Section 172.05. Assessment of fee.

 

(1)   Subscription communications plan.

(a) Application of fee. A communications provider shall apply a fee of $0.75 per month on each communications service connection established under a subscription telecommunications plan. The communications provider shall remit the fee to the department using the procedure specified in s. PSC 172.06 .

(b) Partial month of service . If a communications provider charges a subscriber for less than a full month of subscription communications plan service, the communications provider shall assess the fee in the same way that it assesses the countywide 911 charges under s. 256.35 (3) , Stats. A provider that does not assess the 911 fees may assess a full fee if its billing system does not permit the fee to be prorated.

(c) Multi-line service .

1. If a communications provider furnishes multiple communications service connections to a single subscriber account, the communications provider shall impose a fee according to the following schedule:

a. For subscribers with 10 or fewer communications service connections, $0.75 per connection, per month.

b. For subscribers with more than 10 communications service connections, $7.50 for the first 10 connections plus $0.075 per service connection in excess of 10, per month.

2.

a. If a subscriber receives service from more than one communications provider, the communications providers serving the subscriber may not add together the communication service connections to determine the fee imposed on the subscriber. Each communications provider shall determine the fee to be imposed on a subscriber based upon the communication service connections the provider itself provides.

b. A communications provider may not add together the communications service connections from multiple accounts to determine the fee imposed. Only service connections within an account may be added together.

c. Notwithstanding subd. 2. b. , a communications provider's billing practices may not have the effect of making it unlikely or impossible for a subscriber with multiple communications service connections billed under a single account to qualify for the reduced fee under subd. 1. b.

(d) Partial payments. If a subscriber remits to the communications provider an amount less than the full amount billed to the subscriber in a given month, the communications provider shall first apply the partial payment to any amount the subscriber owes to the communications provider for the communications service provided.

(e) Billing identification and information.

1. On its bill, a communications provider shall identify the fee in one of the following ways:

a. List the fee separately from other charges on a subscriber's bill and identify the fee as "police and fire protection fee."

b. Combine the fee with a charge imposed under s. 256.35 (3) , Stats., and identify the combined fee and charge as "charge for funding countywide 911 systems plus police and fire protection fee."

c. Combine the fee with basic rates and either do not identify the fee separately, or state that the basic rate includes the "police and fire protection fee."

2. On the first bill on which the fee appears, a communications provider offering a subscription communications plan shall inform its subscribers by bill message of all of the following:

a. The addition of the fee to the monthly bill.

b. The purpose the fee is intended to serve.

(2)   Prepaid wireless communication plan.

(a) Application of fee. Any retailer or communications provider that sells a Wisconsin communications service connection established under a prepaid wireless communications plan shall impose a $0.38 fee on each prepaid wireless retail transaction. The fee does not apply to the sale of related wireless handset equipment and accessories.

(b) Determining Wisconsin connection. A communications provider or retailer shall determine if a communications service connection that it sells is a Wisconsin communications service connection as follows:

1. If a customer receives the purchased item at a seller's business location, the sale is sourced to that business location.

2. If a customer does not receive the purchased item at a seller's business location, the sale is sourced to the location where the customer, or the customer's designated recipient, receives the product, including the location indicated by the instructions known to the seller for delivery to the customer or the customer's designated recipient.

3. If the location of a sale of a purchased item cannot be determined under subd. 1. or 2. , the sale is sourced to the customer's address as indicated by the seller's business records, if the records are maintained in the ordinary course of the seller's business and if the seller's use of that address to establish the location of a sale is not in bad faith.

4. If the location of a sale of a purchased item cannot be determined under subds. 1. to 3. , the sale is sourced to the customer's address as obtained during the consummation of the sale, including the address indicated on the customer's payment instrument, if no other address is available and if the seller's use of that address is not in bad faith.

5. If a customer buys a prepaid wireless communications plan and the location of the sale cannot be determined under subds. 1. to 4. , the sale is sourced to the location associated with the telephone number associated with the plan, as determined by the seller.

(c) Remission of fee.

1. If a prepaid wireless retail transaction is completed by a retailer, that retailer shall impose the fee and remit it using the procedure specified in s. PSC 172.06 .

2. If a prepaid wireless retail transaction is completed by a communications provider, that provider shall impose the fee and remit it using the procedure specified in s. PSC 172.06 .

(d) Invoice or sales receipt identification. A communications provider or retailer may state the amount of the fee separately on a bill, invoice, sales receipt, or other document associated with the prepaid wireless retail transaction. If a retailer or communications provider lists the fee separately, it shall identify the fee as "police and fire protection fee."

(e) When a communications provider or retailer does not state the amount of the fee separately on a bill, invoice, sales receipt or other document associated with the prepaid wireless retail transaction, the communications provider or retailer shall ensure that the customer is aware that the fee is included in the total sales price of the prepaid wireless retail transaction and that the sales price is the amount received exclusive of the fee.

History: EmR0919 : emerg. cr. eff. 9-11-09; CR 09-086 : cr. Register June 2010 No. 654 , eff. 7-1-10.

Note

For example, a 50 minute card for a prepaid wireless account is sold in a vending machine for $20.00. A sign is conspicuously posted on the vending machine that the "Price Includes the Police and Fire Protection Fee." The sales price of the card is $19.62, the amount paid by the customer less the fee ($20.00 - $0.38 = $19.62). Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1