Prepaid Calling Card Consumer Protection Act of 2009
Latest action · Mar 10, 2009 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text of measure as introduced: CR S2968-2970)
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMar 10, 2009
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Prepaid Calling Card Consumer Protection Act of 2009 - Requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to require every prepaid telephone calling service provider and prepaid telephone calling card distributor to disclose certain information, including: (1) the number of calling units or minutes of domestic interstate calls provided or the dollar value and the domestic interstate rate per minute; (2) the calling unit or per minute rates for each served international preferred destination; (3) the applicable per minute rates for each served international destination; (4) other material terms and conditions, including regarding fees, policies on refunds, recharges, decrements, and expiration, and time imitations; and (5) a toll-free customer service number and hours.
Makes it unlawful to: (1) deduct anything but the per minute rate and disclosed fees; (2) provide fewer minutes or charge a higher per minute rate than promoted or advertised; (3) provide fewer minutes than the number of minutes announced, promoted, or advertised through any voice prompt; (4) have an expiration date less than one year after first use (or after additional minutes are purchased); (5) charge a fee for an unconnected call; and (6) deduct a per-minute rate in an increment greater than one minute for calls that are less than one full minute (but allows deducting different destination-specific rates for each full minute of calling time in certain circumstances). Prohibits avoiding liability by stating that the terms are subject to fees or charges.
Treats violations as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice under specified provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Prohibits the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from exercising any authority given to the FTC under this Act.
Allows state civil enforcement and state laws offering greater protection to consumers.
Cosponsors 2
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Mar 10, 2009.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MN | Amy Klobuchar | Original | Mar 10, 2009 |
| R-ME | Olympia J. Snowe | Original | Mar 10, 2009 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Mar 10, 2009Introduced in Senate
- Mar 10, 2009Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text of measure as introduced: CR S2968-2970)
- Mar 10, 2009Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S2967-2968)
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 3993 | Calling Card Consumer Protection Act | Related bill | Jun 24, 2010 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications.
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.