Bill > S07146

This bill requires certain businesses in New York with at least 100 employees and annual revenues over $50 million to provide a high-quality, free customer service telephone line that meets specific standards. These standards include connecting customers with a human representative within five minutes, allowing customers to file and track complaints, providing proof of communication, offering potential refunds or compensation for service issues, and delivering transparent information. The bill prohibits businesses from using only automated answering systems and mandates that customer service contact information be clearly displayed on contracts, invoices, and websites. For utilities specifically, the bill requires gas, electric, and combined utility corporations to achieve a 90% customer service call-answer rate, meaning at least 90% of customer service calls must be answered within 30 seconds. Corporations failing to meet this standard will face negative revenue adjustments (financial penalties) that will be displayed as sur-credits on customer bills. These corporations must also submit annual reports to the department explaining their performance and improvement plans, which will be shared with state government officials and published online. The bill aims to improve customer service accessibility, transparency, and responsiveness across various industries in New York.

Business and Industry

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S7146