New York statute
N.Y. Penal Law § 165.15 — Theft of services
Current through 2026 legislative session (LBDC text via OpenLegislation as of 2026-07-17)
Part of Article 165: Other Offenses Relating to Theft, New York Penal Law.
Criminal charges under this statute
Full text of N.Y. Penal Law § 165.15
Statutory text current through the 2026 legislative session (LBDC text via OpenLegislation as of 2026-07-17). This publication reproduces the text of the Consolidated Laws of New York as provided by the New York State Senate's Open Legislation service (Legislative Bill Drafting Commission statutory text); it is not the official statutes of the State of New York.
165.15 Theft of services.
A person is guilty of theft of services when:
1. He obtains or attempts to obtain a service, or induces or attempts
to induce the supplier of a rendered service to agree to payment
therefor on a credit basis, by the use of a credit card or debit card
which he knows to be stolen.
2. With intent to avoid payment for restaurant services rendered, or
for services rendered to him as a transient guest at a hotel, motel,
inn, tourist cabin, rooming house or comparable establishment, he avoids
or attempts to avoid such payment by unjustifiable failure or refusal to
pay, by stealth, or by any misrepresentation of fact which he knows to
be false. A person who fails or refuses to pay for such services is
presumed to have intended to avoid payment therefor; or
3. With intent to obtain railroad, subway, bus, air, taxi or any other
public transportation service without payment of the lawful charge
therefor, or to avoid payment of the lawful charge for such
transportation service which has been rendered to him, he obtains or
attempts to obtain such service or avoids or attempts to avoid payment
therefor by force, intimidation, stealth, deception or mechanical
tampering, or by unjustifiable failure or refusal to pay; or
4. With intent to avoid payment by himself or another person of the
lawful charge for any telecommunications service, including, without
limitation, cable television service, or any gas, steam, sewer, water,
electrical, telegraph or telephone service which is provided for a
charge or compensation, he obtains or attempts to obtain such service
for himself or another person or avoids or attempts to avoid payment
therefor by himself or another person by means of (a) tampering or
making connection with the equipment of the supplier, whether by
mechanical, electrical, acoustical or other means, or (b) offering for
sale or otherwise making available, to anyone other than the provider of
a telecommunications service for such service provider's own use in the
provision of its service, any telecommunications decoder or descrambler,
a principal function of which defeats a mechanism of electronic signal
encryption, jamming or individually addressed switching imposed by the
provider of any such telecommunications service to restrict the delivery
of such service, or (c) any misrepresentation of fact which he knows to
be false, or (d) any other artifice, trick, deception, code or device.
For the purposes of this subdivision the telecommunications decoder or
descrambler described in paragraph (b) above or the device described in
paragraph (d) above shall not include any non-decoding and
non-descrambling channel frequency converter or any television receiver
type-accepted by the federal communications commission. In any
prosecution under this subdivision, proof that telecommunications
equipment, including, without limitation, any cable television
converter, descrambler, or related equipment, has been tampered with or
otherwise intentionally prevented from performing its functions of
control of service delivery without the consent of the supplier of the
service, or that telecommunications equipment, including, without
limitation, any cable television converter, descrambler, receiver, or
related equipment, has been connected to the equipment of the supplier
of the service without the consent of the supplier of the service, shall
be presumptive evidence that the resident to whom the service which is
at the time being furnished by or through such equipment has, with
intent to avoid payment by himself or another person for a prospective
or already rendered service, created or caused to be created with
reference to such equipment, the condition so existing. A person who
tampers with such a device or equipment without the consent of the
supplier of the service is presumed to do so with intent to avoid, or to
enable another to avoid, payment for the service involved. In any
prosecution under this subdivision, proof that any telecommunications
decoder or descrambler, a principal function of which defeats a
mechanism of electronic signal encryption, jamming or individually
addressed switching imposed by the provider of any such
telecommunications service to restrict the delivery of such service, has
been offered for sale or otherwise made available by anyone other than
the supplier of such service shall be presumptive evidence that the
person offering such equipment for sale or otherwise making it available
has, with intent to avoid payment by himself or another person of the
lawful charge for such service, obtained or attempted to obtain such
service for himself or another person or avoided or attempted to avoid
payment therefor by himself or another person; or
5. With intent to avoid payment by himself or another person of the
lawful charge for any telephone service which is provided for a charge
or compensation he (a) sells, offers for sale or otherwise makes
available, without consent, an existing, canceled or revoked access
device; or (b) uses, without consent, an existing, canceled or revoked
access device; or (c) knowingly obtains any telecommunications service
with fraudulent intent by use of an unauthorized, false, or fictitious
name, identification, telephone number, or access device. For purposes
of this subdivision access device means any telephone calling card
number, credit card number, account number, mobile identification
number, electronic serial number or personal identification number that
can be used to obtain telephone service.
6. With intent to avoid payment by himself or another person for a
prospective or already rendered service the charge or compensation for
which is measured by a meter or other mechanical device, he tampers with
such device or with other equipment related thereto, or in any manner
attempts to prevent the meter or device from performing its measuring
function, without the consent of the supplier of the service. In any
prosecution under this subdivision, proof that a meter or related
equipment has been tampered with or otherwise intentionally prevented
from performing its measuring function without the consent of the
supplier of the service shall be presumptive evidence that the person to
whom the service which is at the time being furnished by or through such
meter or related equipment has, with intent to avoid payment by himself
or another person for a prospective or already rendered service, created
or caused to be created with reference to such meter or related
equipment, the condition so existing. A person who tampers with such a
device or equipment without the consent of the supplier of the service
is presumed to do so with intent to avoid, or to enable another to
avoid, payment for the service involved; or
7. He knowingly accepts or receives the use and benefit of service,
including gas, steam or electricity service, which should pass through a
meter but has been diverted therefrom, or which has been prevented from
being correctly registered by a meter provided therefor, or which has
been diverted from the pipes, wires or conductors of the supplier
thereof. In any prosecution under this subdivision proof that service
has been intentionally diverted from passing through a meter, or has
been intentionally prevented from being correctly registered by a meter
provided therefor, or has been intentionally diverted from the pipes,
wires or conductors of the supplier thereof, shall be presumptive
evidence that the person who accepts or receives the use and benefit of
such service has done so with knowledge of the condition so existing; or
8. With intent to obtain, without the consent of the supplier thereof,
gas, electricity, water, steam or telephone service, he tampers with any
equipment designed to supply or to prevent the supply of such service
either to the community in general or to particular premises; or
9. With intent to avoid payment of the lawful charge for admission to
any theatre or concert hall, or with intent to avoid payment of the
lawful charge for admission to or use of a chair lift, gondola, rope-tow
or similar mechanical device utilized in assisting skiers in
transportation to a point of ski arrival or departure, he obtains or
attempts to obtain such admission without payment of the lawful charge
therefor.
10. Obtaining or having control over labor in the employ of another
person, or of business, commercial or industrial equipment or facilities
of another person, knowing that he is not entitled to the use thereof,
and with intent to derive a commercial or other substantial benefit for
himself or a third person, he uses or diverts to the use of himself or a
third person such labor, equipment or facilities.
11. With intent to avoid payment by himself, herself, or another
person of the lawful charge for use of any computer, computer service,
or computer network which is provided for a charge or compensation he or
she uses, causes to be used, accesses, or attempts to use or access a
computer, computer service, or computer network and avoids or attempts
to avoid payment therefor. In any prosecution under this subdivision
proof that a person overcame or attempted to overcome any device or
coding system a function of which is to prevent the unauthorized use of
said computer or computer service shall be presumptive evidence of an
intent to avoid payment for the computer or computer service.
12. With intent to avoid payment for services rendered by a
barbershop, salon or beauty shop, he or she avoids or attempts to avoid
such payment by unjustifiable failure or refusal to pay, by stealth, or
by any misrepresentation of fact which he or she knows to be false.
Theft of services is a class A misdemeanor, provided, however, that
theft of cable television service as defined by the provisions of
paragraphs (a), (c) and (d) of subdivision four of this section, and
having a value not in excess of one hundred dollars by a person who has
not been previously convicted of theft of services under subdivision
four of this section is a violation, that theft of services under
subdivision nine of this section by a person who has not been previously
convicted of theft of services under subdivision nine of this section is
a violation, that theft of services under subdivision twelve of this
section by a person who has not previously been convicted of theft of
services under subdivision twelve of this section is a violation, and
provided further, however, that theft of services of any telephone
service under paragraph (a) or (b) of subdivision five of this section
having a value in excess of one thousand dollars or by a person who has
been previously convicted within five years of theft of services under
paragraph (a) of subdivision five of this section is a class E felony.
Official sources
Legal terms used in this section
Questions this section answers
How is theft of services classified in New York?
It depends on the circumstances: theft of services ranges from a Violation to a Class E Felony in New York under N.Y. Penal Law § 165.15.
Theft of services (base offense): Class A Misdemeanor (N.Y. Penal Law § 165.15) · Cable television theft under paragraphs (a),(c),(d) of subdivision four, value not exceeding $100, first offense: Violation (N.Y. Penal Law § 165.15) · Theft of services under subdivision nine, first offense: Violation (N.Y. Penal Law § 165.15) · Theft of services under subdivision twelve, first offense: Violation (N.Y. Penal Law § 165.15) · Telephone service theft under subdivision five paragraph (a) or (b), value over $1,000 or repeat offense: Class E Felony (N.Y. Penal Law § 165.15)
Which New York statute covers theft of services?
Theft of services is governed by N.Y. Penal Law § 165.15 (Theft of services).
This reference is informational and is not legal advice.