New York S 7146: Relates to customer service access

Bill Text

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S07146 Summary:

BILL NOS07146 

&nbsp

SAME ASNo Same As

&nbsp

SPONSORHOYLMAN-SIGAL

&nbsp

COSPNSR

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

Add §391-x, Gen Bus L; add §66-x, Pub Serv L

&nbsp

Requires certain businesses to provide a free, efficient, universally accessible, inclusive, nondiscriminatory and evaluable customer service telephone line; requires corporations to establish an annual customer service call-answer rate of at least ninety percent.

Go to top S07146 Actions:

BILL NOS07146 

&nbsp

04/02/2025REFERRED TO CONSUMER PROTECTION

Go to topS07146 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topS07146 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topS07146 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 7146

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN SENATE

 April 2, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by Sen. HOYLMAN-SIGAL -- read twice and ordered printed, and
 when printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection

 AN ACT to amend the general business law and the public service law, in
 relation to customer service access

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section
 2 391-x to read as follows:
 3 § 391-x. Customer service access. 1. Businesses that provide products
 4 or services in New York, regardless of the geographical location of the
 5 point of communication between the organization or third party and
 6 customer, that are targeted to residents of New York, have at least one
 7 hundred employees, and whose annual revenue exceed fifty million
 8 dollars, shall provide a free, efficient, universally accessible, inclu-
 9 sive, nondiscriminatory and evaluable customer service telephone line
 10 which must be able to provide the following, including but not limited
 11 to:
 12 (a) allowing a customer to connect with a human representative within
 13 five minutes of beginning a call;
 14 (b) allowing a customer to present complaints, claims, incidents or
 15 queries and receive communication with regard to any complaint, claim,
 16 incident or query;
 17 (c) have proof of complaints, claims, incidents or queries to custom-
 18 ers by providing an identification key and a written record on a medium
 19 of the customer's choice that includes proof of content, date, and time
 20 of receipt by the company;
 21 (d) when appropriate, provide a refund of the price of the good or
 22 service, in whole or in part, and other legally applicable compensation
 23 in the event of non-compliance or defective compliance with the contract
 24 or commercial offer; and

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD08386-01-5

 S. 7146 2

 1 (e) provide truthful, effective, comprehensive, transparent and up to
 2 date information on any incident that arises around the normal provision
 3 of services.
 4 2. The use of answering machines or other similar means as an exclu-
 5 sive means of customer service is prohibited.
 6 3. Instructions to access a customer service communication line estab-
 7 lished by each business pursuant to this section must appear in any
 8 contract with the consumer, on any invoices the business issues to
 9 customers, and on the website of the business, in an easy to identify,
 10 separate section, and in the case of the web pages on the home page of
 11 such website.
 12 4. Any business that knowingly fails to comply with the requirements
 13 of this section shall be assessed a civil penalty for such violation by
 14 the attorney general not to exceed fifty thousand dollars per day. Each
 15 day such offense shall continue shall constitute a separate additional
 16 violation. In determination of any such violation the attorney general
 17 shall be authorized to take proof and make a determination of relevant
 18 facts and to issue subpoenas in accordance with the civil practice law
 19 and rules.
 20 § 2. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 66-x to
 21 read as follows:
 22 § 66-x. Customer service access. 1. For purposes of this section:
 23 (a) "call-answer rate" means the metric the department shall use