Section 407-297-1 - General Provisions and DefinitionsA. Scope of Rule. This Chapter applies to telephone utilities, as defined in 35-A M.R.S.A. §102, that bill customers for services in Maine. This Chapter also applies to service providers and billing aggregators who bill for goods or services using a charge on customers' local telephone bills in Maine.
B. Definitions. 1. Billing agent. A "billing agent" is a telephone utility that includes in a bill it sends to a customer a charge for a product or service offered by a service provider.2. Billing Aggregator. A "billing aggregator" is any person, other than a service provider, who forwards the charge for a product or service offered by a service provider to a billing agent.3. CAD Director. The "CAD Director" is the Director of the Consumer Assistance Division, the Assistant Director of the Consumer Assistance Division, or the Commission's designee.4. Customer. A "customer" is any person who has agreed to receive, been accepted and is receiving telecommunication service or has agreed to be billed for the same, including that person's spouse or legal guardian. For businesses, "customer" also includes a person designated as the contact person for telecommunications services or by any other person with actual or apparent authority to purchase goods or services on behalf of the organization.5. Letter of Agency (LOA). A "letter of agency" is a document containing a customer's signature that authorizes a service provider to bill a customer for a good or service that will appear as a charge on the customer's telephone bill.6. Service Provider. A "service provider" is any person, other than the billing agent, who offers a product or service to a customer, the charge for which appears on the bill of a billing agent.7. Unauthorized Charge. An "unauthorized charge" is the charge for a service or product by a service provider for which the provider has not obtained sufficient evidence of customer authorization and for which a charge appears on the customer's telephone bill. For the purposes of this rule, a charge for a collect call will be deemed to be authorized by the person receiving the call. For direct-dialed calls where the call itself represents the service for which a charge is placed on a customer's local telephone bill, e.g. "900 number" services and "dial around" services, evidence that the call was placed from the number that is subject to the phone bill shall be considered sufficient evidence of authorization for that call.65- 407 C.M.R. ch. 297, § 1