Section 56.21. Payment

The due date for payment of a bill may not be no less than 20 days from the date of transmittal; that is, the date of mailing, electronic transmission or physical delivery of the bill by the public utility to the customer.

(1) Extension of due date to next business day. If the last day for payment falls on a Saturday, Sunday, bank holiday or other day when the offices of the public utility which regularly receive payments are not open to the general public, the due date shall be extended to the next business day.

(2) Date of payment by mail. For a remittance by mail, one or more of the following applies:

(i) Payment shall be deemed to have been made on the date of the postmark.

(ii) The public utility may not impose a late payment charge unless payment is received more than 5 days after the due date.

(3) Branch offices or authorized payment agents. The effective date of payment to a branch office or authorized payment agent, unless payment is made by mail under paragraph (2), is the date of actual receipt of payment at that location.

(4) Electronic transmission. The effective date of a payment electronically transmitted to a public utility is the date of actual receipt of payment.

(5) Fees. Fees or charges assessed and collected by the public utility for utilizing a payment option must be included in the public utility’s tariff on file at the Commission.

(6) Multiple notifications. When a public utility advises a customer of a balance owed by multiple notices or contacts which contain different due dates, the date on or before which payment is due shall be the latest due date contained in any of the notices.

The provisions of this § 56.21 adopted June 16, 1978, effective June 17, 1978, 8 Pa.B. 1655; amended April 8, 1983, effective April 9, 1983, 13 Pa.B. 1250; corrected March 27, 1992, effective June 30, 1990, 22 Pa.B. 1426; amended October 7, 2011, effective October 8, 2011, 41 Pa.B. 5473. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (337341) to (337342).

Notation

Authority

The provisions of this § 56.21 amended under the Public Utility Code, 66 Pa.C.S. § § 331, 501, 504, 1301, 1305, Chapter 14, 1501 and 1504.

Notes of Decisions

Equal Protection

By requiring public utilities to prepay sales taxes for its nonresidential customers and then write off as a bad debt any such taxes it cannot collect from the customer, the Legislature did not violate equal protection. Philadelphia Electric Company v. Department of Revenue, 538 A.2d 607 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1988).

Cross References

This section cited in 52 Pa. Code § 56.22 (relating to accrual of late payment charges).