SECTIONS 53054-53056 - California Statutes

GOVERNMENT CODE

SECTION 53054-53056

53054. This act shall be known and may be cited as the Cable
Television and Video Provider Customer Service and Information Act.

53054.1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) In an unregulated environment, customers of cable and video
providers should get their money's worth for the service they
subscribe to, and one way to ensure this is to encourage that
customer service standards be established and that customers be
informed to those standards.
(b) Cable television and video providers have made efforts to
provide high-quality service to their customers. Cable television and
video providers should continue to establish standards for customer
service so as to further the development of high-quality customer
service.
(c) It is not the intent of this article to establish standards
for customer service, but to encourage cable television and video
providers to inform their customers about the standards they have
established and to work to achieve these customer service goals.

53054.2. As used in this article:
(a) "Cable television operator" means the person or entity
providing cable television services through the cable television
system.
(b) "Cable television system" means a community antenna television
system, under common ownership and control, serving a franchise area
or two or more contiguous or electronically connected franchise
areas.
(c) "Video provider" means any person, company, or service which
provides one or more channels of video programming to a residence,
including a home, condominium, apartment, or mobilehome, where some
fee is paid, whether directly or as included in dues or rental
charges, for that service, whether or not public rights-of-way are
utilized in the delivery of the video programming. A "video provider"
shall include, but not be limited to, providers of cable television,
master antenna television, satellite master antenna television,
direct broadcast satellite, multipoint distribution service, and
other providers of video programming, whatever their technology.

53055. Each cable television operator or video provider in the
state shall establish customer service standards. These customer
service standards shall include, but not be limited to, standards
regarding the following:
(a) Installation, disconnection, service and repair obligations,
employee identification and service call response time and
scheduling.
(b) Customer telephone and office hours; procedures for billing,
charges, refunds, and credits.
(c) Procedures for termination of service.
(d) Notice of the deletion of a programming service, the changing
of channel assignments, or an increase in rates.
(e) Complaint procedures and procedures for bill dispute
resolution.

53055.1. (a) Each cable television operator or video provider shall
annually distribute to employees, to each customer, and to the city,
county, or city and county in which the cable television operator or
video provider furnishes service to customers, a notice describing
these customer service standards. New customers shall also be
provided with this notice when service is initiated.
(b) The notice given to new customers pursuant to this section
shall include, in addition to all of the information described in
subdivisions (a) to (e), inclusive, of Section 53055, all of the
following:
(1) A listing of the services offered by the cable television
operator or video provider which clearly describes all levels of
service, and including the rates for each level of service, provided
that, if the information concerning levels of service and rates is
otherwise distributed to new customers upon installation by the cable
television operator or video provider, the information need not be
included in the notice to new customers required by this section.
(2) The telephone number or numbers through which customers may
subscribe to, change, or terminate service, request customer service,
or seek general or billing information.
(3) A description of the rights and remedies which the cable
television operator or video provider may make available to its
customers if the cable television operator or video provider does not
materially meet its customer service standards.

53055.2. After the customer service standards established pursuant
to Section 53055 have been in effect for one year, each cable
television operator and video provider shall report annually on the
performance of that cable television operator or video provider with
regard to meeting its customer service standards. This report shall
be included in the annual notice required by Section 53055.1.

53055.3. No provision of this article shall be construed to preempt
the prerogative of a city, county, or city and county to enforce
customer protection standards that are contained in a franchise or
license granted to a cable television operator or video provider
pursuant to Section 53066.1 or that are otherwise authorized by law
for other cable television operators or video providers.

53056. (a) The legislative body of the city, county, or city and
county in which the cable television operator or video provider
furnishes service to customers may, by ordinance, provide a schedule
of penalties for the failure of the cable television operator or
video provider to distribute the annual notice required by Section
53055.1, not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500) for each year in
which the notice is not distributed to all customers.
(b) The city, county, or city and county shall give a cable
television operator or video provider written notice of any alleged
failure to distribute to all customers the annual notice required by
Section 53055.1 before imposing any penalty pursuant to subdivision
(a). If the cable television operator or video provider distributes
this notice to all customers within 60 days after receipt of the
notice from the city, county, or city and county pursuant to this
subdivision, no penalty shall be imposed upon the cable television
operator or video provider pursuant to subdivision (a).