How utilities enforce disconnection rules, medical holds, deposit refunds and the clocks while the work runs
Utilities get disconnection, deposit and billing rules wrong when the rule lives in a binder and the agent, the shutoff list or the billing run does not read it. Callvu enforces the state commission's tariff and disconnection notice rules, the medical certificate and moratorium protections, the deposit refund and interest rules and the dispute hold while each request runs, so a step that breaks a rule does not run and a completed run was compliant.
The problem today
Most compliance is checked after the fact.By then, the damage is done.
Medical certificate and renewal
The physician's office faxed the certificate to the wrong number, the temporary hold lapsed, and the oxygen concentrator went dark for a night.
Start, stop and move service
The customer called to move, waited eleven minutes, and the agent typed the forwarding address into the wrong field.
Shutoff blocked by a medical hold, with an arrangement offered
The medical certificate was on file; the order went out anyway; the arrangement the rules required was never offered.
How Callvu runs it
Twelve utilities processes,from the request to the system of record.
Twelve utilities processes where the rules are enforced while the work runs. Each page names the regulations, the policies, the controls, the clocks and the documents, and what the Decision Trace and the Audit Trace record.
Medical certificate and renewal
A physician's certification is requested, received and checked, the account protected for the certified period, and renewal chased before it ends.
Enforces: State commission disconnection notice rules · Winter and extreme weather moratorium rules · Health information privacy in the certificate
Complex: multi-party handoffsStart, stop and move service
Started from Visual IVR or by an agent with the customer, the account is prefilled, dates, forwarding address and final bill address captured, then written to CIS and billing.
Enforces: State commission tariff rules · State commission service quality rules · FTC Red Flags Rule identity theft program and the state's identity verification rules
Complex: multi-party handoffsShutoff blocked by a medical hold, with an arrangement offered
A shutoff that hits a medical hold is stopped, the customer is offered a payment arrangement, and the hold and outcome are recorded.
Enforces: State commission disconnection notice rules · State commission tariff rules on protected customer arrangements · Winter and extreme weather moratorium rules
SimpleDeposit refund or transfer
After good payment history or a stop, the deposit is refunded, applied to the final bill or transferred to a new account by rule.
Enforces: State commission tariff rules · State unclaimed property law · State commission rules on final bills and successor accounts
Complex: multi-party handoffsBilling dispute and adjustment
A disputed bill is captured with the reason and evidence, routed to review, decided and the adjustment written to billing, with collection held while it is open.
Enforces: State commission tariff rules · State commission disconnection notice rules · State commission complaint procedures
SimpleSeasonal service suspension and restoration
A seasonal or vacation property owner requests suspension and restoration dates, which are checked against tariff rules and scheduled in CIS.
Enforces: State commission tariff rules · State commission service quality rules · Federal pipeline safety rules and the state gas safety code for vacant premises
Complex: multi-party handoffsHigh bill investigation
A high bill complaint triggers a usage review, a possible meter check and a field visit, with the outcome and any rebill recorded.
Enforces: State commission service quality rules · State commission tariff rules on rebilling and meter accuracy · State commission disconnection notice rules
SimpleCredit balance refund request
A customer with a credit balance asks for a refund, the payee and method are verified and the refund is issued from billing.
Enforces: State commission tariff rules on credit balances, deposit refunds and offsets · Card network rules and Regulation E for the method · State unclaimed property laws
Complex: multi-party handoffsTemporary construction service
A contractor requests temporary power for a site, inspection approval is checked and service is set and later removed.
Enforces: State commission tariff rules · National Electrical Code Article 590 and the municipal inspection requirement · OSHA construction standards
SimpleDeposit installment plan
A required deposit is split into installments the customer accepts, and the schedule is written to billing.
Enforces: State commission tariff rules · State commission disconnection notice rules · LIHEAP and state assistance program rules
SimpleStreetlight and pole issue report
A resident reports a streetlight out or a damaged pole with location and photo, and a work order is created.
Enforces: The utility's street and area lighting tariff and the commission's service quality rules · Public safety and hazard response standards · Municipal lighting contracts and joint-use pole agreements
Complex: multi-party handoffsService after an account holder's death
A family member or estate reports a death, provides the documents, and the account is closed, transferred or placed with the estate, with the final bill routed correctly.
Enforces: State commission tariff rules · State commission disconnection notice rules and collection practices · State probate law and the estate's authority
The rules and the clocks
What is enforcedacross these processes.
The regulations below are preloaded in Callvu Studio as policies and applied as steps that run, not lines in a binder. A step that breaks a rule does not run, so a completed run was compliant. Each one links to the process pages that enforce it.
By role
What changesfor each team.
Compliance
The rules the commission tests are applied as steps, not as training: the tariff's minimum notice before a start or stop date, the temporary hold that starts with a customer's telephone notice of a medical condition and the certified period that follows, the collection hold from the moment a bill is disputed, and the deposit refund with interest at the commission's rate when the tariff's good-payment period is reached. Every run leaves a Decision Trace with what the six evaluators judged and what the Completion Orchestrator decided, and an Audit Trace with each check, notice and write, time-stamped.
- A shutoff that hits a medical hold is cancelled at once, the customer is told in writing, and the sequence restarts only from the step the rules require.
- Deposits are refunded by rule at the tariff's good-payment period or at a stop, with interest from the date paid, and an undeliverable refund is tracked toward the state's unclaimed property period.
- The Decision Trace and Audit Trace are pushed to your GRC and BI tools as the work runs, not assembled for the commission's complaint.
Operations
The order is written once, from the request, to CIS and billing. A move captured on the Visual IVR's link does not get re-keyed into the wrong field, a seasonal suspension and its restoration are written to CIS together with the field visit booked, and a payment arrangement accepted on a secure screen is a hold in the collections schedule rather than a note. Only the exceptions reach a person, in the Decision Desk, with the request and the allowed outcomes.
- An occupied premise, a date inside the notice or a balance the tariff requires settled goes to the service desk with schedule, schedule with conditions, or decline.
- A high bill is reviewed against the read history and the interval data before a technician is sent; a meter test is ordered only when the data cannot explain it.
- The final bill, the deposit refund date and the streetlight repair standard are on the case, so nobody tracks them in a spreadsheet.
IT
Callvu reads the account, the premise and the protections from CIS, runs the request on screens it controls, and writes the order, the deposit and the flags back by API, with the field order where a visit is needed. Your CIS, billing and work management systems stay the systems of record, and the Visual IVR and the contact center platform stay the doors. Identity documents and identifiers are captured on a secure screen, never read aloud or pasted into a chat.
- Prefill from CIS and the premise database; write back to CIS, billing and the field calendar through the APIs those systems already expose.
- A request that cannot finish returns to an agent with the customer's entries and the reason it stopped, so nothing is re-typed.
- The regulations and your tariff come preloaded as policies in Callvu Studio; your own rules are added the same way, with no change to your stack.
Customer experience
The customer starts from the IVR's text, the website, the app or an agent's link and finishes on their phone, with the account prefilled and the dates, the charges and the deposit shown before they confirm. They are asked for each document once, through one link, and a surviving spouse or a disputing customer meets one process instead of three departments.
- A move or a seasonal suspension is confirmed in one session, with the field slot booked and the reminder sent.
- The deposit installments, the refund with its interest and the arrangement terms are computed under the tariff and shown in plain terms before acceptance.
- A family reporting a death gives the documents once; collections respects the protection the day it is reported.
Proof
In production in utilities.Published results only.
Each result is a published claim, with its code on agents.callvu.com, where its status, source and last verified date are kept.
At PSEG Long Island, a request that cannot finish goes back to an agent with the IVR details and the exception reason on the agent's screen.
UTL-04 · Self-asserted · verified 2026-11-06
PSEG Long Island runs start, stop and move service requests on Callvu, from Visual IVR or with an agent in the Decision Desk, with the account prefilled, the date rules applied and the final bill address chosen before confirmation.
UTL-03 · Self-asserted · verified 2026-11-06
Questions
What utilities buyers ask,answered plainly.
How long does a medical certificate protect a utility customer from disconnection?
The customer's notice, often by telephone, starts a temporary hold for the rules' period while the physician's written certificate is obtained through a link with the form. The certificate then protects the account for its period within the rules' maximum, renewable up to the rules' number or indefinitely for a chronic condition with reconfirmation. Callvu checks each required element on arrival and chases the renewal before the expiry, so the protection never lapses because a fax was missed.
What happens when a shutoff hits a medical hold?
The order is cancelled and the notice sequence is held at once, the customer is told in writing with the hold's period and conditions, and a payment arrangement under the protected terms is offered on a secure screen. In most states the protection is conditioned on paying current bills and arranging the arrears, which the notice explains and the offer provides. When the certificate expires, the sequence restarts from the step the rules require, never from the cancelled order.
How Callvu runs it: Shutoff blocked by a medical hold, with an arrangement offered
What rules apply to a utility start, stop or move service date?
The tariff sets a minimum notice before a start or a stop date and the commission sets the period for the final bill after a stop. Callvu checks the dates against the tariff on entry, matches the addresses to the premise database, applies the deposit and balance rules inside the request and writes one order each to CIS and billing with the field order where a visit is needed.
When must a utility return a customer's deposit, and with what interest?
By rule when the tariff's period of good payment is reached, at a stop against the final bill with any excess refunded within the tariff's period, or at a transfer, without the customer having to ask. Interest accrues at the commission's rate from the date the deposit or each installment was paid and is written to billing with the refund or the credit. An undeliverable refund is tracked toward the state's unclaimed property process.
What happens to collection and disconnection while a customer disputes a bill?
Collection and disconnection on the disputed amount are held from the moment the dispute is raised, through the decision and the commission's post-decision period, while the undisputed portion stays due. Callvu applies the hold automatically, assembles the evidence for the billing review desk, and sends the written result with the customer's right to take the dispute to the commission.
Can a utility transfer a deceased customer's balance to the surviving spouse?
In most states the commission's rules for a deceased customer's debt do not allow it to be transferred to a successor who was not a party to the account. The surviving spouse takes the service under the tariff's successor rules with the history carried over, the protections apply the day the death is reported, and the final bill goes to the estate's address within the commission's period. The family provides the death certificate and the successor's or executor's documents once, through one link.
Enforcement runs through the whole utilities handoff
From the request to the system of record, with nobody re-keying.
Bring the process your auditors worry about most
We build it against your policies and the utilities systems you already run, train your team and stay with you through launch. You are live in weeks.