Local call charges based on duration or time of call prohibited

A local exchange company may not charge a residential customer or single line business for basic local exchange service based on the duration 534 Page: 535 Job Path: @mfgmic/west/stcodes/ga/repl/qj04040.63 Date: 06/30/04 Time: 20:57:31 0000 42051-21 (QS) GA 04 RV34 -- 3rd RUN 46-5-172 of a call or on the time of day that a call is made; provided, however, that such restriction shall not apply in any case where a customer or business requests charges based on the duration of a call or on the time of day that a call is made. This Code section does not prohibit a local exchange company from offering discounts based on the time of day that a call is made if the company also offers basic local exchange service at a rate permitted under Code Section 46-5-166. (Code 1981, § 46-5-171, enacted by Ga. L. 1995, p. 886, § 2.) 46-5-171.1. Written authorization required by customer prior to being charged for service initiated by a third party. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this Code section, no telecommunications company shall charge a customer for any service which is provided to the customer by a nonaffiliated third party until such third party has certified to the telecommunications company that the third party has received the customer’s written authorization for such charges. When a customer initiates a new type of such third-party service or changes the type or types of such third-party service received, the invoice for such new or changed services must state the charges for such services in a clear, conspicuous, separate, and distinct manner so as to ensure that the customer is aware of the new or changed charges. (b) This Code section shall not apply to any transaction between a customer and that customer’s selected provider of basic local exchange, inter-LATA, or intra-LATA telecommunications services or initial requests to subscribe to such services; wireless services; requests for a change in a customer’s provider of local exchange service or a change in a customer’s primary interexchange inter-LATA or intra-LATA carrier; or customer initiated use of abbreviated dialing codes or other pay-per-use services. (Code 1981, § 46-5-171.1, enacted by Ga. L. 1998, p. 1378, § 1; Ga. L. 1999, p. 877, § 1.)