Sec. 130702. Requirements for confinement facility communications services, during the COVID–19 pandemic and other times
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Section 276 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 276 ) is amended by adding at the end the following: All charges, practices, classifications, and regulations for and in connection with confinement facility communications services shall be just and reasonable, and any such charge, practice, classification, or regulation that is unjust or unreasonable is declared to be unlawful. Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Commission shall issue rules to adopt, for the provision of confinement facility communications services, rates and ancillary service charges that are just and reasonable, which shall be the maximum such rates and charges that a provider of confinement facility communications services may charge for such services.
In determining rates and charges that are just and reasonable, the Commission shall adopt such rates and charges based on the average industry costs of providing such services using data collected from providers of confinement facility communications services. Not less frequently than every 2 years following the issuance of rules under subparagraph (B), the Commission shall— determine whether the rates and ancillary service charges authorized by the rules issued under such subparagraph remain just and reasonable; and if the Commission determines under clause
(i)that any such rate or charge does not remain just and reasonable, revise such rules so that such rate or charge is just and reasonable. Until the Commission issues the rules required by paragraph (1)(B), a provider of confinement facility communications services may not charge a rate for any voice service communication using confinement facility communications services that exceeds the following: For debit calling or prepaid calling, $0.04 per minute. For collect calling, $0.05 per minute. Except as provided in paragraph (4), a provider of confinement facility communications services— shall assess all charges for a communication using such services on a per-minute basis for the actual duration of the communication, measured from communication acceptance to termination, rounded up to the next full minute, except in the case of charges for services that the confinement facility offers free of charge or for amounts below the amounts permitted under this subsection; and may not charge a per-communication or per-connection charge for a communication using such services. A provider of confinement facility communications services may not charge an ancillary service charge other than— if the Commission has not yet issued the rules required by paragraph (1)(B), a charge listed in subparagraph
(B)of this paragraph; or a charge authorized by the rules adopted by the Commission under paragraph (1). If the Commission has not yet issued the rules required by paragraph (1)(B), a provider of confinement facility communications services may not charge a rate for an ancillary service charge in excess of the following: In the case of an automated payment fee, 2.9 percent of the total charge on which the fee is assessed. In the case of a fee for single-call and related services, the exact transaction fee charged by the third-party provider, with no markup. In the case of a live agent fee, $5.95 per use. In the case of a paper bill or statement fee, $2 per use. In the case of a third-party financial transaction fee, the exact fee, with no markup, charged by the third party for the transaction. A provider of confinement facility communications services may not assess a site commission. A State or political subdivision of a State may not enforce any law, rule, regulation, standard, or other provision having the force or effect of law relating to confinement facility communications services that allows for higher rates or other charges to be assessed for such services than is permitted under any Federal law or regulation relating to confinement facility communications services. In this subsection: The term ancillary service charge means any charge a consumer may be assessed for the setting up or use of a confinement facility communications service that is not included in the per-minute charges assessed for individual communications. The term automated payment fee means a credit card payment, debit card payment, or bill processing fee, including a fee for a payment made by means of interactive voice response, the internet, or a kiosk. The term collect calling means an arrangement whereby a credit-qualified party agrees to pay for charges associated with a communication made to such party using confinement facility communications services and originating from within a confinement facility. The term confinement facility — means a jail or a prison; and includes any juvenile, detention, work release, or mental health facility that is used primarily to hold individuals who are— awaiting adjudication of criminal charges or an immigration matter; or serving a sentence for a criminal conviction. The term confinement facility communications service means a service that allows incarcerated persons to make electronic communications (whether intrastate, interstate, or international and whether made using video, audio, or any other communicative method, including advanced communications services) to individuals outside the confinement facility, or to individuals inside the confinement facility, where the incarcerated person is being held, regardless of the technology used to deliver the service. The term consumer means the party paying a provider of confinement facility communications services. The term debit calling means a presubscription or comparable service which allows an incarcerated person, or someone acting on an incarcerated person’s behalf, to fund an account set up through a provider that can be used to pay for confinement facility communications services originated by the incarcerated person. The term fee for single-call and related services means a billing arrangement whereby communications made by an incarcerated person using collect calling are billed through a third party on a per-communication basis, where the recipient does not have an account with the provider of confinement facility communications services. The term incarcerated person means a person detained at a confinement facility, regardless of the duration of the detention. The term jail — means a facility of a law enforcement agency of the Federal Government or of a State or political subdivision of a State that is used primarily to hold individuals who are— awaiting adjudication of criminal charges; post-conviction and committed to confinement for sentences of one year or less; or post-conviction and awaiting transfer to another facility; and includes— city, county, or regional facilities that have contracted with a private company to manage day-to-day operations; privately-owned and operated facilities primarily engaged in housing city, county, or regional incarcerated persons; and facilities used to detain individuals pursuant to a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The term live agent fee means a fee associated with the optional use of a live operator to complete a confinement facility communications service transaction. The term paper bill or statement fee means a fee associated with providing a consumer an optional paper billing statement. The term per-communication or per-connection charge means a one-time fee charged to a consumer at the initiation of a communication. The term prepaid calling means a calling arrangement that allows a consumer to pay in advance for a specified amount of confinement facility communications services. The term prison — means a facility operated by a State or Federal agency that is used primarily to confine individuals convicted of felonies and sentenced to terms in excess of one year; and includes— public and private facilities that provide outsource housing to State or Federal agencies such as State Departments of Correction and the Federal Bureau of Prisons; and facilities that would otherwise be jails but in which the majority of incarcerated persons are post-conviction or are committed to confinement for sentences of longer than one year. The term provider of confinement facility communications services means any communications service provider that provides confinement facility communications services, regardless of the technology used. The term site commission means any monetary payment, in-kind payment, gift, exchange of services or goods, fee, technology allowance, or product that a provider of confinement facility communications services or an affiliate of a provider of confinement facility communications services may pay, give, donate, or otherwise provide to— an entity that operates a confinement facility; an entity with which the provider of confinement facility communications services enters into an agreement to provide confinement facility communications services; a governmental agency that oversees a confinement facility; the State or political subdivision of a State where a confinement facility is located; or an agent or other representative of an entity described in any of clauses
(i)through (iv). The term third-party financial transaction fee means the exact fee, with no markup, that a provider of confinement facility communications services is charged by a third party to transfer money or process a financial transaction to facilitate the ability of a consumer to make an account payment via a third party. The term voice service — means any service that is interconnected with the public switched telephone network and that furnishes voice communications to an end user using resources from the North American Numbering Plan or any successor to the North American Numbering Plan adopted by the Commission under section 251(e)(1); and includes— transmissions from a telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other device to a telephone facsimile machine; and without limitation, any service that enables real-time, two-way voice communications, including any service that requires internet protocol-compatible customer premises equipment (commonly known as CPE ) and permits out-bound calling, whether or not the service is one-way or two-way voice over internet protocol. . Section 276(d) of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 276(d) ) is amended by striking inmate telephone service in correctional institutions and inserting confinement facility communications services (as defined in subsection (e)(7)) . In the case of a contract that was entered into and under which a provider of confinement facility communications services was providing such services at a confinement facility on or before the date of the enactment of this Act— paragraphs
(1)through
(5)of subsection
(e)of section 276 of the Communications Act of 1934, as added by subsection
(a)of this section, shall apply to the provision of confinement facility communications services by such provider at such facility beginning on the earlier of— the date that is 60 days after such date of enactment; or the date of the termination of the contract; and the terms of such contract may not be extended after such date of enactment, whether by exercise of an option or otherwise. In this subsection, the terms confinement facility , confinement facility communications service , and provider of confinement facility communications services have the meanings given such terms in paragraph
(7)of subsection
(e)of section 276 of the Communications Act of 1934, as added by subsection
(a)of this section.
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Sec. 130702
Requirements for confinement facility communications services, during the COVID–19 pandemic and other times
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