FCC Loses Cellular Truth-In-Billing Case

FCC LOSES CELLULAR TRUTH-IN-BILLING CASE
[SOURCE: RCRNews, AUTHOR: Heather Forsgren Weaver]
A federal appeals court ruled Monday the Federal Communications Commission overreached when it said states could not prohibit wireless carriers from putting certain line items on their bills. Only Congress can overturn the court’s decision. Wireless trade association CTIA bemoaned the ruling. The National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates sought to have the FCC ban regulatory-recovery fees—charges levied by wireless carriers to defray the cost of state and/or federal mandates such as local number portability, enhanced 911 and universal service. NASUCA said the charges are deceptive because they come across to consumers as looking like mandated state and federal charges. Mobile-phone operators have argued regulatory-recovery fees help consumers see precisely what they are paying for. In its 2005 decision, the FCC said rules either requiring or prohibiting line items on wireless bills amount to illegal rate regulation. However, in its Monday ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit said the agency did not have the authority to do this. “The FCC exceeded its authority when it pre-empted the states from requiring or prohibiting the use of line items. The scope of federal authority to regulate ‘rate’ or ‘entry’ does not include the presentation of line items on cellular wireless bills. This billing practice is a matter of ‘other terms and conditions’ that Congress intended to be regulable by the states,” wrote Judge William Pryor, Jr.
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