(A) Customer service and privacy protection.
(1) Adoption. The regulations of ILCS Ch. 220, Act 5, § 22-501, the Cable and Video Customer Protection Law, are hereby adopted by reference and made applicable to all cable or video providers offering services within the city’s boundaries. As such regulations are deemed necessary to the city’s exercise of the police power, the ordinance adopting this section shall constitute an amendment to Ord. 1826 and the regulations contained in ILCS Ch. 220, Act 5, § 22-501, will supersede any customer service and privacy protection standards contained in a franchise granted by the city to a provider of cable or video services.
(2) Amendments. Any amendment to the Cable and Video Customer Protection Law that becomes effective after the effective date of this section shall be incorporated into this section by reference and shall be applicable to cable or video providers offering services within the city’s boundaries. However, any amendment that makes its provisions optional for adoption by municipalities shall not be incorporated into this section by reference without formal action by the corporate authorities of the city.
(B) Enforcement. The city does hereby pursuant to law declare its intent to enforce all of the customer service and privacy protection standards of the Cable and Video Customer Protection Law with respect to complaints received from residents within the city.
(C) Penalties. The city, pursuant to ILCS Ch. 220, Act 5, § 22-501(r)(1), does hereby provide for a schedule of penalties for any material breach of the Cable and Video Customer Protection Law by cable or video providers in addition to the penalties provided in the law. The monetary penalties shall apply on a competitively neutral basis and shall not exceed $750 for each day of the material breach, and shall not exceed $25,000 for each occurrence of a material breach per customer.
(1) MATERIAL BREACH means any substantial failure of a cable or video provider to comply with service quality and other standards specified in any provision of the Cable and Video Customer Protection Law.
(2) The city shall give the cable or video provider written notice of any alleged material breaches of the Cable and Video Customer Protection Law and allow such provider at least 30 days from the receipt of the notice to remedy the specified material breach.
(3) A material breach, for the purposes of assessing penalties, shall be deemed to occur for each day that a material breach has not been remedied by the cable or video service provider after the notice in division (C)(2) above.
(D) Customer credits. The city hereby adopts a schedule of customer credits that shall be paid directly to customers by the cable or video provider for violations of the requirements adopted by this section. The schedule of credits shall be the maximum amount as provided for in the provisions of ILCS Ch. 220, Act 5, § 22-501(s), and applied on the statement issued to the customer for the next billing cycle following the violation or following the discovery of the violation. The cable or video provider is responsible for providing the credits and the customer is under no obligation to request the credit.
(1999 Code, § 114.04) (Ord. 3559, passed 1-7-2008)