What's happening
Writing a plain-English summary… Track this bill to get it by email.
Why it matters
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to consumer protection
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Restricts pay-per-call prize schemes
In Senate Committee · Consumer Protection · Sponsor N. Nick Perry
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S8005
Title of bill
An act to amend the general business law, in relation to restricting pay-per-call services
Purpose or general idea of bill
To prohibit the practice of holding a contest in which the pay-per-call service, which is needed to claim the prize, charges a higher fee for the transmission of the call as assessed by a telephone corporation regulated by the public service commission.
Summary of specific provisions
This bill would make it unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to offer a consumer a prize, if in order to claim the prize, the consumer must call a pay-per-call service where the charge for such service is greater than the charge for the transmission of the call as assessed by a telephone corporation regulated by the public service commission.
Justification
Every year, thousands of misleading phone calls are automatically placed to consumers, by a person, firm, or corporation leading them to believe, they had won a contest. In order to claim their prize, which could be anything from "new watch" to a "35mm camera", they are told that they have to place a return phone call to a given number. In most cases, the cost of the return phone call costs up to $9.95 a minute resulting in an excessive phone bill, which ends up being more expensive than the prize itself. From 1990 through 1994, about five hundred thousand New Yorkers fell victim to these "telemarketing scams", which have generated about $3 million.
Prior legislative history
2007-2008 A.5252 2005-2006 A.4053 2003-2004 A.5136 2001-2002 A.3660 1999-2000 A.1020 1997-1998 A.2609 1995-1996 A.4926
Fiscal implications
None to the state
Effective date
This act shall take effect 30 days after the date on which it shall have become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.