1. (a) Acceptable reasons to refuse service. A utility may refuse to serve an applicant until the applicant complies with state and municipal regulations and the utility's rules and regulations on file with the commission or for any of the reasons identified below.

   1. (1) Applicant's facilities inadequate. The applicant's installation or equipment is known to be hazardous or of such character that satisfactory service cannot be given or the applicant's facilities do not comply with all applicable state and municipal regulations.
   2. (2) Violation of utility's tariffs. The applicant fails to comply with the utility's tariffs pertaining to operation of nonstandard equipment or unauthorized attachments which interfere with the service of others. The utility shall provide the applicant notice of such refusal and afford the applicant a reasonable amount of time to comply with the utility's tariffs.
   3. (3) Failure to pay guarantee. The applicant has acted as a guarantor for another customer and fails to pay the guaranteed amount, where such guarantee was made in writing to the utility and was a condition of service.
   4. (4) Intent to deceive. The applicant applies for service at a location where another customer received, or continues to receive, service and the utility bill is unpaid at that location and the utility can prove that the change in identity is made to avoid or evade payment of a utility bill. An applicant may request a supervisory review as specified in §26.30 of this title (relating to Complaints) if the utility determines that the applicant intends to deceive the utility and refuses to provide service.
   5. (5) For indebtedness. Except as provided in §26.29 of this title (relating to Prepaid Local Telephone Service), service may be refused, if the applicant owes a debt to any utility for the same kind of service as that applied for, including long distance charges where a local exchange carrier bills those charges to the customer pursuant to its tariffs. If the applicant's indebtedness is in dispute, the applicant shall be provided service upon complying with the deposit requirement in §26.24 of this title (relating to Credit Requirements and Deposits). Payment of long distance charges shall not be a condition of local exchange service if federal authority prohibits payment of long distance charges as a condition for local service, or prohibits disconnection of local service for failure to pay long distance charges.
   6. (6) Refusal to pay a deposit. Refusing to pay a deposit if applicant is required to do so under §26.24 of this title.

2. (b) Applicant's recourse.

   1. (1) If a utility has refused to serve an applicant under the provisions of this section, the utility must inform the applicant of the reason for its refusal and that the applicant may file a complaint with the commission as described in §26.30 of this title.
   2. (2) Additionally, the utility will inform applicants eligible for Prepaid Local Telephone Service, under §26.29 of this title, that this service is available if they are not eligible for standard local telephone service.

3. (c) Insufficient grounds for refusal to serve. The following are not sufficient cause for refusal of service to an applicant:

   1. (1) delinquency in payment for service by a previous occupant of the premises to be served;
   2. (2) failure to pay for any charges that are not provided for in a utility's tariffs;
   3. (3) failure to pay a bill that includes more than six months of underbilling unless the underbilling is the result of theft of service; and
   4. (4) failure to pay the bill of another customer at the same address except where the change in identity is made to avoid or evade payment of a utility bill.

Source Note:The provisions of this §26.23 adopted to be effective May 6, 1999, 24 TexReg 3329.