NY State Senate Bill 2025-S1060

Senate Bill S1060

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Limits certain charging practices by companies that provide prepaid telephone calling cards and increases fines for violations of limitation requirements

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Environmental Conservation Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2025	reference changed to energy and telecommunications referred to environmental conservation

2025-S1060 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Environmental Conservation
Law Section:: Public Service Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §92-f, Pub Serv L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2013-2014: S3729
2015-2016: S1176
2017-2018: S3451
2019-2020: S2063
2021-2022: S1365
2023-2024: S723

2025-S1060 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Limits certain charging practices by companies that provide prepaid telephone calling cards and increases fines for violations of limitation requirements.

2025-S1060 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S1060

SPONSOR: SERRANO
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public service  law, in relation to limiting certain
charging practices by companies that provide prepaid telephone calling
cards and increasing fines for violations of limitation requirements

 
PURPOSE:

To enhance consumer protection in prepaid calling cards.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Creates a new subdivision 4-a of Section 92-F of the public service law
to prevent companies from:

- Calculating for usage charges by rounding up beyond the next minute.

- Charging or unconnected calls.

- Publicizing a connection fee if there is a disconnection fee.

The bill also increases penalties for violations of the act.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Calling cards are often used by new immigrants with families and friends
abroad and by friends and families of military personnel as a means to
make inexpensive phone calls overseas. Unfortunately, due to unscrupu-
lous practices many consumers get less than what they bargain for. For
instance, many calling card companies round up to the next 3 or even
5-minute increment, while others advertise that there is no connection
fee for a call, but then charge a disconnection fee. A study by Consumer
Reports helped to unveil some of the unscrupulous practices that result
in calling card consumers getting less than what they bargained for.
Among a few of their findings:

- Of the 130 calling cards purchased about three quarters of the cards
didn't disclose the proper rates.

- Many of the cards had unclear post-call fees, periodic fees, and
surcharges.

Other calling cards that did display fees or disclosure information did
so in font so small that a magnifying glass was needed. This bill seeks
to put an end to these problems by establishing fair standards and
enhancing the disclosure requirements so consumers have a clear under-
standing of what they're getting when purchasing calling cards.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2013-2014:S.3729 - Referred to Energy and Telecommunications

2015-2016:S.1176 - Referred to Energy and Telecommunications

2017-2018:S.8451 - Referred to Energy and Telecommunications

2019-2020:S.2063 - Referred to Energy and Telecommunications

2021-2022:S.1365 - Referred to Energy and Telecommunications

2023-2024: S723 - Referred to Energy and Telecommunications

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the State.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect 120 days after it shall have become a law.

2025-S1060 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1060
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 8, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SERRANO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Environmental Conservation
 
 AN ACT to amend the public service  law, in relation to limiting certain
   charging practices by companies that provide prepaid telephone calling
   cards and increasing fines for violations of limitation requirements
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Section 92-f of the public service law is amended by adding
 a new subdivision 4-a to read as follows:
   4-A. NO COMPANY THAT PROVIDES PREPAID CALLING SERVICES THROUGH PREPAID
 CALLING CARDS SHALL:
   A.  CALCULATE  USAGE CHARGES BY ROUNDING UP BEYOND THE NEXT MINUTE FOR
 TELEPHONE PHONE CALLS;
   B. CHARGE MINUTES FOR UNCONNECTED  TELEPHONE  PHONE  CALLS,  INCLUDING
 CALLS THAT ARE DROPPED OR TO WHICH THERE IS NO ANSWER OR A BUSY SIGNAL;
   C.  PUBLICIZE  OR  DISPLAY  ADVERTISEMENTS  STATING  THAT  THERE IS NO
 CONNECTION FEE ASSOCIATED WITH A PLAN OR CALLING  CARD  IF  THERE  IS  A
 DISCONNECTION FEE ASSOCIATED WITH THE PLAN OR CALLING CARD.
   §  2.    Subdivision  8  of section 92-f of the public service law, as
 added by chapter 651 of the laws of 1999, is amended to read as follows:
   8. Enforcement. The commission shall have the power,  consistent  with
 federal  law,  to  assess  a  penalty  not to exceed [one] FIVE thousand
 dollars against any company  that  provides  prepaid  calling  cards  or
 services  that  knowingly fails or neglects to comply with any provision
 of this section or any regulation or order of the commission  implement-
 ing  or  enforcing  the provisions of this section FOR A FIRST VIOLATION
 AND TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR  A  SECOND  OR  SUBSEQUENT  VIOLATION.  All
 moneys  recovered from any administrative penalty shall be paid into the
 state treasury to the credit of the general fund.
   § 3.  This act shall take effect on  the  one  hundred  twentieth  day
 after it shall have become a law.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD01647-01-5

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.