§ 54.405   Carrier obligation to offer Lifeline.

   All eligible telecommunications carriers must:

   (a) Make available Lifeline service, as defined in § 54.401, to qualifying
   low-income consumers.

   (b) Publicize the availability of Lifeline service in a manner reasonably
   designed to reach those likely to qualify for the service.

   (c)  Indicate  on  all  materials describing the service, using easily
   understood language, that it is a Lifeline service, that Lifeline is a
   government  assistance  program, the service is non-transferable, only
   eligible consumers may enroll in the program, and the program is limited to
   one discount per household. For the purposes of this section, the term
   “materials describing the service” includes all print, audio, video, and web
   materials used to describe or enroll in the Lifeline service offering,
   including application and certification forms.

   (d) Disclose the name of the eligible telecommunications carrier on all
   materials describing the service.

   (e)   De-enrollment—(1)   De-enrollment   generally.  If  an  eligible
   telecommunications carrier has a reasonable basis to believe that a Lifeline
   subscriber  no longer meets the criteria to be considered a qualifying
   low-income consumer under § 54.409, the carrier must notify the subscriber of
   impending  termination of his or her Lifeline service. Notification of
   impending termination must be sent in writing separate from the subscriber's
   monthly bill, if one is provided, and must be written in clear, easily
   understood language. A carrier providing Lifeline service in a state that
   has dispute resolution procedures applicable to Lifeline termination, that
   requires, at a minimum, written notification of impending termination, must
   comply with the applicable state requirements. The carrier must allow a
   subscriber 30-days following the date of the impending termination letter
   required to demonstrate continued eligibility. A subscriber making such a
   demonstration must present proof of continued eligibility to the carrier
   consistent  with  applicable  annual re-certification requirements, as
   described  in  § 54.410(f). An eligible telecommunications carrier must
   terminate any subscriber who fails to demonstrate continued eligibility
   within the 30-day time period. A carrier providing Lifeline service in a
   state  that  has  dispute resolution procedures applicable to Lifeline
   termination must comply with the applicable state requirements.

   (2) De-enrollment for duplicative support. Notwithstanding paragraph (e)(1)
   of this section, upon notification by the Administrator to any eligible
   telecommunications carrier that a subscriber is receiving Lifeline service
   from another eligible telecommunications carrier or that more than one
   member  of  a subscriber's household is receiving Lifeline service and
   therefore that the subscriber should be de-enrolled from participation in
   that carrier's Lifeline program, the eligible telecommunications carrier
   must de-enroll the subscriber from participation in that carrier's Lifeline
   program within five business days. An eligible telecommunications carrier
   shall  not  be eligible for Lifeline reimbursement for any de-enrolled
   subscriber following the date of that subscriber's de-enrollment.

   (3) De-enrollment for non-usage. Notwithstanding paragraph (e)(1) of this
   section, if a Lifeline subscriber fails to use, as “usage” is defined in
   § 54.407(c)(2), for 60 consecutive days a Lifeline service that does not
   require the eligible telecommunications carrier to assess and collect a
   monthly fee from its subscribers, an eligible telecommunications carrier
   must provide the subscriber 30 days' notice, using clear, easily understood
   language, that the subscriber's failure to use the Lifeline service within
   the 30-day notice period will result in service termination for non-usage
   under this paragraph. If the subscriber uses the Lifeline service with 30
   days of the carrier providing such notice, the eligible telecommunications
   carrier shall not terminate the subscriber's Lifeline service. Eligible
   telecommunications carriers shall report to the Commission annually the
   number of subscribers de-enrolled for non-usage under this paragraph. This
   de-enrollment information must reported by month and must be submitted to
   the Commission at the time an eligible telecommunications carrier submits
   its annual certification report pursuant to § 54.416.

   (4) De-enrollment for failure to re-certify. Notwithstanding paragraph
   (e)(1)  of  this  section, an eligible telecommunications carrier must
   de-enroll  a Lifeline subscriber who does not respond to the carrier's
   attempts  to  obtain  re-certification  of  the subscriber's continued
   eligibility as required by § 54.410(f); who fails to provide the annual
   one-per-household re-certifications as required by § 54.410(f); or who relies
   on  a  temporary address and fails to respond to the carrier's address
   re-certification attempts pursuant to § 54.410(g). Prior to de-enrolling a
   subscriber under this paragraph, the eligible telecommunications carrier
   must notify the subscriber in writing separate from the subscriber's monthly
   bill, if one is provided using clear, easily understood language, that
   failure to respond to the re-certification request within 30 days of the
   date of the request will trigger de-enrollment. If a subscriber does not
   respond to the carrier's notice of impending de-enrollment, the carrier must
   de-enroll the subscriber from Lifeline within five business days after the
   expiration of the subscriber's time to respond to the re-certification
   efforts.

   [ 77 FR 12969 , Mar. 2, 2012, as amended at  80 FR 35577 , June 22, 2015]

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