Montana Code 69-3-1105. Operator service provider liability — penalty — costs and fees entitlement — jurisdiction
69-3-1105. Operator service provider liability — penalty — costs and fees entitlement — jurisdiction. (1) An operator service provider that charges a customer more than the allowable rate is liable:
Terms Used In Montana Code 69-3-1105
- commission: means the public service commission provided for in 2-15-2602. See Montana Code 69-1-101
- Customer: means a person who makes an intrastate telephone call through an operator service provider or the person accepting a collect telephone call made through an operator service provider. See Montana Code 69-3-1102
- Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Operator service provider: means any person, company, or entity that provides automated or live assistance to a customer to arrange for billing or completion, or both, of an intrastate telephone call through a method other than:
(a)automatic completion, with billing to the telephone from which the call originated; or
(b)completion through an access code used by the customer, with billing to an account previously established with a telecommunications carrier by the customer. See Montana Code 69-3-1102
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
(a)to the customer for three times the cost of the call charged to the customer or $500, whichever is greater; and
(b)to the state for the penalty prescribed in 69-3-206, for other commission enforcement actions pursuant to 69-3-110, and for a violation of applicable rules authorized by 69-3-1103.
(2)In a suit or enforcement action brought against an operator service provider, the prevailing party is entitled to recover costs and attorney fees in a sum that the court finds reasonable.
(3)A customer has the right to seek remedy in a Montana court.