Establishing limitations on billing practices of Internet or telecommunications providers that fail to provide subscribed customers service for five or more days
Summary
HB2502 creates a new consumer protection section in West Virginia law governing billing by Internet and telecommunications providers when service is unavailable for an extended period. If a subscriber’s service is interrupted for more than five continuous days (120 hours) for reasons within the provider’s control, and not caused by the customer, the provider must automatically issue a credit or refund in the next billing cycle that is proportional to the amount of service not received. The bill’s stated purpose is to prevent providers from charging customers for service they did not receive during long outages.
The bill also authorizes the Attorney General to enforce the new requirements. If a provider violates the crediting rule, the Attorney General may seek resolution and bring an action to recover excessive charges, and a court may assess a civil penalty of at least one month’s service cost and up to $5,000. In addition, Internet service providers must submit monthly reports to the Consumer Protection Division describing the number of customers credited, the total dollar amount of credits, and the geographic scope of qualifying outages; those reports are confidential but may be used for analysis and consumer protection purposes. The bill expressly excludes mobile service disruptions from its coverage.
Impact
HB2502 would add §46A-6-111 to the West Virginia Consumer Protection article, creating a new statutory billing obligation for Internet and telecommunications providers and a corresponding enforcement mechanism for the Attorney General. It would require automatic customer credits for qualifying outages, establish civil penalties for noncompliance, and impose monthly reporting duties on Internet providers. The bill would affect providers doing business in the state and customers who experience prolonged fixed-line service interruptions, while leaving mobile service disruptions outside the new rule.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have broad support in the House, passing 95-0 on March 21, 2025. The available record shows no committee transcript opposition or recorded dissent, suggesting the measure was viewed favorably as a consumer protection and fairness bill. The overall sentiment is therefore strongly supportive, at least in the chamber vote reflected in the history provided.
Contention
The main policy issue in the bill is how to balance consumer protection against provider liability for outages. The bill limits credits to interruptions lasting more than 120 continuous hours and excludes outages outside the provider’s reasonable control, including force majeure, which suggests concern about not penalizing providers for events beyond their control. Another point of distinction is that the bill applies to Internet and telecommunications providers generally but specifically excludes mobile service disruptions, which may reflect concerns about the different technical and regulatory nature of mobile networks. No direct opposition is shown in the provided materials.
Making a supplementary appropriation to the Department of Human Services, Bureau for Medical Services – Policy and Programming and State Board of Education – State Department of Education