Sept. 17.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 2453

Refund and Adjustment of Rental.

27. Should a subscriber discontinue the renting of a service during the currency of a period for which rental has been paid in advance, a refund of rental shall be granted in respect of each complete month or multiple thereof of the unexpired term; except that no refund shall be granted in respect of any portion of the period covered by the contract.

28. (1.) In the event of the number of subscribers’ stations connected with a party line being decreased by the withdrawal of one or more of the subscribers during the currency of a period for which rental has been paid in advance, the amended rates in respect of the remaining stations shall take effect on the due date of payment of the next half-yearly rental.

(2.) In the event of the number of subscribers’ stations connected with a party line being increased during the currency of a period for which rental has been paid in advance, the new or additional subscribers shall pay rental from the date of their connection at the rates prescribed for the amended number of stations connected with the line; but no alteration shall be made in the rentals of the original stations until the due date of payment of the next half-yearly rental.

(3.) Notwithstanding the provisions of this regulation a decrease in the number of subscribers’ stations connected with a party line shall not affect the rental of a subscriber under contract until the period of contract has expired.

Rural-line Service.

29. Persons residing in rural areas may be supplied with telephone-exchange service by means of multi-party lines, known as rural lines. Rural-line service shall be furnished on a five-, six-, seven-, eight-, nine-, or ten-party basis, and shall be available only to persons whose premises are situated beyond the boundary of a base-rate area. For all other purposes in connection with rural-line service the base-rate area shall be disregarded.

30. Rural-line service shall not be established until contracts have been secured for at least five subscribers’ stations to be placed on the same circuit. In the event of the number of subscribers’ stations connected with a rural line, by reason of the withdrawal of one or more subscribers, falling below five, the remaining subscribers shall, from the date on which the next half-yearly rental is due, pay the rates prescribed for four-party line connections until such time as one or more additional stations is [are] connected with the line.

31. Rural-line service shall not be available at Class I exchanges.

Rural-line Rates.

32. Subject to the provisions of Regulation 36, the annual rental of a rural-line station shall be determined by multiplying the subscriber’s pole-line distance from the exchange by the relative rural mileage rate as prescribed in Regulation 34, and adding thereto the service rate applicable to the class of exchange with which the subscriber’s station is connected: except that in no case shall the rental of a rural-line station be less than £3 per annum.

33. Subject to the provisions of Regulation 36, the service rates in respect of rural-line stations shall be as follows:—

34. Rural-line mileage rates shall be as specified hereunder:—

Per station, per quarter-mile or fraction thereof—

35. The mileage in respect of rural-line stations shall be calculated separately for each station, and shall be computed on the pole-line route measurement between the subscriber’s premises and the exchange with which the line is connected.

36. In cases where the stations are so distributed that the aggregate rental of a rural line, computed on the basis prescribed in Regulation 32, is estimated to produce less than the equivalent of a return of £1 5s. per quarter-mile or fraction thereof, the service rate payable by each subscriber shall be increased on a flat-rate basis by such an amount as will produce in the aggregate a return of £1 5s. per quarter-mile or fraction thereof of circuit.

Special Conditions of Party-line Service.

37. Party-line service shall be provided in base-rate areas only when the subscribers desiring to be connected with the same line can conveniently be served from the same point of distribution, or when the subscribers are located within a reasonable distance of each other or of the line. The reasonableness shall be determined by the Department in each case.

38. The Minister may regroup the subscribers on any party lines, and [or] may make additional connections to party lines without the consent of the existing subscribers, but in such case the existing subscribers shall not be required to pay a higher rate of rental.

39. The rates prescribed under these regulations shall be for code-ringing party-line service. Selective party-line service shall be provided only at exchanges equipped with suitable apparatus.