Section 10222A - Behavioral health crisis intervention services surcharge on residential telephone service, business telephone service, and wireless service(a) The Fund is to be funded by means of a monthly behavioral health crisis intervention services surcharge of 60 cents per month imposed by providers on subscribers of telecommunications services in this State as follows:(1) Residential telephone service. - The surcharge must be imposed by each provider providing residential telephone service on all Delaware residential subscribers per residence exchange access line or per Basic Rate Interface ("BRI") Integrated Services Digital Network ("ISDN") arrangement, where the residence exchange access service is provided via a BRI ISDN arrangement. The surcharge must not be applied to residence exchange access lines provided to Lifeline subscribers.(2) Business telephone service. - The surcharge must be imposed by each provider providing business telephone service on all Delaware business subscribers per business exchange access line and trunk or per BRI ISDN arrangement where the business exchange access service is provided via a BRI ISDN arrangement. Each Centrex access line must be charged the equivalent of 1/9 of the surcharge; provided, however, that where a Centrex customer has fewer than 9 lines, the maximum monthly charge for those lines will be the surcharge imposed on each business exchange access line or trunk divided by the customer's Centrex lines. Each Primary Rate Interface ISDN system must be charged a rate equal to 5 times the surcharge. The surcharge must not be applied to lines provided under wholesale arrangements.(3) Wireless service. - The surcharge must be imposed by each wireless provider on all wireless service customers for each wireless telephone number for which the wireless service customers are billed by the provider.(4) Nontraditional communication services. - The surcharge must be imposed by each provider of nontraditional communications service on subscribers of such services where the provider is required to or opts to provide 988 service.(b) The surcharge amounts collected under this section must be deposited into the Fund as provided under § 10212A(b) of this title.(c) A provider shall impose the surcharge on the person purchasing the service but shall collect the surcharge on behalf of the State. The surcharge collected by a provider is not subject to taxes or charges levied by the State, or any political subdivision of the State, and the surcharge is not considered revenue of the provider for any purpose.(d) Each provider imposing the surcharge shall state the surcharge as a clearly identifiable, separate item on all subscriber invoices rendered after [the implementation date of this Act].(e) The surcharge under this section does not apply to wholesale services or to the State government.(f) The surcharge imposed by subsection (a) of this section must be collected by providers from subscribers to telecommunications service with each invoice for service and must be paid by providers on a monthly basis to the Department of Finance no later than the fifteenth day of the month following the surcharge's collection. The surcharge imposed by subsection (a) of this section must be deposited into the Fund on a monthly basis.(g) Each provider collecting the surcharge is entitled to recover the actual incremental costs of billing, collecting, and remitting the surcharge, as well as the costs of compliance with any memorandum of understanding as described in subsection (h) of this section, through a credit against them. This cost is defined as the additional incremental expense incurred by the provider that is in addition to the normal expense of billing and collecting the charges for the provision of the provider's normal telephone service. Where moneys collected by the provider are equal to or less than the total charge for the telephone service provided to subscribers or customers by that provider, not including the surcharge, all moneys collected will be applied to the charges for the actual telephone service provided.(h) A provider collecting the surcharge is not responsible for uncollectable surcharges. The State may also enter into a memorandum of understanding with each provider which must include the terms related to the collection and distribution of funds under this chapter and provide for reporting to the Board the names and addresses of subscribers that fail to pay the surcharge. However, nothing in this chapter may be construed to prevent the State or the Board from taking appropriate actions to collect the surcharge designated by a provider as uncollectable.(i) Each provider collecting the surcharge is fulfilling a governmental function and in so doing is immune from suit for damages of any kind and is not liable for refunds except to the extent that the provider has failed to collect or remit surcharges to the Fund in accordance with the requirements of this section.Added by Laws 2023, ch. 168,s 1, eff. 8/16/2023.