Public Act 097-0822
 
HB5211 EnrolledLRB097 18755 JLS 63990 b


  
    AN ACT concerning business.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  






 
 
    Section 5. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business 
Practices Act is amended  by changing Section 2HHH as follows:
 
    (815 ILCS 505/2HHH)

    Sec. 2HHH. Product Authorization and verification for 
product and service charges to be billed on a telephone bill 
prohibited.
    (a) Definitions.
For purposes of this Section:
    "Billing agent" means a person that submits charges for 
services or goods to a telecommunications carrier on behalf of 
a third-party vendor.
    "Third-party vendor" means an entity not affiliated with a 
telecommunications carrier that  sells services or goods to a 
consumer.
    "Telecommunications carrier" has the same meaning as 
defined in Section 13-202 of the Public Utilities Act.
    (b) A third-party vendor shall not bill, directly or 
through an intermediary, a consumer for goods or services that 
will appear as a charge on a consumer's telephone bill.
    (c) A billing agent, on behalf of a third-party vendor, 
shall not submit, directly or through an intermediary, a charge 
to a telecommunications carrier for goods or services that will 
appear as a charge on a consumer's telephone bill.
    (d) Any person who violates this Section commits an 
unlawful practice within the meaning of this Act.
    (e)  This Section does not apply to: 
        (1)  services or goods provided by a telecommunications 
    carrier subject to the provisions of Section 13-903 of the 
    Public Utilities Act;
        (2)  services or goods sold by any affiliate of the 
    telecommunications carrier issuing the bill to the 
    consumer;
        (3)  services or goods sold by any third-party vendor 
    that has a direct contractual arrangement for the joint or 
    cooperative sale of such services or goods with the 
    telecommunications carrier issuing the bill to the 
    consumer; provided however, that the telecommunications 
    carrier issuing the bill to the consumer shall be 
    responsible for assuring that such services or goods are 
    not sold without the informed authorization of the 
    consumer;
        (4)  wireless services, as described in Section 13-804 
    of the Public Utilities Act and any other services or goods 
    billed by or through a provider of wireless services;
        (5)  message telecommunications services that are 
    initiated by dialing 1+, 0+, 0-,  or 1010XXX and calls that 
    are subject to the Pay-Per-Call Services Consumer 
    Protection Act; or
        (6)  contributions to any charitable organization 
    subject to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. 
    "Billing agent" means any entity that submits charges to 
the billing carrier on behalf of itself or any service 
provider.
    "Billing carrier" means any telecommunications carrier, as 
defined in Section 13-202 of the Public Utilities Act, that 
issues a bill directly to a customer for any product or service 
not provided by a telecommunications carrier.
    "Service provider" means any entity that offers a product 
or service to a consumer and that directly or indirectly 
charges to or collects from a consumer's bill received from a 
billing carrier an amount for the product or service.
    (b) This Section does not apply to the provision of 
services and products by a telecommunications carrier subject 
to the provisions of Section 13-903 of the Public Utilities 
Act, by a telecommunications carrier's affiliates, or an 
affiliated cable or video provider, as that term is defined in 
Section 22-501 of the Public Utilities Act, or by a provider of 
public mobile services, as defined in Section 13-214 of the 
Public Utilities Act.
    (c) Requirements for submitting charges.
        (1) A service provider or billing agent may submit 
    charges for a product or service to be billed on a 
    consumer's telephone bill on or after the effective date of 
    this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly only if:
            (A) the service provider offering the product or 
        service has clearly and conspicuously disclosed all 
        material terms and conditions of the product or service 
        being offered, including, but not limited to, all 
        charges; and the fact that the charges for the product 
        or service shall appear on the consumer's telephone 
        bill;
            (B) after the clear and conspicuous disclosure of 
        all material terms and conditions as described in 
        paragraph (A) of this item (1), the consumer has 
        expressly consented to obtain the product or service 
        offered and to have the charges appear on the 
        consumer's telephone bill and the consent has been 
        verified as provided in item (2) of this subsection 
        (c);
            (C) the service provider offering the product or 
        service or any billing agent for the service provider 
        has provided the consumer with a toll-free telephone 
        number the consumer may call and an address to which 
        the consumer may write to resolve any billing dispute 
        and to answer questions; and
            (D) the service provider offering the product or 
        service or the billing agent has taken effective steps 
        to determine that the consumer who purportedly 
        consented to obtain the product or service offered is 
        authorized to incur charges for the telephone number to 
        be billed.
        (2) The consumer consent required by item (1) of this 
    subsection (c) must be verified by the service provider 
    offering the product or service before any charges are 
    submitted for billing on a consumer's telephone bill.  A 
    record of the consumer consent and verification must be 
    maintained by the service provider offering the product or 
    service for a period of at least 24 months immediately 
    after the consent and verification have been obtained.  The 
    method of obtaining consumer consent and verification must 
    include one or more of the following:
            (A) A writing signed and dated by the consumer to 
        be billed that clearly and conspicuously discloses the 
        material terms and conditions of the product or service 
        being offered in accordance with paragraph (A) of item 
        (1) of this subsection (c) and clearly and 
        conspicuously states that the consumer expressly 
        consents to be billed in accordance with paragraph (B) 
        of item (1) of this subsection (c) as follows:
                (i) if the writing is in electronic form, then 
            it shall contain the consumer disclosures required 
            by Section 101(c) of the federal Electronic 
            Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act; 
            and
                (ii) the writing shall be a separate document 
            or easily separable document or located on a 
            separate screen or webpage containing only the 
            disclosures and consent described in item (1) of 
            this subsection (c).
            (B) Third party verification by an independent 
        third party that:
                (i) clearly and conspicuously discloses to the 
            consumer to be billed all of the information 
            required by paragraph (A) of item (1) of this 
            subsection (c);
                (ii) operates from a facility physically 
            separate from that of the service provider 
            offering the product or service;
                (iii) is not directly or indirectly managed, 
            controlled, directed, or owned wholly or in part by 
            the service provider offering the product or 
            service;
                (iv) does not derive commissions or 
            compensation based upon the number of sales 
            confirmed;
                (v) tape records the entire verification 
            process, with prior consent of the consumer to be 
            billed; and
                (vi) obtains confirmation from the consumer to 
            be billed that he or she authorized the purchase of 
            the offered good or service.
            (C) All verifications must be conducted in the same 
        language that was used in the underlying sales 
        transaction.
        (3) Unless verification is required by federal law or 
    rules implementing federal law, item (2) of this subsection 
    (c) does not apply to customer-initiated transactions with 
    a certificated telecommunications carrier for which the 
    service provider has the appropriate documentation.
        (4) This Section does not apply to message 
    telecommunications service charges that are initiated by 
    dialing 1+, 0+, 0-, 1010XXX, or collect calls and charges 
    for video services if the service provider has the 
    necessary records to establish the billing for the call or 
    service.
    (d) Records of disputed charges.
        (1) Every service provider or billing agent shall 
    maintain records of every disputed charge for a product or 
    service placed on a consumer's bill.
        (2) The record required under this subsection (d) shall 
    contain for every disputed charge all of the following:
            (A) any affected telephone numbers and, if 
        available, addresses;
            (B) the date the consumer requested that the 
        disputed charge be removed from the consumer's bill;
            (C) the date the disputed charge was removed from 
        the consumer's telephone bill; and
            (D) the date action was taken to refund or credit 
        to the consumer any money that the consumer paid for 
        the disputed charges.
        (3) The record required by this subsection (d) shall be 
    maintained for at least 24 months.
    (e) Billing agents shall take reasonable steps designed to 
ensure that service providers on whose behalf they submit 
charges to a billing carrier comply with the requirements of 
this Section. 
    (f) Any service provider or billing agent who violates this 
Section commits an unlawful practice within the meaning of this 
Act.

(Source: P.A. 96-827, eff. 11-30-09.)
  
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January 
1, 2013.