Retail Supplier Seeks PUC Clarification Affirming Method of Verification Permissible Under Rules

IGS Energy has petitioned the Pennsylvania PUC for an order affirming that its use of a tablet to electronically verify customer consent to door-to-door sales conducted by its Home Energy Consultants complies with the Commission's regulations.

"IGS intends to deploy a new process for door-to-door enrollments in Pennsylvania which involves the use of Home Energy Consultants ('HEC'). HECs are employees of IGS (as opposed to independent contractors) whose compensation is primarily derived from salary (as opposed to sales commission). These HECs are equipped with communications enabled tablet computers that also have GPS capabilities which will allow IGS to track the whereabouts of the HECs while conducting sales activities. This tracking capability allows IGS to record that an HEC was present at the residence of the enrolled customer during the enrollment process and to record the date and time of sale which will coordinate with the locational information provided by the GPS. The tablet computer also has the capabilities to allow customers to verify their consent to the terms and conditions via electronic signature and to ensure almost real time electronic delivery of executed sales documents to the customer at the email address provided by the customer. The use of the tablet computer also allows IGS to separately verify the transactions if the customer so consents," IGS said.

"The HEC enrollment process ... has the capabilities of completing an enrollment with electronic signature to verify the acceptance of the terms and conditions. When an electric signature is utilized, the customer is emailed an electronic copy of the electronically executed documents -- a paper copy is typically mailed within 24 hours of the enrollment. If a customer is uncomfortable engaging the electronic process, a wet signature version on a paper copy is available and the customer will proceed to a third-party verification process," IGS said.

"At the conclusion of the electronic sales transaction, and if the customer affirmatively consents to the HEC remaining on the premises (after being specifically asked that question) the customer is then presented with the tablet computer and asked to complete, on their own, a series of questions intended to verify the transaction. The first question is whether the customer was informed of their ability to request that the sales representative leave the premises during the verification process which the customer now must answer, with the answers being recorded electronically, and importantly, on their own, in order for the verification to be complete. Further, the questions asked of the customer are identical to the questions the customer would otherwise answer if the verification was being completed telephonically. If the customer answers all of the questions appropriately, the customer then signs the verification form and is provided an electronic copy of that form, and the transaction is considered to be complete. If the customer responds inappropriately to the verification questions, an error message appears and the sale cannot be completed. If the customer affirms the transaction, the visit is concluded with the transaction being considered verified. If the customer does not consent to the sales representative remaining on the premises during the verification process, the HEC leaves the premises and the transaction is concluded through a traditional third-party verification telephone call process," IGS said.

"IGS’ post enrollment quality assurance customer surveys indicate that customers tend to be most dissatisfied with the third-party telephone verification process, as a segment of the sales transaction, and consider it to be complicated, superfluous and impersonal part of the process. IGS is seeking to implement this verification process, at least in part, in response to this type of customer feedback," IGS said.

The Commission’s regulations at 52 Pa. Code § 111.7(b) state: "A supplier shall establish a process to verify a transaction that involved in the agent. The process shall confirm that the customer authorized the transfer of the customer’s account to the supplier ... (2) The verification process shall be separate from the transaction process and initiated only after the transaction has been finalized. When verifying a transaction that resulted from the Agent’s contact with a customer at the customer’s residence, the verification process shall be initiated only after the agent has physically exited the customer’s residence, unless the customer agrees that the agent may remain in the vicinity of the customer during the verification process. Prior to initiating the verification process, the agent shall inform the customer that the agent may not be in the vicinity during the verification unless the customer agrees to the agent’s presence."

"IGS believes that the verification process described above complies with the above quoted regulation. Specifically, the verification process is separate and is completed only after the sales transaction is completed. Further, before the verification process begins the HEC asked the customer whether the HEC may remain at the premises during the verification and informs the customer that they have the right to ask the HEC to leave. If the HEC is asked to leave the premises, the transaction is completed through a third-party verification telephone call. If the customer affirmatively agrees to allow the HEC to remain, the process is completed through the tablet verification described above, which electronically captures the customer’s consent to the HEC remaining on the premises," IGS said.

IGS requested that the Commission clarify that the use of the tablet computer to verify the HEC's enrollment of customers (as described above) is consistent and in compliance with 52 Pa. Code § 111.7(b)(2). Specifically, IGS requested that the Commission find, that the HEC tablet verification process if conducted in a manner described in this pleading is considered a separate verification process as set forth in 52 Pa. Code § 111.7(b)(2), and that the enrollment and verification process is otherwise compliant with the Commission’s regulations.