CRTC Tariff Regulations

Regulations Respecting the Form and Publication of Tariffs The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, pursuant to section 17 of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act, hereby rescinds Tariff Circular 3, Regulations Governing the Construction, Filing and Posting of Telegraph and Telephone Tariffs by Telegraph and Telephone Companies, made by General Order No. 843 dated 1 April, 1959 of the Board of Transport Commissioners for Canada; and pursuant to subsection 14(2) of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act and section 270, subsections 320(3), 320(6) and 321(5) of the Railway Act hereby makes the annexed Regulations Respecting the Form and Publication of Tariffs to be effective 20 July, 1979, with the exception of subsections 4(3), 4(4) and 4(6) thereof which come into effect on 1 July, 1980. Ottawa, July 20th, 1979 These Regulations may be cited as the CRTC Tariff Regulations. In these Regulations, all words and expressions have the same meaning as in the CRTC Telecommunications Rules of Procedure. No regulated company shall apply any tariff unless the tariff has been approved by the Commission. The tariffs of every regulated company shall be in loose-leaf form, on pages of uniform size, 21.5 centimetres wide by 28 centimetres long, and shall be prepared in legible form by a duplicating process that ensures accuracy in all copies. No alteration or erasure in the original text is permitted in any tariff filed with the Commission or made available to the public. The tariffs of every regulated company shall be numbered consecutively, using the block of tariff numbers assigned to the company in the table to this section, and each number shall be prefixed by the letters “CRTC”. The first tariff of a regulated company numbered as required by subsection (3) shall be the index of tariffs required to be published under section 6 and where a General Tariff is published by the company, its second tariff shall be the General Tariff of the company. Where a regulated company has not been assigned a block of numbers in the table to this section, that company may apply ex parte to the Commission to have such a block assigned to it. Where the Commission determines that a regulated company serves a significant proportion of subscribers in both official languages, every tariff of that company filed with the Commission or made available to the public shall be in both official languages. Subject to subsection (2), the tariffs of every regulated company shall contain a full and complete index of contents by subject-matter that shows, in alphabetical order, the exact location of information and that specifies the page and item numbers applicable. Where the title page or interior arrangement of a tariff plainly discloses its contents, the index of contents may be omitted. Every page of a tariff shall show above a horizontal line near the top of the page in the upper left corner, the full name of the regulated company issuing the tariff and, in the upper right corner, the number of the tariff in bold type; below a horizontal line near the bottom of the page, in the lower left corner, the date of the filing of the application for approval of the particular tariff page, and in the lower right corner, the effective date; and centred at the bottom of the page, a reference to the appropriate Commission Telecom. Order or Decision, for example: “Approved in CRTC Telecom. Order 78-43, January 16, 1978”, or “Authority: Telecom. Decision CRTC 78-7, August 10, 1978”. The general regulations of a regulated company, setting out the terms and conditions subject to which the company furnishes to the public the service and equipment described in its approved tariffs on file with the Commission, shall be included at the beginning of the General Tariff published by that company. Where no General Tariff is published, the general regulations referred to in subsection (4) shall be included in one of the approved tariffs of the regulated company and all other approved tariffs shall contain a reference by CRTC number to the tariff in which such general regulations are published. In each tariff, the rules or other governing provisions of the regulated company shall be stated in explicit terms with the title or subject of each in distinctive type, and shall include a reference to any other tariff that may be applicable. Terms and expressions used in a tariff may be defined in a separate alphabetical list, which definitions shall govern all items in the tariff, unless a particular item in the tariff provides otherwise. Where the definitions set out in the alphabetical list referred to in subsection (7) are intended to govern the meaning of the terms and expressions used in other tariffs, the other tariffs shall refer to that tariff by CRTC number. Every regulated company shall publish as a tariff a complete index of approved tariffs and agreements in effect, divided into three sections, as follows: a complete numerical list of its own tariffs numbered as required by subsection 4(3); a complete descriptive list of the tariffs of other companies that it uses to determine rates and charges for service over any continuous route operated jointly with the other companies; a complete descriptive list of approved agreements in effect that have been entered into with other companies. The title page of each tariff shall be designated in the upper right corner as “Original Title Page” and each page thereafter shall be consecutively numbered immediately under the CRTC number of the tariff in the top right corner as “Original Page 1”, “Original Page 2” and so on. In the case of tariffs of 10 or more pages, revised check pages shall be issued monthly by a regulated company to list the revision number in effect for each page of the tariffs. In the case of tariffs of less than 10 pages, revised check pages shall be issued quarterly by a regulated company to list the revision number in effect for each page of the tariffs. Amendments to tariffs shall be made by reprinting the page of the tariff, designating it as a revised page and noting the revision effected, for example, ”1st Revised Page 1, Cancels Original Page 1” or ”2nd Revised Page 1, Cancels 1st Revised Page 1” Any additional page inserted within the series of pages comprising a tariff shall be given the same number as the page it follows and be consecutively numbered as “Original Page 1A”, “Original Page 1B” and so on. Pages added beyond the original series of pages comprising a tariff shall be consecutively numbered in continuation of that series as “Original Page ...” and so on. Where tariff matter is transferred from one page to another, both pages shall contain a cross-reference to indicate the page on which the tariff matter formerly appeared and the page to which it has been transferred, but the cross-reference shall not be carried forward in a revision of those pages. A base-rate, locality-rate or any other rate area, within which uniform charges are applied for local exchange telephone services, shall be clearly defined in tariffs by a map or clear description of the boundaries of such an area. Where an exchange has extended-area service with other exchanges, the tariffs shall specify the extent of that service and any weighting factors employed in the calculation of rates for that service. The following reference marks shall be used in tariffs only to indicate changes in the rates, charges or in the wording of tariffs: to denote changes in wording where neither an increase nor reductions in rates or charges results therefrom; The reference marks set out in subsection (1) shall be so placed in the text of a tariff to indicate as nearly as possible where the actual change in a rate, charge or in the wording of the tariff occurred. Subject to subsection (2), every regulated company shall deposit and keep on file at each of its business offices a copy of each of its tariffs. Where a tariff contains a number of individual exchange tariffs, only the portion of the tariff relating to a particular exchange is required to be deposited and kept on file at the office of the regulated company located at that exchange. Every regulated company shall deposit and keep on file at its business offices in at least two principal cities within the service area of the company a complete set of each of its tariffs. All tariffs shall be available for inspection by the public at the business offices of every regulated company during business hours. At each business office where tariffs are kept on file as required by this section, the person in charge at that office shall, on request, produce any tariff on file for inspection; arrange to provide single copies of up to 10 tariff pages at no charge; and arrange to provide copies of any other tariff pages at a reasonable charge. Every regulated company shall publish its tariffs as a subscription service and shall furnish a complete set of its tariffs or part thereof to any interested person on a subscription basis. The fees and conditions for the service referred to in subsection (1) shall be set out in the General Tariff of the company, or in one of its effective tariffs where no General Tariff is published by the company. Where a regulated company furnishes or causes to be furnished a directory to its subscribers, each directory shall contain a notice that is printed in a form approved by the Commission and that contains the following particulars: a statement that the rates, charges and conditions on which the services and facilities of the company are offered are regulated by the Commission, and are set out in tariffs approved by the Commission; a statement that the tariffs of the company for service in any particular area are available for inspection by the public and may be seen at any of its business offices in that area during business hours, and that a complete set of all of its tariffs is available for public inspection at the principal cities referred to in subsection 11(3) and at the offices of the Commission; a statement that any person may purchase a copy of the tariffs of the company on a subscription basis; a statement setting out procedures for resolving complaints and settling disputes between subscribers and the company including a brief description of typical complaints that a subscriber may address through this procedure, an outline of the initial recourse that a subscriber may adopt, a description of the appeal procedure within the company, together with a mailing address where appropriate; a statement that complaints that have not been resolved to the satisfaction of the parties pursuant to paragraph (d) may be addressed in writing to the Commission for review; and a description, including the actual text where appropriate, of any general regulations of the regulated company, setting out the terms and conditions subject to which the company furnishes to the public the service and equipment described in its approved tariffs on file with the Commission.