ALJ/PSW/eap Mailed 2/27/2002
BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Order Instituting Rulemaking on the Commission's Own Motion to Establish an Appropriate Error Rate for Connections Made by an Automatic Dialing Device Pursuant to Section 2875.5 of the Public Utilities Code. |
FILED |
ORDER INSTITUTING RULEMAKING
Summary
Automatic dialing devices have been regulated to some extent since Sections 2871 et seq. were added to the Public Utilities Code more than twenty years ago. (Ch.877, Stats. 1978). Assembly Bill (AB) 870 (Ch. 696, Stats. 2001) prohibits any use of specified types of automatic dialing devices where the entity undertaking the dialing fails to have a live person available when the person called is connected. However, in spite of this total prohibition on such practice, the statute directs this Commission to establish an acceptable "error rate" for telephone connections made in violation of this prohibition and also authorizes the Commission to establish requirements for persons operating such equipment to maintain records of such calls made for which no person was available for the person called and make such records available to the Commission.
This rulemaking initiates a proceeding to establish both an acceptable error rate and the nature of record-keeping procedures applicable to telemarketers who use automatic dialing devices. It begins with the premise that the acceptable error rate should be zero since, given the history of the bill, there is no basis on which to establish any other error rate. Comment is solicited on this proposal.
