D.C. Municipal Regulations (Last Updated: September 13, 2017) |
Title 15. PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CABLE TELEVISION |
Chapter 15-31. CUSTOMER SERVICE STANDARDS |
Section 15-3118. NO DISCRIMINATION
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3118.1Except to the extent otherwise permitted by applicable law (and after receiving the District's approval, to the extent the District is exercising such authority pursuant to applicable law), a cable operator shall not discriminate among subscribers with respect to fees, charges, deposits and other terms and conditions affecting any service, or any equipment, installation or any other activity subject to regulation under Section 623 of the Cable Act (47 U.S.C. § 543)(or any successor thereto) and the rules and regulations issued in connection therewith. All such fees, charges, deposits and other terms and conditions must be applied fairly and uniformly to all subscribers in the cable operator's franchise area.
3118.2Nothing contained in subsection 3118.1 shall prohibit a cable operator from offering, to the extent permitted by applicable law:
(a)Discounts to senior citizens or economically disadvantaged groups;
(b)Different charges for residential subscribers than for non-residential subscribers;
(c)Sales promotions and other discounts or reduced charges for a reasonable period of time, which are offered to all residential subscribers or all non-residential subscribers, as the case may be, for the same length of time although the start date of such promotions, discounts or reduced charges may be staggered such that the offer may begin for the last subscriber to whom they are offered up to six (6) months after the start date for the first subscriber to whom they are offered;
(d)Sales promotions and other discounts or reduced charges, which are offered to a class of subscribers to whom one (1) of the cable operator's competitors has offered similar promotions, discounts or reduced charges, but only for the same period of time as the competitor's offering;
(e)Sales promotions and other discounts or reduced charges, which are offered to a discrete class of subscribers and which may affect the fees, charges, deposits and other terms and conditions for such subscribers for a period not to exceed eight (8) months, provided that the Company may apply to OCT for a waiver of such maximum period;
(f)Bulk rates; or
(g)Other special, short-term discounts or reduced charges to identifiable classes of subscribers or potential subscribers for reasonable categories of service.