Law / United States / New York / New York City
Rules Regarding Automated Customer Service Systems
6 RCNY §§ 5-02, 5-310 to 5-313 and 6-91 (proposed), DCWP Rule Reference Number 2026 RG 047
A published draft that has not reached a legislature, dated , as of .
An AI transparency rule binding private bodies.
- What it reaches
- duty
- Obligation class
- Disclosure, Retention, Prohibition
As of .
Where it has got to
The text described here is Notice of Public Hearing and Opportunity to Comment on Proposed Rules, Rule Reference Number 2026 RG 047, published .
Locally, this stage is proposed rule published for public comment.
The stage above is recorded at rules.cityofnewyork.us.
The Department proposed the rules on . The notice and the NYC Rules portal give different dates for the public hearing and the close of comments.
What it requires
- Do not use an automated customer service system, meaning technology that makes all or substantially all of its communication to a consumer without a natural person, in an interaction with a consumer unless you clearly and conspicuously disclose, at the start and in the language of the interaction, that the consumer is dealing with an automated system and not a human representative.
- Do not represent that customer service is available through a communication channel such as telephone or email unless you provide customer service through that channel.
- Do not represent that customer service is available and then fail to provide it in a reasonable and timely manner, including by repeatedly and unreasonably directing a consumer to menus that fail to address the inquiry or by answering with unresponsive, irrelevant or erroneous information.
- Give a consumer in an automated interaction a way to reach a human representative, either a single-step transfer option with instructions for using it and the estimated wait, or, if no human is available or the queue is unreasonably long, instructions for an alternative such as stated hours, a telephone number, a live chat, a message with a stated response time or a contact form; omitting this raises a rebuttable presumption of a deceptive and unconscionable trade practice.
- Create and keep for at least three years records showing compliance, including contracts and development records for each automated system, logs of each interaction showing its duration and whether a transfer was offered, used or completed, annual aggregate figures, records of each disclosure and records of any alternative means offered, in machine-readable form, and produce them to the Department on request.
- Do not rely on a technology's claims, omissions or acts as a defense to a violation of the Department's rules or of a local law within its jurisdiction.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
If you get it wrong
Penalty structure
The proposed penalty schedule sets $525 for a first violation, $1,050 for a second violation and $3,500 for a third and subsequent violation of each listed provision, within two years of the prior violation.
- Rule
- Per violation only
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per violation unit
- Violation
- Per violation amount
- 3,500
What it makes you log
Who may demand the log
Regulator
Log retention
Three years for the records and logs demonstrating compliance.
- Unit
- Years
- As of
- Basis
- Fixed
- Minimum value
- 3
Logging duty
A merchant using an automated customer service system would have to keep logs of all covered interactions showing the total duration, whether a single-step transfer mechanism was offered and activated, and whether the consumer was transferred, queued or given an alternative, for at least three years.
- Kind
- Explicit
- As of
- Provision
- proposed 6 RCNY § 5-313(a)(2)
- Trigger
- all_systems
What this law does
The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection proposed these rules on . A merchant that uses an automated customer service system, one that communicates with the consumer by technology rather than by a natural person, would have to disclose clearly and conspicuously, at the start of the interaction, that the consumer is not dealing with a human representative.
It would be a deceptive and unconscionable trade practice to represent that customer service is available and then fail to provide it in a reasonable and timely manner. A merchant that uses an automated system and does not give the consumer a way to reach a human representative would face a rebuttable presumption that it engaged in that practice. A merchant using such a system would have to create and keep records demonstrating compliance for at least three years.
No person could defend a violation of the Department's rules, or of a local law within its jurisdiction, by saying that a technology made the claim or took the violative act. The proposed penalty schedule sets $525 for a first violation, $1,050 for a second and $3,500 for a third and later violation of the disclosure provision.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app deploys a chatbot.