OFFICE OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS AND BUSINESS REGULATION

M.G.L. pt. Part I, tit. Title II, ch. c. 24A

in effect

M.G.L. c. 24A, § 1 Office of consumer affairs and business regulation; appointment, salary and duties of director; divisions

c. 24A, § 1. Office of consumer affairs and business regulation; appointment, salary and duties of director; divisions Section 1. (a) Within the executive office of economic development, there shall be an office of consumer affairs and business regulation, in this chapter called the office. The office shall be headed by a director of consumer affairs and business regulation, hereinafter referred to as the director, who shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the governor and who shall not be subject to the provisions of chapter thirty-one or section nine A of chapter thirty. The director shall receive such salary as the governor may determine, provided that such salary is equivalent to the salary received by the director of the Massachusetts office of business development. The director shall devote full time during business hours to the duties of his office, and shall have the powers and duties provided in sections four to seven, inclusive, of chapter six A. (b) There shall be within the office the following divisions containing the following state agencies or functions: (1) the division of business regulation, including the department of telecommunications and cable and all other state agencies within that department; the department of banking and insurance and all other state agencies within that department, including the small loans regulatory board and the trustees of the General Insurance Guaranty Fund; (2) the division of consumer affairs, including the division of registration established by section 8 of chapter 13, including the several boards of registration serving in that division; and (3) the division of standards, established by section 5. Nothing in this section shall be construed as conferring any power or imposing any duties upon the director with respect to the foregoing agencies except as expressly provided by law.

M.G.L. c. 24A, § 2 Additional duties

c. 24A, § 2. Additional duties Section 2. In addition to its other duties, the office shall: (a) maintain a telephone information service; (b) conduct surveys of consumer needs; (c) investigate consumer problems in cooperation with the attorney general; (d) publish educational brochures; (e) establish programs and services to assist consumers in understanding their rights and responsibilities in consumer transactions; (f) recommend and implement consumer protection policies; (g) monitor the marketplace to promote fair and honest competition; and (h) establish a trust fund for the purpose of consumer education and to further the office's other purposes and, to such extent the director shall have the powers provided in section six of chapter six A. Nothing herein shall restrict any official or agency not within said office from performing consumer-related responsibilities assigned to him or it by law.

M.G.L. c. 24A, § 3 Annual assessments against electric, water, gas, telephone and telegraph companies

c. 24A, § 3. Annual assessments against electric, water, gas, telephone and telegraph companies Section 3. The director is hereby authorized to make an annual assessment against each electric, water, gas, telephone and telegraph company doing business in the commonwealth and subject to the supervision of the department of public utilities, based upon intrastate operating revenues of each of such companies derived from the sales of electric, water, gas, telephone and telegraph services, respectively, as shown on the annual report or annual statement of each such company filed with the appropriate supervising agency. Such assessment shall be in such amount as determined and certified annually by the director to be sufficient to produce one million three hundred fifty-five thousand one hundred and forty-five dollars in revenue to the commonwealth and shall be assessed proportionately against each such company on the basis of such intrastate operating revenues of each such company; provided, however, that in addition to such assessment amount, the assessment shall include amounts to be credited to the General Fund for fringe benefit costs including, but not limited to, group life and health insurance and retirement benefits, paid vacations and holidays and sick leave, not to exceed twenty-two percent of the amount attributable to personnel costs of the attorney general's office subject to assessment under the provisions of this section and under section eleven E of chapter twelve in the fiscal year in which such assessment is made; and, provided further, that if the attorney general fails to expend in any fiscal year the total amount of one million three hundred fifty-five thousand one hundred and forty-five dollars for the purposes set forth under the provisions of said section eleven E of said chapter twelve, any amount unexpended in such fiscal year shall be credited against the assessment to be made in the following year and the assessment in such following year shall be reduced by such unexpended amount. Assessments made under this section may be credited to the normal operating costs of each such company and shall be utilized by the attorney general solely for the purposes set forth under the provisions of section eleven E of chapter twelve. The director is hereby authorized to make a further annual assessment for the purpose of providing funds to the attorney general for the representation of consumer interests in proceedings held pursuant to section ninety-four G of chapter one hundred and sixty-four and such other proceedings as may be reasonably related to said section ninety-four G. Such assessments shall be assessed proportionately against each electric company under the jurisdictional control of the department of public utilities based upon the intrastate operating revenues of each such company derived from wholesale and retail sales of electricity within the commonwealth as shown in the annual report of such company to the department. Such assessment shall be made at a rate which shall be determined and certified annually by the director as sufficient to produce not more than seventy-five thousand dollars in revenue to be credited to the General Fund for each fiscal year for which such assessment is made.

M.G.L. c. 24A, § 4 Certification of assessments; collection

c. 24A, § 4. Certification of assessments; collection Section 4. On or before the first day of October of the year in which an assessment is made pursuant to the provisions of section nine A, the director shall certify to the commissioner of revenue the amount of the assessment to be made and the name and address of each company against whom such assessment is made. Such assessments shall be collected by said commissioner in accordance with applicable provisions of chapter sixty-three; provided, however, that each such company shall pay the amount assessed against it within thirty days from the receipt of notice of assessment from said commissioner. The amount so collected shall be credited to the General Fund.

M.G.L. c. 24A, § 5 Division of standards

c. 24A, § 5. Division of standards Section 5. (a) There shall be a division of standards within the office of consumer affairs and business regulation. The director of the office, with the approval of the governor, shall appoint a deputy director of standards and, with like approval, may remove him. The deputy director of standards shall have charge of the division of standards and shall, in addition to the powers and duties conferred and imposed upon him by law, perform such other duties as may be assigned to him by the director of the office of consumer affairs and business regulation. (b) Except as otherwise provided, the director of the office may employ and remove such inspectors, investigators, clerks and other assistants as the work of the division of standards may require. He may employ, for periods not exceeding ninety days, such experts as may be necessary to assist said division in the performance of any duty imposed upon it by law and such employment shall be exempt from the provisions of chapter thirty-one. (c) The deputy director of standards and all inspectors and other permanent employees of the division of standards, shall devote their full time to the affairs of said division. Said deputy director, all such inspectors and such other employees of said division as may be designated by the director of the office shall, before entering upon their duties, be sworn to the faithful performance thereof. All such inspectors shall aid the deputy director of standards in the performance of his duties, shall have all necessary powers therefor and shall give bond for the faithful performance of their duties. Whoever hinders, obstructs or in any way interferes with the deputy director of standards or any such inspector in the performance of any official duty imposed by law shall, except as otherwise provided, be punished by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than two months.

Source: Massachusetts General Court (malegislature.gov)URL: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleII/Chapter24AFetched: 10/20/2026