§9109.1. Prepaid 911 charge; intent; definitions; collection and remittance; administration; distribution of funds; liability; exclusivity

A. Intent. (1) The legislature finds that maintaining effective and efficient 911 systems across the state benefits all citizens.

(2) Charges imposed upon the consumers of services that have the ability to access 911 are an important funding mechanism to assist state and local governments with the deployment of 911 services to the citizens of this state.

(3) Prepaid services that provide access to 911 are an important segment of the industry and have proven particularly attractive to low-volume consumers.

(4) Unlike traditional telecommunication services, prepaid services that provide access to 911 are not sold or used pursuant to term contracts or subscriptions, and monthly bills are not sent to consumers by prepaid service providers or retail vendors.

(5) Prepaid service consumers have access to emergency 911 services from their devices, and prepaid service consumers benefit from the ability to access the 911 system. Therefore, prepaid service consumers should contribute to funding of the 911 emergency communications system.

(6) Consumers purchase prepaid services that provide access to 911 at a wide variety of general retail locations and other distribution channels, not just through service providers. Such purchases are made on a "cash-and-carry" or "pay-as-you-go" basis from retailers.

(7) To ensure equitable contributions to the funding of 911 systems from consumers of prepaid services, the collection and payment obligation of charges to support 911 should be imposed upon the consumer's retail purchase of the prepaid service and should be in the form of a single, statewide charge that is collected once at the time of purchase directly from the consumer, remitted to the state, and distributed to communications districts.

B. Definitions. As used in this Section, the following words and terms have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(1) "911" means an emergency telephone system that provides the caller with emergency 911 system service, that directs 911 calls to appropriate public safety answering points by selective routing based on the geographical location from which the call originated, and that provides the capability for automatic number identification and other features that the Federal Communications Commission may require in the future.

(2) "Consumer" means a person who purchases a prepaid service that provides access to 911 in a retail transaction.

(3) "Department" means the Department of Revenue.

(4) "Prepaid 911 charge" means the charge that is required to be collected by a seller from a consumer in the amount established under Subsection C of this Section.

(5) "Prepaid service" means a commercial mobile radio service as defined by 47 C.F.R. 20.3 in addition to any other service capable of accessing 911 through the use of voice, text, video, image, data, or any other means, which service shall be paid for in advance and is sold in predetermined units or dollars of which the number declines with use in a known amount.

(6) "Provider" means a person that provides a prepaid service.

(7) "Retail transaction" means each individual purchase of a prepaid service that provides access to 911 from a seller for any purpose other than resale.

(8) "Seller" means a person who sells a prepaid service that provides access to 911 to another person.

(9) Repealed by Acts 2016, No. 590, §2, eff. Oct. 1, 2016.

C. Collection and remittance of prepaid 911 charge. (1) There is hereby imposed a prepaid 911 charge of four percent of the amount of the per retail transaction.

(2) The prepaid 911 charge shall be collected by the seller from the consumer with respect to each retail transaction occurring in this state. The amount of the prepaid 911 charge shall be either separately stated on an invoice, receipt, or other similar document that is provided to the consumer by the seller, or otherwise disclosed to the consumer.

(3) For purposes of Paragraph (2) of this Subsection, a retail transaction that is effected in person by a consumer at a business location of the seller shall be treated as occurring in this state if that business location is in this state, and any other retail transaction shall be treated as occurring in this state if the retail transaction is treated as occurring in this state for purposes of R.S. 47:301(16)(d).

(4) The prepaid 911 charge shall be the liability of the consumer and not of the seller or of any provider, except that the seller shall be liable to remit all prepaid 911 charges that the seller collects from consumers as provided in Subsection D of this Section, including all such charges that the seller is deemed to collect where the amount of the charge has not been separately stated on an invoice, receipt, or other similar document provided to the consumer by the seller.

(5) The amount of the prepaid 911 charge that is collected by a seller from a consumer, whether or not such amount is separately stated on an invoice, receipt, or other similar document provided to the consumer by the seller, shall not be included in the base for measuring any tax, fee, surcharge, or other charge that is imposed by this state, any political subdivision of this state, or any intergovernmental agency.

D. Administration of prepaid 911 charge. (1) Prepaid 911 charges collected by sellers shall be remitted to the department quarterly by the seller and the return for the quarter shall be filed on or before the twentieth day of the first month of the next succeeding quarter. The department shall establish electronic registration procedures to enable sellers to file and pay the prepaid 911 charges electronically in accordance with R.S. 47:1520(A), which authorizes the secretary of the department to mandate electronic filing when the report is required for dedicated fund distribution. Sellers shall be required to file their prepaid 911 charge reports and to remit the prepaid 911 charge collection electronically using the electronic format prescribed by the department.

(2) A seller shall be permitted to deduct and retain half of the 2016 fourth quarter's fees. Thereafter, a seller shall be permitted to deduct and retain two percent of prepaid 911 charges that are collected by the seller from consumers.

(3) The audit and appeal procedures applicable under Chapter 2 of Subtitle I of Title 47 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950 with respect to the state sales tax shall apply to prepaid 911 charges and prescription shall be governed by Article VII, Section 16 of the Constitution of Louisiana.

(4) The department shall establish procedures by which a seller of prepaid 911 service may document that a sale is not a retail transaction, which procedures shall substantially coincide with the procedures for documenting sale for resale transactions under Chapter 2 of Subtitle I of Title 47 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950 with respect to the state sales tax.

(5) The department shall pay all remitted prepaid 911 charges over to eligible communications districts in accordance with Subsection E of this Section. The department may retain up to two percent of remitted charges to reimburse its direct costs of administering the collection and remittance of prepaid 911 charges.

E. Distribution of funds to communications districts. (1) Each communications district shall receive a distribution within thirty days of the end of each calendar quarter of a portion of the revenues remitted to the department under Subsection D of this Section.

(2) The amount of the distribution shall be determined by dividing the population of the communications district by the state population, and then multiplying that quotient times the total revenues remitted to the department after deducting the amount authorized in Paragraph (D)(5) of this Section.

F. Liability. (1) No provider or seller of prepaid service shall be liable for damages to any person resulting from or incurred in connection with the provision of, or failure to provide, 911 or E911 service, or for identifying, or failing to identify, the telephone number, address, location, or name associated with any person or device that is accessing or attempting to access 911 or E911 service.

(2) No provider or seller of prepaid service shall be liable for damages to any person resulting from or incurred in connection with the provision of any lawful assistance to any investigation or activity by a law enforcement officer of the United States, this or any other state, or any political subdivision of this or any other state, in connection with any lawful investigation or other law enforcement activity by such law enforcement officer.

G. Exclusivity of charge. The prepaid 911 charge shall be the only 911 funding obligation imposed with respect to prepaid service in this state, and no tax, fee, surcharge, or other charge shall be imposed by this state, any political subdivision of this state, or any intergovernmental agency, for 911 funding purposes, upon any provider, seller, or consumer with respect to the sale, purchase, use, or provision of prepaid 911 service.

Acts 2009, No. 531, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2010; Acts 2016, No. 590, §§1, 2, eff. Oct. 1, 2016.

NOTE: See Acts 2009, No. 531, §3, relative to retention of funds for implementation.