1. (a) Bill due date. The bill provided to the customer shall include the payment due date, which shall not be less than 16 days after issuance. The issuance date is the postmark date on the envelope or the issuance date on the bill if there is no postmark on the envelope. Payment for utility service is delinquent if not received at the utility or at the utility's authorized payment agency by close of business on the due date. If the sixteenth day falls on a holiday or weekend, then the due date shall be the next workday after the sixteenth day.
2. (b) Penalty on delinquent bills for retail service. A one-time penalty not to exceed 5.0% may be charged on each delinquent commercial or industrial bill. No penalty shall apply to a residential bill. The 5.0% penalty on delinquent bills may not be applied to any balance to which the penalty has already been applied. A telecommunications utility providing any service to the state, including service to an agency in any branch of government, shall not assess a fee, penalty, interest, or other charge to the state for delinquent payment of a bill.

3. (c) Billing adjustments due to service interruptions. In the event a customer's service is interrupted other than by the negligence or willful act of the customer, and it remains interrupted for 24 hours or longer after being reported and after access to the premises is made available, appropriate adjustment or refunds shall be made to the customer.

   1. (1) The amount of adjustment or refund shall be determined on the basis of the known period of interruption, generally beginning from the time the service interruption is first reported.
   2. (2) The refund to the customer shall be the proportionate part of the month's flat rate charges for the period of days and that portion of the service facilities rendered useless or inoperative.
   3. (3) The refund may be accomplished by a credit on a subsequent bill.

4. (d) Overbilling. If charges are found to be higher than authorized by the utility's tariffs, the customer's bill shall be corrected.

   1. (1) The correction shall be made for the entire period of the overbilling.
   2. (2) If the utility corrects the overbilling within three billing cycles of the error, it need not pay interest on the overcharge.

   3. (3) If the utility does not correct the overcharge within three billing cycles of the bill in error, it shall pay interest on the amount of the overcharge at the rate set by the commission each year.

      1. (A) The interest rate shall be based on an average of prime commercial paper rates for the previous 12 months.
      2. (B) Interest on overcharges that are not adjusted by the utility within three billing cycles of the bill in error shall accrue from the date of payment or the date of the bill in error.
      3. (C) All interest shall be compounded monthly based on the annual rate.

5. (e) Underbilling. If charges are found to be lower than authorized by the utility's tariffs, or if the utility failed to bill the customer for service, the customer's bill may be corrected.

   1. (1) The utility may backbill the customer for the amount that was underbilled. The backbilling shall not collect charges that extend more than six months from the date the error was discovered unless underbilling is a result of theft of service by the customer.
   2. (2) The utility may disconnect service if the customer fails to pay charges arising from an underbilling.
   3. (3) If the underbilling is $50 or more, the utility shall offer the customer a deferred payment plan option for the same length of time as that of the underbilling. A deferred payment plan need not be offered to a customer whose underpayment is due to theft of service.
   4. (4) The utility shall not charge interest on underbilled amounts unless such amounts are found to be the result of theft of service by the customer. Interest on underbilled amounts shall be compounded monthly based on the annual rate and shall accrue from the day the customer is found to have first tampered with, bypassed, or diverted the service.

6. (f) Disputed bills.

   1. (1) If there is a dispute between a customer and a utility about any bill for utility service, the utility shall investigate and report the results to the customer. If the dispute is not resolved, the utility shall inform the customer of the complaint procedures of the commission pursuant to §26.30 of this title (relating to Complaints).
   2. (2) A customer's service shall not be suspended or disconnected for nonpayment of the disputed portion of the bill before the dispute is completely resolved by the utility.
   3. (3) If the customer files a complaint with the commission, a customer's service shall not be suspended or disconnected for nonpayment of the disputed portion of the bill until the commission completes its informal complaint resolution process and informs the customer of its conclusions. If payment of some portion of the disputed amount is then required, the customer shall have ten days from the date when the commission issued its findings to pay the outstanding bill before it will be considered delinquent.
   4. (4) The customer is obligated to pay any billings not disputed.
7. (g) Notice of alternative payment programs or payment assistance. When a customer contacts a utility and indicates inability to pay a bill or need of assistance with payment, the utility shall inform the customer of all alternative payment and payment assistance programs available from the utility, such as deferred payment plans, disconnection moratoriums for the ill, as applicable, and of the eligibility requirements and procedure for applying for each.
8. (h) Payment arrangements. A "payment arrangement" is any agreement between the utility and a customer which allows the customer to pay the outstanding bill after its due date but before the due date of the next bill. If the utility issued a suspension or disconnection notice before the payment arrangement was made, that suspension or disconnection should be suspended until after the due date for the payment arrangement. If a customer does not fulfill the obligations of the payment arrangement, the utility may suspend or disconnect service after the later of the due date for the payment arrangement or the suspension or disconnection date indicated in the notice, pursuant to §26.28 of this title (relating to Suspension or Disconnection of Service), without issuing an additional notice.

9. (i) Deferred payment plan. A deferred payment plan is any written agreement between the utility and a customer that allows a customer to pay an outstanding bill in installments that extend beyond the due date of the next bill. A deferred payment plan may be established in person or by telephone and all deferred payment plans shall be put in writing.

   1. (1) The utility shall offer a deferred payment plan to any residential customer, including a guarantor of any residential customer, who has expressed an inability to pay all of the bill, if that customer has not been issued more than two suspension or disconnection notices during the preceding 12 months; and
   2. (2) Every deferred payment plan shall provide that the delinquent amount may be paid in equal installments over at least three billing cycles.

   3. (3) When a residential customer has received service from its current utility for less than three months, the utility is not required to offer a deferred payment plan if the residential customer lacks:

      1. (A) sufficient credit; or
      2. (B) a satisfactory history of payment for service from a previous utility.

   4. (4) Every deferred payment plan offered by a utility:

      1. (A) shall state, immediately preceding the space provided for the customer's signature and in boldface type no smaller than 14 point size, the following: "If you are not satisfied with this contract, or if agreement was made by telephone and you feel this contract does not reflect your understanding of that agreement, contact the utility immediately and do not sign this contract. If you do not contact the utility, or if you sign this agreement, you may give up your right to dispute the amount due under the agreement except for the utility's failure or refusal to comply with the terms of this agreement." In addition, if the customer and the utility representative or agent meet in person, the utility representative shall read the preceding statement to the customer. The utility shall provide information to the customer in English and Spanish as necessary to make the preceding statement understandable to the customer;
      2. (B) may include a 5.0% penalty for late payment but shall not include a finance charge;
      3. (C) shall state the length of time covered by the plan;
      4. (D) shall state the total amount to be paid;
      5. (E) shall state the specific amount of each installment;
      6. (F) shall allow the utility to disconnect service if a customer does not fulfill the terms of the deferred payment plan;
      7. (G) shall not refuse a customer participation in such a program on the basis of race, nationality, religion, color, sex, or marital status;
      8. (H) shall be signed by the customer and a copy of the signed plan must be provided to the customer. If the agreement is made over the telephone, then the utility shall send a copy of the plan to the customer for signature; and
      9. (I) shall allow either the customer or the utility to renegotiate the deferred payment plan, if the customer's economic or financial circumstances change substantially during the time of the plan.
   5. (5) A utility may disconnect a customer who does not meet the terms of a deferred payment plan. However, the utility may not disconnect service until a disconnection notice has been issued to the customer indicating that the customer has not met the terms of the plan. The notice and disconnection shall conform with the disconnection rules in §26.28 of this title. The utility may renegotiate the deferred payment plan agreement before disconnection. If the customer did not sign the deferred payment plan and is not otherwise fulfilling the terms of the plan and the customer was previously provided a disconnection notice for the outstanding amount, no additional notice is required.
10. (j) Residential partial payments. Residential service payment shall first be allocated to basic local telephone service.

Source Note:The provisions of this §26.27 adopted to be effective May 6, 1999, 24 TexReg 3329; amended to be effective December 29, 1999, 24 TexReg 11728.