Sec.16-333-9. Information

(a) Upon request, each CATV company shall provide its subscribers reasonable information on home operation in order that safe and proper service may be furnished.

(b) Each CATV company shall have personnel on duty at all times to respond in a prompt and reasonable manner to all inquiries, complaints and other service requests made to it, either by person, telephone or in writing. The definition of "personnel" may include an answering service outside of normal business hours.

(c) Each CATV company shall, every three months, provide on bills, bill inserts or letters to subscribers the following information:

(1) the company's telephone number(s);

(2) the department of Public Utility Control's consumer assistance toll-free telephone numbers;

(3) A summary of the company's procedures for providing refunds or credits for service interruptions pursuant to section 16-333e (a) of the Connecticut General Statutes; and

(4) A notice indicating that the company is required to restore interrupted service pursuant to section 16-333i (b) of the Connecticut General Statutes not later than twenty-four hours after notification by a subscriber that service has been interrupted.

(d) Each CATV company shall be subject to a civil penalty where:

(1) the department has received subscriber complaints having to do with service outages or interruptions, installations, disconnections, terminations, service calls, billing disputes, inadequate level of signal quality, workmanship or employee attitude in serving the public, the source of which are from factors within the operator's control, and

(2) such complaints have not been resolved or satisfactorily explained to the department within one week after receipt of notice from the department, and

(3) such complaints, on a monthly basis, equal or exceed a total number of sixty, or the ratio of complaints to subscribers equals one-half of one percent on a monthly basis, whichever is less, during any two months in a rolling six month period.

(e) Any CATV company, which, upon reasonable belief and after notice and opportunity to be heard, is found to have exceeded the number of complaints or the ratio of complaints to subscribers as specified in section 16-333-9 (d) (3) of these regulations, shall be fined by order of this department, not more than five thousand dollars for each offense. Each separate occurrence in which the company exceeds the number of complaints or ratio of complaints to subscribers as specified in section 16-333-9 (d) (3) of these regulations shall be considered a separate offense. The complaints received in any one month shall not be used more than one time by the department in any proceeding for the assessment of a civil penalty brought pursuant to section 16-333-9 (f) of these regulations. Where the department has reason to believe that a company has exceeded the number of complaints or ratio of complaints to subscribers as specified in Section 16-333-9 (d) (3) of these regulations, the procedures for notice, hearing, orders and appeal shall be in accordance with section 16-41 of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(f) Each CATV company, which, upon reasonable belief and after notice and opportunity to be heard, is found by the department to have exceeded the number of complaints or ratio of complaints to subscribers as defined by section 16-333-9 (d) (3) of these regulations and has been found to have committed three (3) offenses within any eighteen month period pursuant to section 16-333-9 (e), shall be subject to additional fines pursuant to section 16-333-9 (e) or to franchise revocation, as determined by the department pursuant to public hearing. The procedures for notice, hearing, orders and appeal shall be in accordance with section 16-41 of the Connecticut General Statutes, however where a CATV company may be subject to a franchise revocation, such remedy may be made only after public hearing.

(g) If the department has reason to believe that a violation has occurred for which a CATV company may be subject to a civil penalty or franchise revocation, pursuant to sections 16-333-9 (d), 16-333-9 (e) or 16-333-9 (f) of these regulations, it shall send to the violator by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by personal service, a notice which shall include:

(1) A reference to the section of the statute, regulation or order involved;

(2) A short and plain statement of the matters asserted or charged;

(3) A statement of the amount of the civil penalty proposed to be imposed after notice and opportunity for a hearing; and

(4) A statement of the party's right to a hearing and if franchise revocation is involved, notice of the time and place for a hearing.

(h) The CATV company to whom the notice of civil penalty is addressed, may, within twenty days from the date of receipt of notice, deliver to the department written application for a hearing. If a hearing is requested then, after a hearing, and upon a finding that a violation has occurred, the authority may issue a final order assessing a civil penalty under this section which is not greater than the penalty stated in the notice. If such a hearing is not so requested, or if such a request is later withdrawn, then the notice shall, on the first day after the expiration of such twenty day period or on the first day after withdrawal of such request for hearing whichever is later, become a final order of the authority and the matters asserted or charged in the notice shall be deemed admitted.

(i) All hearings under this section shall be conducted pursuant to section 4-177 to 4-184 inclusive of the Connecticut General Statutes. The final order of the department assessing a civil penalty or franchise revocation shall be subject to appeal under section 4-183 of the Connecticut General Statutes. Any civil penalty authorized by this section shall become due and payable upon the final decision of the authority becoming a final order pursuant to section 16-333-9 (h) of these regulations.

(Effective February 24, 1989)