A. Unless the customer protection and customer service obligations of a video provider are specified in a franchise with the City, a video provider must comply with all applicable provisions of the following state statutes:
(1) The Cable Television and Video Customer Service and Information Act (Government Code §§ 53054, et seq.).
(2) The Video Customer Service Act (Government Code §§ 53088, et seq.).
B. All video providers that are operating in the City on the effective date of this chapter, or that intend to operate in the City after the effective date of this chapter, and are not required under applicable law to operate under a franchise, license, lease, or similar written agreement with the City, must register with the City. The registration form must include or be accompanied by the following:
(1) The video provider's name, address, and local telephone numbers.
(2) The names of the officers of the video provider.
(3) A copy of the video provider's written policies and procedures relating to customer service standards and the handling of customer complaints, as required by California Government Code §§ 53054, et seq. These customer service standards must include, without limitation, 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.
c. Procedures for billing, charges, refunds, and credits.
d. Procedures for termination of service.
e. Notice of the deletion of a programming service, the changing of channel assignments, or an increase in rates.
f. Complaint procedures and procedures for bill dispute resolution.
g. The video provider's written acknowledgment of its obligation under California Government Code § 53055.1 to provide to new customers a notice describing the customer service standards specified above in sub-paragraphs a through f at the time of installation or when service is initiated. The notice must also include, in addition to all of the information described above in sub-paragraphs a through f, all of the following:
(i) A listing of the services offered by the video provider that clearly describes all levels of service and the rates for each level of service.
(ii) The telephone number or numbers through which customers may subscribe to, change, or terminate service, request customer service, or seek general or billing information.
(iii) A description of the rights and remedies that the video provider may make available to its customers if the video provider does not materially meet its customer service standards.
h. The video provider's written commitment to distribute annually to its employees and customers, and to the City, a notice describing the customer service standards specified above in sub-paragraphs a through f. This annual notice must include the report of the video provider on its performance in meeting its customer service standards, as required by California Government Code § 53055.2.
(4) Unless a video provider is exempt under federal law from its payment, a registration fee in an amount established by resolution of the Mayor and Common Council to cover the reasonable costs incurred by the City in reviewing and processing the registration form.
(5) In addition to the registration fee specified above in subsection (4), the written commitment of the video provider to pay to the City, when due, all costs and expenses reasonably incurred by the City in resolving any disputes between the video provider and its subscribers, which dispute resolution is mandated by California Government Code § 53088.2(p).
C. The customer service obligations imposed upon video providers by the Video Customer Service Act California Government Code §§ 53088 et seq.) consist of the following:
(1) Every video provider must render reasonably efficient service, make repairs promptly, and interrupt service only as necessary.
(2) All video provider personnel contacting subscribers or potential subscribers outside the office of the provider must be clearly identified as associated with the video provider.
(3) At the time of installation, and annually thereafter, all video providers must provide to all customers a written notice of the programming offered, the prices for that programming, the provider's installation and customer service policies, and the name, address, and telephone number of the City's office that is designated for receiving complaints.
(4) All video providers must have knowledgeable, qualified company representatives available to respond to customer telephone inquiries Monday through Friday, excluding holidays, during normal business hours.
(5) All video providers must provide to customers a toll-free or local telephone number for installation, service, and complaint calls. These calls must be answered promptly by the video providers.
(6) All video providers must render bills that are accurate and understandable.
(7) All video providers must respond promptly to a complete outage in a customer's service. The response must occur within 24 hours of the reporting of such outage to the provider, except in those situations beyond the reasonable control of the video provider. A video provider will be deemed to respond to a complete outage when a company representative arrives at the outage location within 24 hours and begins to resolve the problem.
(8) All video providers must provide a minimum of 30 days' written notice before increasing rates or deleting channels. All video providers must make every reasonable effort to submit the notice to the City in advance of the distribution to customers. The 30-day notice is waived if the increases in rates or deletion of channels are outside the control of the video provider. In those cases, the video provider must make reasonable efforts to provide customers with as much notice as possible.
(9) Every video provider must allow every residential customer who pays his or her bill directly to the video provider at least 15 days from the date the bill for services is mailed to the customer, to pay the listed charges unless otherwise agreed to pursuant to a residential rental agreement establishing tenancy. Customer payments must be posted promptly. No video provider may terminate residential service for nonpayment of a delinquent account unless the video provider furnishes notice of the delinquency and impending termination at least 15 days prior to the proposed termination. The notice must be mailed, postage prepaid, to the customer to whom the service is billed. Notice must not be mailed until the 16th day after the date the bill for services was mailed to the customer. The notice of delinquency and impending termination may be part of a billing statement. Additionally, no video provider may assess a late fee any earlier than the 22nd day after the bill for service has been mailed.
(10) Every notice of termination of service pursuant to the preceding subsection (9) must include all of the following information:
a. The name and address of the customer whose account is delinquent.
b. The amount of the delinquency.
c. The date by which payment is required in order to avoid termination of service.
d. The telephone number of a representative of the video provider who can provide additional information and handle complaints or initiate an investigation concerning the service and charges in question.
(11) Service may only be terminated on days in which the customer can reach a representative of the video provider either in person or by telephone.
(12) Any service terminated without good cause must be restored without charge for the service restoration. Good cause includes, but is not limited to, failure to pay, payment by check for which there are insufficient funds, theft of service, abuse of equipment or system personnel, or other similar subscriber actions.
(13) All video providers must issue requested refund checks promptly, but no later than 45 days following the resolution of any dispute, and following the return of the equipment supplied by the video provider, if service is terminated.
(14) All video providers must issue security or customer deposit refund checks promptly, but no later than 45 days following the termination of service, less any deductions permitted by law.
(15) Video providers must not disclose the name and address of a subscriber for commercial gain to be used in mailing lists or for other commercial purposes not reasonably related to the conduct of the businesses of the video providers or their affiliates, unless the video providers have provided to the subscriber a notice, separate or included in any other customer notice, that clearly and conspicuously describes the subscriber's ability to prohibit the disclosure. Video providers must provide an address and telephone number for a local subscriber to use without toll charge to prevent disclosure of the subscriber's name and address.
D. As authorized by Government Code § 53088.2(r), the following schedule of penalties is adopted. These penalties may be imposed for the material breach by a video provider of the consumer protection and service standards that are set forth above in paragraph c, provided that the breach is within the reasonable control of the video provider. These penalties are in addition to any other remedies authorized by this chapter or by any other law, and the City has discretion to elect the remedy that it will apply. The imposition of penalties authorized by this paragraph d will not prevent the City or any other affected party from exercising any other remedy to the extent permitted by law, including but not limited to any judicial remedy as provided below in subsection (2).
(1) Schedule of Penalties.
a. For a first material breach: the maximum penalty is $200 for each day of material breach, but not to exceed a cumulative total of $600 for each occurrence of material breach, irrespective of the number of customers affected.
b. For a second material breach of the same nature for which a monetary penalty was previously assessed within the preceding 12 month period: the maximum penalty is $400 per day, not to exceed a cumulative total of $1,200 for each occurrence of the material breach, irrespective of the number of customers affected.
c. For a third or further material breach of the same nature for which a monetary penalty was previously assessed within the preceding 12 month period: the maximum penalty is $1,000 per day, not to exceed a cumulative total of $3,000 for each occurrence of the material breach, irrespective of the number of customers affected.
d. The maximum penalties referenced above may be increased by any additional amount authorized by state law.
(2) Judicial Remedies Not Affected.
The imposition of penalties in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1) above does not preclude any affected party from pursuing any judicial remedy that is available to that party.
(3) Administration, Notice, and Appeal.
a. The City Manager is authorized to administer this paragraph D. Decisions by the City Manager to assess penalties against a video provider must be in writing and must contain findings supporting the decisions. Decisions by the City Manager are final, unless appealed to the Mayor and City Council.
b. If the video provider or any interested person is aggrieved by a decision of the City Manager, the aggrieved party may, within 10 days of the written decision, appeal that decision in writing to the Mayor and City Council. The appeal letter must be addressed to the City Clerk and must be accompanied by any applicable fee established by the Mayor and City Council for processing the appeal. The Mayor and City Council may affirm, modify, or reverse the decision of the City Manager.
c. The imposition of monetary penalties under subsection (1) above is subject to the following requirements and limitations:
(i) The City must give the video provider written notice of any alleged material breach of the consumer service standards and must allow the video provider at least 30 days from receipt of that notice to remedy the breach.
(ii) For the purpose of assessing monetary penalties, a material breach will be deemed to have occurred for each day following the expiration of the period for cure specified in subparagraph (i) above that the material breach has not been remedied by the video provider, irrespective of the number of customers affected.
(iii) In assessing monetary penalties under this paragraph D, the City Manager, any designated hearing officer, or the Mayor and City Council, as applicable, may take into account the nature, circumstances, extent and gravity of the violation and, with respect to the video provider, the degree of culpability, any history of prior violations, and such other matters as may be relevant. If warranted under the circumstances, the monetary penalty to be assessed may be less than the maximum penalty authorized above in subsection D (1).
(Ord. MC-1484, 4-18-18)