which was not made by the customer or, if made, was not in the amount reflected on such statement.

(B)A reflection on a billing statement of a telephone-billed purchase for which the customer requests additional clarification, including documentary evidence thereof.

(C)A reflection on a billing statement of a telephone-billed purchase that was not accepted by the customer or not provided to the customer in accordance with the stated terms of the transaction.

(D)A reflection on a billing statement of a telephone-billed purchase for a call made to an 800 or other toll free telephone number.

(E)The failure to reflect properly on a billing statement a payment made by the customer or a credit issued to the customer with respect to a telephone-billed purchase.

(F)A computation error or similar error of an accounting nature on a statement.

(G)Failure to transmit the billing statement to the last known address of the customer, unless that address was furnished less than twenty days before the end of the billing cycle for which the statement is required.

(H)Any other error described in regulations prescribed by the Commission pursuant to section 553 of title 5.

(3)The term “Commission” means the Federal Trade Commission.

(4)The term “providing carrier” means a local exchange or interexchange common carrier providing telephone services (other than local exchange services) to a vendor for a telephone-billed purchase that is the subject of a billing error complaint.

(5)The term “vendor” means any person who, through the use of the telephone, offers goods or services for a telephone-billed purchase.

(6)The term “customer” means any person who acquires or attempts to acquire goods or services in a telephone-billed purchase.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

15 U.S.C. § 5724

Title 15 — Commerce and Trade

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73