Arkansas Administrative Code

23 CAR § 466-405. Refunding deposits. (a)(1) If a residential customer has paid all bills by the due date for the last twelve (12) months, an LEC must promptly refund the deposit. (2) LECs are not required to refund deposits on business or commercial accounts until the account is…

23 CAR § 466-406. Deposits and customer name changes. An LEC may not require a residential customer to make or increase a deposit because of a name change unless one (1) or more of the conditions set out in 23 CAR § 466-402(a) applies.

23 CAR § 466-407. Deposits and changes in service locations. Except as provided in 23 CAR § 466-402(a), an LEC shall not charge an additional deposit if: (1) A customer requests that his or her service end at one (1) location and that the same kind and class of service from the s…

23 CAR § 466-501. Information on bill. Each bill shall contain the following information: (1) Name and telephone number or identifying number under which service is billed; (2) The beginning and ending dates of the billing period; (3) The net amount of all payments and other cred…

23 CAR § 466-502. Bill form submission requirements. A current copy of the form to be used for billing and any revisions to that form shall be provided to the Arkansas Public Service Commission’s Consumer Services Office.

23 CAR § 466-503. Billing periods and standards. (a)(1) LECs shall bill customers regularly. (2) The billing period shall be no less than twenty-five (25) days and no more than thirty-five (35) days unless it is the first or final bill. (3) This provision does not apply to the bi…

23 CAR § 466-504. Mailing date. LECs shall not mail bills later than the mailing date printed on the bill.

23 CAR § 466-505. Due dates. (a) If no late charge is imposed, the due date of a bill shall not be less than fourteen (14) days after the date a bill is mailed. (b) If a late payment charge is imposed, the due date of the bill shall not be less than twenty-two (22) days after the…

23 CAR § 466-506. Late payment. (a) Payment may be considered late if the LEC or its authorized agent for payment gets the payment after the LEC’s close of business on the due date on the bill. (b) If the LEC is not open on the due date, customers may pay by the close of business…

23 CAR § 466-507. Late payment charges. (a) An LEC may calculate late payment charges only on an overdue balance of a bill for telecommunications service. (b) A late payment charge may not exceed: (1) Ten percent (10%) of the first thirty dollars ($30.00) of the customer’s bill; …

23 CAR § 466-508. Extended due date policy. (a)(1) LECs must offer an extended due date policy to customers qualifying under subsection (c) of this section. (2) This is intended to enable LECs to change a qualifying customer’s due date to coincide with or follow the customer’s re…

23 CAR § 466-509. Extended absence payment procedure. (a) Each LEC shall have bill payment options that will allow a customer who is away for an extended period of time to avoid suspension of service. (b) The options shall be filed as a tariff.

23 CAR § 466-510. Method of payment. (a)(1) Customers may pay bills in any reasonable manner, including cash or a check payable to the LEC. (2) An LEC may refuse to accept payment by check if the customer has given the LEC two (2) checks that were returned unpaid for reasons othe…

23 CAR § 466-511. Returned check charge. (a) An LEC may charge a fee for handling a check that is returned unpaid for reasons other than bank error. (b) The amount of the returned check charge shall be set forth in the LEC’s tariffed schedule of fees and charges.

23 CAR § 466-512. Partial payments. (a) If a customer pays part of a bill for LEC service, an LEC shall first credit the payment to earlier charges for telecommunications service. (b) This section does not apply when there: (1) Is a disputed bill; (2) Is a delayed payment agreeme…

23 CAR § 466-513. Overpayments. (a) Overpayments shall be credited to the customer’s account unless the customer requests otherwise. (b) When a customer notifies the LEC that he or she has overpaid his or her account and requests a refund of the overpayment, the LEC shall refund …

23 CAR § 466-514. Billing corrections. (a) Interruption and outage. After an interruption or outage of local service of more than twenty-four (24) hours, an LEC shall refund a portion of the monthly charge for the number of days without service. (b) Procedures for correcting an o…

23 CAR § 466-515. Transferring past due balances to other accounts. An LEC may only transfer a past due balance from a customer’s closed account to one (1) of the following active accounts: (1) An account of the same customer for the same class of service at any location; and (2)…

23 CAR § 466-601. Authorized suspension. The only reasons an LEC may suspend service to an account are: (1) A bill for the LEC’s service to the current customer remains unpaid after the close of business on the last day to pay as printed on the most recent shut-off notice; (2) A …

23 CAR § 466-602. Unauthorized suspension. An LEC may not suspend service to an account for the following reasons: (1) Not paying for non-telecommunications merchandise or non-telecommunications services purchased, rented, or leased from or through the LEC; (2) Not paying for a d…

23 CAR § 466-603. Bankruptcy. (a)(1) An LEC may not suspend service to a trustee or debtor in bankruptcy for failure to pay a bill incurred prior to a bankruptcy filing if the trustee or the debtor pays a deposit under 23 CAR § 466-402(a)(7) within twenty (20) days of the order f…

23 CAR § 466-604. Notification of suspension of service. (a)(1) An LEC must notify a customer in writing five (5) days before it suspends service. (2) If an LEC delivers the notice to the customer’s premises, the LEC must leave the notice in a conspicuous place where the notice i…

23 CAR § 466-605. Shut-off notice submission requirements. A current copy of the form to be used for shut-off notices and any revisions to that form shall be provided to the Arkansas Public Service Commission’s Consumer Services Office.

23 CAR § 466-606. Third-party notification of suspension. (a) A residential customer may name a consenting person or agency to receive a copy of all shut-off notices. (b) An LEC shall mail one (1) copy of all shut-off notices to the customer and one (1) to the other person or age…

23 CAR § 466-607. Form and contents of shut-off notice. Each shut-off notice shall contain the following information: (1) The title “SHUT-OFF NOTICE”, “CUT OFF NOTICE”, or “DISCONNECT NOTICE” in type at least one-fourth inch (1/4”) high; (2) The name and address of the customer a…

23 CAR § 466-608. Payment requirements to prevent suspension. (a) A customer must pay the LEC or its authorized agent before the LEC’s close of business on the last day to pay as printed on the most recent shut-off notice to prevent suspension. (b) The LEC may require the custome…

23 CAR § 466-609. Suspension procedures — Suspension date and time requirements. (a)(1) An LEC may suspend service only during normal LEC business office hours. (2) However, no suspension shall occur during the last hour of the LEC’s normal business office hours. (b) An LEC may n…

23 CAR § 466-610. Closing suspended accounts. (a) An LEC shall not close a suspended account until a customer has been given seven (7) days to have service reconnected after suspension. (b) Once an account is closed, an LEC may treat a former customer who wants service again as a…

23 CAR § 466-611. Reconnection of service. (a)(1) The LEC shall reconnect service at the request of the customer if all reasons for suspension have been eliminated. (2) The LEC shall reconnect service in the normal course of business when suspension was the fault of the customer.…

23 CAR § 466-612. Delayed payment agreement and extension agreement. (a)(1) This section applies to any residential customer, and to business customers whose average bill for the most recent twelve (12) months is two hundred dollars ($200) or less. (2) As used in this section, th…

23 CAR § 466-613. Delayed payment agreement submission requirements. A current copy of the form to be used for delayed payment agreements and any revisions to that form shall be provided to the Arkansas Public Service Commission’s Consumer Services Office.

23 CAR § 466-614. Agency guaranty of payment. (a) Requirements. (1) When a social service agency agrees orally or in writing to pay at least one-fourth (1/4) of an overdue bill, the LEC shall continue service or restore service suspended for nonpayment if the customer qualifies f…

23 CAR § 466-615. Medical need for telecommunications service. (a) General requirements. (1) Each LEC must honor a physician’s certificate that attests to the fact that a residential customer or any other permanent resident of the household has a serious medical condition. (2) Th…

23 CAR § 466-616. Elderly and individuals with disabilities. (a) This section only applies to residential customers. (b) Identification of the elderly and individuals with disabilities for registration. LECs shall attempt to identify eligible individuals by informing them that a …

23 CAR § 466-617. Stopping service at customer request. (a) Notice. (1) A customer who wants to stop service must tell the LEC at least five (5) days before the requested disconnection date. (2) The minimum five-day notice period begins: (A) On the day the customer telephones the…

23 CAR § 466-701. Application records. (a)(1) Each LEC must keep a record of each written or verbal application for service. (2) Records of applications must be kept for at least two (2) years unless canceled or withdrawn. (3) If an application is still active at the end of the t…

23 CAR § 466-702. Account records. (a) Each LEC shall keep a record of billings to and all money paid by each customer. (b) The record shall contain all information necessary to calculate bills, including: (1) Customer name; (2) Mailing address; (3) Service location; (4) Account …

23 CAR § 466-703. Deposit records. Each LEC shall keep a record containing the following information for each customer account: (1) The name of the customer for whom the deposit is made; (2) The service location; (3) The deposit amount; (4) The deposit date; (5) The reason for th…

23 CAR § 466-704. Complaint records. (a) An LEC shall keep an up-to-date record of all customer complaints, showing the: (1) Name and address of the complainant; (2) Account number; (3) Date and character of the complaint; (4) Action taken to resolve the complaint; and (5) Date o…

23 CAR § 466-705. Test and inspection records. (a) LECs shall make a complete record of every test or inspection that this part requires. (b) The record shall include the: (1) Time; (2) Date; (3) Place; (4) Tester; (5) Inspector; and (6) Results. (c) Each LEC shall keep test and …

23 CAR § 466-706. Service outage records. (a) Each LEC shall keep records of all detected or documented service outages. (b) Each record shall include the time, date, location, duration, cause, and extent of each outage. (c) LECs shall keep the records at least two (2) years.…

23 CAR § 466-707. Location of records. (a) LECs shall keep records within the State of Arkansas, at the offices of the LEC, or at locations outside the State of Arkansas authorized by the Arkansas Public Service Commission. (b) Such records shall be available at all reasonable ho…

23 CAR § 466-708. Retention of records. (a) Records required by this part and orders of the Arkansas Public Service Commission shall be maintained for at least the period of time designated in the most current Federal Communications Commission rules governing preservation of reco…

23 CAR § 466-709. Construction records and plans. (a) Each LEC shall maintain copies of all construction reports and plans for a period of at least two (2) years after the completion of a project. (b) The records shall include but not be limited to the: (1) Design specifications;…

23 CAR § 466-710. Trouble report records. (a) Each LEC shall maintain accurate records of trouble reports. (b) The records shall be organized by month for each exchange service area. (c) Each record shall be maintained for at least two (2) years. (d) At a minimum, each record sha…

23 CAR § 466-711. Maps and associated records. (a) System maps. (1) Each LEC shall maintain current maps or plans depicting plant in all service areas served by the LEC. (2) Those maps or plans shall be in sufficient detail to enable prompt location of each line and facility owne…

23 CAR § 466-712. Central office line and terminal records. (a) Each LEC shall maintain a record of the equipped (or programmed) and in-service quantity of central office switching lines (or line appearance numbers and terminals or connectors or directory numbers). (b) Each LEC s…

23 CAR § 466-713. Reports to the Arkansas Public Service Commission. (a) Outages. (1) LECs shall promptly report outages in an individual city, town, or in the same general area that last more than four (4) hours and affect one hundred (100) or more customers by telephone to the …

23 CAR § 466-801. Extensions, additions, repairs, changes, and improvements. After a public hearing, the Arkansas Public Service Commission may require an LEC to make extensions, additions, repairs, or changes in or improvements to any equipment or line if the Arkansas Public Ser…

23 CAR § 466-802. Service interruptions. (a) Scheduled interruptions. (1) Scheduling. Except in an emergency, LECs shall schedule interruptions so that the inconvenience to customers is minimized. (2) Notice. LECs shall: (A) Make reasonable efforts to notify customers affected by…