19991109General Order No 204.doc

BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

IN THE MATTER OF THE AMENDMENTS TO THE COMMISSION’S TELEPHONE
CUSTOMER RELATIONS RULE 105.02
CONCERNING THE CALCULATION OF
TELEPHONE DEPOSITS, IDAPA
31.41.01.105.02. )
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CASE NO. 31-4101-9901

ADOPTION OF PENDING RULE

GENERAL ORDER NO. 204

In this General Order, the Commission adopts as our pending rule our previously issued proposed rule. More specifically, the Commission’s Telephone Customer Relations Rule 105.02 sets out the methodology for calculating the amount of deposits that a local exchange company (LEC) may collect when providing billing services for message telecommunication services (MTS). IDAPA 31.41.01.105.02. On August 27, 1999, the Commission issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking requesting written comments on proposed amendments to this rule. The Commission’s Notice was published in the Administrative Bulletin (Vol. No. 99-10 at 479-80) on October 6, 1999. Comments were due no later than October 27, 1999. No requests for holding a public hearing were received.

THE PROPOSED CHANGES TO RULE 105.02
As stated in its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission proposed to amend Rule 105 so that the deposit requirement of this rule correspond to the deposit requirement contained in Rule 110, IDAPA 31.41.01.110. Under the existing Rule 105.02, a LEC has two alternatives when calculating that portion of a deposit attributable to MTS. If there is no MTS usage history, a company may ask for a deposit equal to two months’ estimated charges for MTS. If the LEC has MTS usage history available, the LEC may ask for a deposit of two months’ of the average MTS charges reflective on the customer’s bills over the most recent 12-months. In comparison, Rule 110 allows MTS companies that perform their own billing to ask customers for a “reasonable deposit” in circumstances where deposits are permitted to be collected. In this rulemaking, the Commission proposed to amend Rule 105.02 to simply require that LECs may collect a reasonable deposit attributable to MTS. The Commission observed in its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that this proposed change “will allow all companies to use the same standard to calculate the deposit for MTS.”

COMMENTS
The only comments filed were from the Legislative Services Office and U S WEST Communications. Legislative Services reported that the Senate and House Subcommittees for review of Administrative Rules have no objections to the proposed rule. U S WEST “heartily supports” the proposed revision. The Company asserted that there is no reason to maintain inconsistency between the two rules.

FINDING
Based upon our review of the proposed rule and the supporting comments, the Commission finds that the proposed amendments to Rule 105.02 (IDAPA 31.41.01.105.02) are reasonable and appropriate. The Commission further finds that adoption of this pending rule is in the public interest and that the pending rule should be submitted to the 2000 Legislature for its review and approval. Accordingly, Appendix A contains a Notice of Pending Rule suitable for publication by the Administrative Rules Coordinator.

GENERAL ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Commission adopts its proposed changes to Rule 105.02 (IDAPA 31.41.01.105.02) as its pending rule. The appropriate Notice of Pending Rule as contained in Appendix A shall be transmitted to the Administrative Rules Coordinator for publication in the January 2000 Administrative Bulletin.
THIS IS A FINAL ORDER. Any person interested in this Order (or in issues finally decided by this Order) or in interlocutory Orders previously issued in this Case No. 31-4101-9901 may seek judicial review in district court pursuant to Idaho Code § 67-5270 and Rule 401 (IDAPA 31.01.01.401) regarding any matter decided in this order or in interlocutory Orders previously issued in this Case No. 31-4101-9901.

DONE by Order of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission at Boise, Idaho this
day of April 2003.

DENNIS S. HANSEN, PRESIDENT

MARSHA H. SMITH, COMMISSIONER

PAUL KJELLANDER, COMMISSIONER

ATTEST:

Myrna J. Walters
Commission Secretary

Vld/O:31-4101-9901_dh

ADOPTION OF PENDING RULE
GENERAL ORDER NO. 204 1

Office of the Secretary
Service Date
November 9, 1999