The initial telephone rental, whether it be on a monthly or a half-yearly basis,
shall commence on the date on which the service is made available, and shall be payable
within seven days after such date. All subsequent rental accounts shall be payable in
advance on the first day of the monthly or half-yearly period for which accounts are
issued.

The half-yearly rental periods applicable to the respective postal districts shall
be as follows:—

Postal District.
Half-yearly Periods.
Blenheim
Greymouth
Nelson
Palmerston North
Wanganui
Westport
1st January to 30th June and 1st July to 31st December.

Dunedin
Invercargill
1st February to 31st July and 1st August to 31st January.

Gisborne
Napier
New Plymouth
Thames
1st March to 31st August and 1st September to end of February.

Wellington
Auckland
Hamilton
Christchurch
Oamaru
Timaru
1st April to 30th September and 1st October to 31st March.
1st May to 31st October and 1st November to 30th April.
1st June to 30th November and 1st December to 31st May.

In the event of the rental charges applicable to any subscriber's station being
increased during a period for which rental has been paid in advance, the additional
amount due to the end of the monthly or half-yearly period, as the case may be, shall
be payable within seven days after a written demand therefor has been made to the
subscriber.

Non-payment of Rental.

25. If any subscriber fails to pay, within seven days after demand, rental or other
    charges due by him under these regulations, the service may be discontinued, and, if
    necessary, the telephone, fittings, &c., removed from the subscriber's premises without
    prejudice to any proceedings for the recovery of any rental due under the conditions
    of contract or any other charges due under these regulations.

Restoration of Service.

26. In the event of any subscriber's service being discontinued in accordance with
    the last preceding regulation a reconnection fee of 5s., in addition to all other amounts
    due, shall be payable by the subscriber before the service is restored. If the instruments at the subscriber's premises have been removed, or if any portion of the circuit
    has been dismantled, a request or application for restoring the circuit shall be treated
    as an application for a new connection.

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 the unexpired term if it exceeds seven days, 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 line
    being reduced by the withdrawal of one or more of the subscribers, the amended rates
    in respect of the remaining stations shall take effect from the first day of the following
    month.

(2) In the event of the number of subscribers' stations connected with a line being
increased, 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 first day of the following month.

(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of this regulation a reduction 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 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 executed
    for at least five subscribers' stations to be placed on the same circuit. If, by reason
    of the withdrawal of one or more subscribers, the number of subscribers' stations con-
    nected with a rural line falls below five, the remaining subscribers shall, from the first
    day of the following month, pay the rates prescribed for party-line connections until
    such time as the requisite number of additional stations is connected with the line.

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