HBA-MPM H.B. 719 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 719
By: Chavez
Business & Industry
2/15/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, telemarketing companies are able to block their telephone number
so that it does not appear on a consumer's caller identification unit.
Testimony presented by the Public Utility Commission (PUC) to the Interim
Subcommittees on Consumer Fraud and Telemarketing indicated that for the
PUC to take action against a telemarketing company for breaching a "no
call" order, a consumer must receive a phone call three times from the same
telemarketer.  However, it is difficult to ascertain if a "no call" order
is breached because consumers may be unable to obtain the telemarketer's
phone number through their caller identification unit. 

House Bill 719 requires a telemarketer to ensure that an identifying
telephone number appears on a consumer's caller identification unit, unless
this is technically infeasible. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 719 amends the Utilities Code to require a telephone solicitor
to ensure that caller identification information for the solicitor's lines
used to make consumer calls is displayed by a device capable of displaying
the identification information, unless the Public Utility Commission of
Texas determines that it is not technically feasible. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.