Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 17 of chapter 159 of the General Laws, as appearing in the Tercentenary Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 12, the words "section nineteen" and inserting in place thereof the words:- sections nineteen and nineteen A.

SECTION 2. The first sentence of section 19 of said chapter 159 is hereby amended by inserting after the word "service", inserted by chapter 218 of the acts of 1979, the words:- to residential customers or the commonwealth or its political subdivisions.

SECTION 3. Said chapter 159 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 19 the following section:-

Section 19A. The department may approve a rate, fare, toll or charge for directory assistance service to business customers pursuant to schedules filed with the department; provided, however, that for each business line to which a business customer subscribes, said customer shall be entitled to receive an allowance of ten directory assistance calls per month and for each private branch exchange trunk to which said customer subscribes an equivalent allowance of directory assistance calls per month, to be determined by the department; provided, further, that business customers who are certified as handicapped persons pursuant to regulations promulgated by the department shall be allowed an unlimited number of directory assistance calls without charge, and subject to such other terms and conditions as the department finds reasonable; and provided, further, that no rate, fare, toll or charge for directory assistance service may be charged to users of coin operated telephones. The department may approve a rate, fare, toll or charge for directory assistance service to other common carriers as defined in paragraph (d) of section twelve for such directory assistance service provided to business customers as provided for herein; provided, however, that upon the approval of such rate, fare, toll or charge for directory assistance, the department shall adopt rules and regulations which will provide that a certain percentage of the money received by the imposition of such rate, fare, toll or charge shall be set aside annually and subsequently used to reduce or adjust the regular business and residential rates, and the department shall promulgate schedules setting forth such percentages. For the purposes of this section, directory assistance service or directory assistance call shall mean information given to a customer of a telecommunications company to provide such customer with a telephone number. Each business customer will be entitled without charge to one directory covering any area within the commonwealth.