The bill amends the Code of West Virginia by adding a new section, 46A-6-111, which establishes limitations on the billing practices of Internet and telecommunications service providers that fail to deliver service to subscribed customers for five or more consecutive days (120 hours). The legislation mandates that these providers automatically credit customers' accounts for the duration of the service disruption, ensuring that customers are not charged for services they did not receive. Additionally, the bill outlines that if a provider violates this requirement, the Attorney General has the authority to seek resolution and impose civil penalties, which can range from the cost of one month of service up to $5,000.

Furthermore, the bill requires Internet service providers to submit monthly reports to the Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General detailing the number of customers receiving credits, the total dollar amount of credits issued, and the geographic scope of outages lasting 120 hours or more. This information is to be kept confidential but can be used for data analysis and consumer protection purposes. Importantly, the provisions of this section do not apply to mobile service disruptions, as specified in the bill.

Statutes affected:
Introduced Version: 46A-6-111
Committee Substitute: 46A-6-111
Engrossed Committee Substitute: 46A-6-111