(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) or (c), a telephone company or telecommunications carrier providing local service shall not charge a telephone service subscriber, as defined in section 325F.692, for a telephone or telecommunications service that is not required by the commission to be offered and for which the subscriber did not explicitly contract.

lawyer at desk

Ask a business law question, get an answer ASAP!
Thousands of highly rated, verified business lawyers.
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

Terms Used In Minnesota Statutes 237.663

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Telecommunications carrier: means a person, firm, association, or corporation authorized to furnish one or more of the following telephone services to the public, but not otherwise authorized to furnish local exchange service: (1) interexchange telephone service; (2) local telephone service pursuant to a certificate granted under the authority of section 237. See Minnesota Statutes 237.01
  • Telecommunications service: means the offering of telecommunications for a fee directly to the public or to such classes of users as to be effectively available to the public regardless of the facilities used. See Minnesota Statutes 237.01
  • Telephone company: means and applies to any person, firm, association or any corporation, private or municipal, owning or operating any telephone line or telephone exchange for hire, wholly or partly within this state, or furnishing any telephone service to the public. See Minnesota Statutes 237.01

(b) If a charge is assessed on a per-use basis for a service described in paragraph (a), the charge must be applied as a credit to the subscriber’s next monthly bill, if the subscriber notifies the telephone company or telecommunications carrier that the subscriber did not utilize the service or did not authorize the utilization of the service.

(c) A telephone company or telecommunications carrier that receives a notification from a telephone service subscriber under paragraph (b) shall inform the subscriber of the ability to block the services from future use by the subscriber, and shall block the services from future use by the subscriber, if the subscriber so requests. If a subscriber requests that the carrier or company not block the service or later requests to have the block lifted, the subscriber shall be responsible for charges caused by the future utilization of that service. The carrier or company may not charge a recurring fee for blocking the service.