§ 56.22. Accrual of late payment charges.
(a) Every public utility subject to this chapter is prohibited from levying or assessing a late charge or penalty on any overdue public utility bill, as defined in § 56.21 (relating to payment), in an amount which exceeds 1.5% interest per month on the overdue balance of the bill. These charges are to be calculated on the overdue portions of the bill only. The interest rate, when annualized, may not exceed 18% simple interest per annum.
(b) An additional charge or fixed fee designed to recover the cost of a subsequent rebilling may not be charged by a regulated public utility.
(c) Late payment charges may not be imposed on disputed estimated bills, unless the estimated bill was required because public utility personnel were willfully denied access to the affected premises to obtain an actual meter reading.
(d) A public utility may waive late payment charges on any customer accounts. The Commission may only order a waiver of late payment charges levied by a public utility as a result of a delinquent account for customers with a gross monthly household income not exceeding 150% of the Federal poverty level. See 66 Pa.C.S. § 1409 (relating to late payment charge waiver).
Authority The provisions of this § 56.22 amended under the Public Utility Code, 66 Pa.C.S. § § 331, 501, 504, 1301, 1305, 1401—1419, 1501 and 1504.
Source The provisions of this § 56.22 adopted June 16, 1978, effective June 17, 1978, 8 Pa.B. 1655; amended April 8, 1983, effective April 9, 1983, 13 Pa.B. 1250; amended October 7, 2011, effective October 8, 2011, 41 Pa.B. 5473. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (337342) to (337343).
Notes of Decisions Conflict with Statute
Since 42 Pa.C.S. § 8101 (relating to interest on judgments) limits postjudgment interest to 6% per year unless otherwise provided by another statute, it supersedes the regulation that provides for 18% interest per year on amounts owed to a public utility. Equitable Gas Co. v. Wade, 812 A.2d 715 (Pa. Super. 2002).
Late Payment Charges
In its monthly billing statements, the utility clearly instructed its customers to pay either the account balance or the optional payment amount by a certain date to avoid a specified late payment charge calculated at a certain monthly percentage rate, and thus the billing statements contained all of the information required by the regulations and the tariff approved by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission; moreover, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission had approved the specific language used in the monthly billing statements under the detailed ‘‘plain language’’ guidelines set forth in 52 Pa. Code § 69.251. Aronson v. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, 740 A.2d 1208 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1999); appeal denied 751 A.2d 193 (Pa. 2000).
Cross References This section cited in 52 Pa. Code § 56.15 (relating to billing information); and 52 Pa. Code § 56.181 (relating to duties of parties; disputing party’s duty to pay undisputed portion of bills; public utility’s duty to pay interest whenever overpayment found).
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