This chapter applies to suppliers providing supplier-consolidated billing services. The requirements in this chapter are in addition to all other requirements in COMAR relating to the provision of retail supply. A supplier is not required to offer alternative payment plans. The supplier shall promptly notify the customer of the outcome of a request for an alternative payment plan. A supplier may charge a customer a deposit for supplier-consolidated billing, subject to the following: A supplier may request a maximum of 4 months of supply charges for a deposit related to commodity service; A supplier is not required to apply its deposit from §A(1) of this regulation or the interest accrued to any utility charges held by the supplier; Any interest earned on deposits held by a supplier shall be returned to the customer if the deposit is not used for collection purposes; Unclaimed deposits, with accrued interest, shall be credited to an appropriate account, or shall otherwise be disposed of in accordance with State law; A supplier shall return a customer’s excess deposit to the customer once the customer has no financial obligation to the supplier; and A supplier shall retain records of deposits for a minimum of 3 years. If a utility holds a customer’s deposit at the time of enrollment in supplier-consolidated billing, the utility shall: Refund within 60 days the commodity portion of the deposit to the customer after applying the deposit to any outstanding utility charges; Continue to follow all existing deposit requirements under COMAR 20.30.01 and COMAR 20.30.02 for any portion of the deposit retained; and Count payments made by a customer in full and on time to the supplier toward the customer’s good payment record under COMAR 20.30.01.05B and C and COMAR 20.30.02.05B and C. Deposits for Customers Returning to Utility Billing from Supplier-Consolidated Billing. A utility may require a deposit for supply charges from a customer when a customer switches or is dropped from supplier-consolidated billing in accordance with existing deposit requirements under COMAR 20.30.01 and COMAR 20.30.02. A utility shall consider a customer’s payment record when determining whether to assess a customer’s deposit under COMAR 20.30.01 and COMAR 20.30.02. A supplier shall only charge a late fee if it is specified in the customer’s contract. A supplier may not charge a late fee in excess of 5 percent. A supplier shall retain customer billing records for the length of time necessary to permit both the supplier and the utility to comply with Regulation .06 of this chapter, but not less than 3 years. A supplier shall make available to the Commission or utility records necessary to ensure accurate bills and appropriate application of payments to utility and supply charges upon request. Process When a Utility Issues an Adjustment of Bill as Prescribed in COMAR 20.50.04.05 to a Supplier Providing Supplier-Consolidated Billing. The supplier shall refund or credit the customer if the bill adjustment results in an overcharge. The supplier may attempt to collect the amount due from a customer if the bill adjustment made by the utility results in an undercharge. Process When a Supplier Determines that It Has Incorrectly Billed a Customer. If a supplier determines that the bill adjustment results in an overcharge, the supplier shall refund or credit the customer. If a supplier determines that the bill adjustment results in an undercharge, the supplier may attempt to collect the amount due. Restrictions Regarding Supplier Billing Undercharges Under §B(2) of this Regulation. A supplier may not issue a bill adjustment for an undercharge if the price used to calculate the bill adjustment was not previously disclosed to the customers by contract or as required in COMAR 20.53.07.13. The supplier may retroactively bill an undercharge that is less than 12 months old without Commission authorization. A supplier may seek the Commission’s authorization for retroactive billing for undercharges which occurred more than 12 months but less than 3 years before the discovery of the error if the customer knew, or reasonably should have known, that the bills were in error. If an undercharge is greater than 12 months, the supplier shall provide a written notice to the customer that explains the factual basis for the undercharge together with a notice of the customer’s right to write to the Commission, within 20 days, if the customer is in opposition to the request. Supplier billing an undercharge under §A or B of this regulation. If the total undercharge is more than 35 percent of the customer’s average monthly bill during the most recent 3 months of service with the supplier, the customer shall be allowed to enter into an installment plan to pay the total retroactive billing, without interest. In the installment plan under §C(1) of this regulation, the monthly payments against the undercharge may not exceed 35 percent of the customer’s average monthly bill during the most recent 3 months of the customer’s service with the supplier. However, if the installment plan will not recover the total undercharge within a 12-month period, the monthly payment may be equal to the total undercharge divided by a number no less than 12. If requested by a customer, a supplier shall provide a means by which any undercharge may be paid in installments over a reasonable period of time, but not less than the same period over which any undercharges were incurred. If a supplier is required to provide an installment plan due to a utility-identified bill adjustment in §A of this regulation, the unbilled regulated utility charges of an installment plan as required by §C of this regulation may not count toward the limit on the number of days a supplier has to sell customer arrearages to the utility under COMAR 20.53.05.12D(2). A supplier shall investigate promptly and thoroughly any complaint concerning its charges or practices. A supplier may not charge or pursue collections activities against a customer for charges under dispute at the Commission. A supplier providing supplier-consolidated billing shall prepare a pamphlet for customers that summarizes the rights and responsibilities of a customer receiving supplier-consolidated billing services. The contents of the customer rights pamphlet required under §A of this regulation shall be provided on a form approved by the Commission. The pamphlet shall be mailed or, with the customer’s consent, delivered by electronic means to each customer of the supplier: Together with the contract and contract summary; When a customer’s billing method changes to supplier-consolidated billing services from another billing method; Upon the customer’s request; and Each October of each subsequent year the customer is with the supplier. The delivery of the pamphlet in §C of this regulation does not alter the requirements of delivery for other materials required by regulation or law. A supplier shall ensure that a supplier’s call center representatives who interact with customers at a minimum are able to: Assist customers with contacting a utility, including providing the utility’s phone number, to resolve safety matters related to utility service; Assist customers with billing, disputes, and complaints requests, and provide the utility customer service number upon request; and Explain how a customer can file a complaint with the Commission and provide the Commission’s contact information. Call Center Metrics. On an annual basis, a supplier shall answer within 30 seconds at least 75 percent of all calls offered to the supplier for customer service. A supplier shall achieve an annual average abandoned call percentage rate of 5 percent or less, calculated by dividing the total number of abandoned calls by the total number of calls offered to the supplier for customer service. A supplier shall design its telecommunications systems to accommodate expected volumes of customer calls with minimal or, if possible, no customer busy signals during normal conditions. Other Customer Communications Information. A supplier shall state the following in its report to the Commission: The percentage of calls that are answered within 30 seconds; The abandoned call percentage rate; First call resolution; The average time to resolve a customer request; and The average speed of answer, which shall be calculated by dividing the total amount of time callers spend in queue after requesting to speak to a customer service representative through the automated voice response system by the total number of calls handled, including calls handled by the automated voice response system. Customer Communications Standards Period. A supplier shall measure each standard in this regulation using the 12-month period ending December 31. For the calendar year in which the regulations become effective, the standards shall be measured from the date the regulations are effective until and including December 31 of that year for reporting purposes only. Reporting. A supplier that uses the same call center for both gas and electric service is not required to provide separate data for both gas and electric service. A supplier that uses the same call center for both gas and electric service in multiple jurisdictions is not required to provide separate data for Maryland customers unless the supplier tracks Maryland customers separately. A supplier shall report its year-ending performance under this regulation to the Commission: For the first 3 years after obtaining a license to provide SCB; and Every 3 years after the supplier has held a SCB license for more than 3 years. Except as otherwise set forth in §C of this regulation, the standards in this regulation shall apply to customer calls offered to or received by a supplier’s call center, call overflow system, and a third-party vendor retained by the supplier. Corrective Action Plan. If a supplier fails to satisfy the standard in §A, B, or C of this regulation, it shall provide, in its report to the Commission, an explanation of why it did not achieve the standards and provide a corrective action plan if necessary. Public Utilities Article, §§2-113, 2-121, 5-101, 7-505, 7-507, 7-511, and 7-603, Annotated Code of Maryland Effective date: March 14, 2016 (43:5 Md. R. 387) Chapter revised effective March 11, 2019 (46:5 Md. R. 310) Regulations .01—.07 recodified to be under COMAR 20.53.10, Supplier-Agent Relations effective March 7, 2022 (49:5 Md. R. 367) Regulations .01—.09 adopted under new chapter, Supplier-Consolidated Billing Customer Protections effective March 7, 2022 (49:5 Md. R. 367)