Provides that any claim for deceptive acts or practices against a distribution utility providing gas, electric or steam services to the public, the court shall have exclusive jurisdiction over such claim without regard to any defenses alleged; provides that in any claim for false advertising, the court shall have exclusive jurisdiction over such claim.
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
1237
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
January 9, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SEAWRIGHT, WEPRIN, TAYLOR, GALLAGHER, LEVENBERG,
GLICK, STECK, ZACCARO, BICHOTTE HERMELYN, LUCAS, TAPIA, HEVESI, CLARK,
EACHUS, DAVILA, GIBBS, SIMONE, LAVINE, SIMON, RAGA -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to certain decep-
tive acts and practices
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivision (h) of section 349 of the general business law,
as amended by chapter 157 of the laws of 1984, is amended and a new
subdivision (i) is added to read as follows:
(h) In addition to the right of action granted to the attorney general
pursuant to this section, any person who has been injured by reason of
any violation of this section may bring an action in [his] THEIR own
name to enjoin such unlawful act or practice, an action to recover [his]
actual damages or fifty dollars, whichever is greater, or both such
actions. The COURT SHALL HAVE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OVER SUCH A CLAIM.
IN THE EVENT THE ACTUAL DAMAGES DO NOT EXCEED THREE HUNDRED THIRTY-THREE
DOLLARS, THE court may, in its discretion, increase the award of damages
to an amount not to exceed three times the actual damages up to one
thousand dollars, if the court finds the defendant willfully or knowing-
ly violated this section. The court may award reasonable attorney's fees
to a prevailing plaintiff.
(I) IN CONNECTION WITH ANY CLAIM UNDER THIS SECTION AGAINST A DISTRIB-
UTION UTILITY PROVIDING GAS, ELECTRIC OR STEAM SERVICES TO THE PUBLIC,
THE COURT SHALL HAVE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OVER SUCH CLAIM WITHOUT
REGARD TO ANY DEFENSES ALLEGED OR DOCTRINES RAISED, NOR SHALL ANY
DEFENSE ALLEGED OR DOCTRINE RAISED PRECLUDE THE COURT FROM ADJUDICATING
THE MERITS OF ANY CLAIMS BROUGHT UNDER THIS SECTION.
§ 2. Section 350 of the general business law, as added by chapter 813
of the laws of 1963, is amended to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01033-01-5
Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.
Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.
Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.