Stakeholders Debate USF Phone Charge Description in Truth-in-Billing Replies
Consumers shouldn't be misled on their telephone bills "into believing that a USF surcharge is the equivalent of a sales tax and as such an unavoidable cost of service," since it's a "carrier's choice to pass through a charge to…
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customers that it might otherwise have absorbed as part of its business," said the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, in truth-in-billing reply comments posted through Monday in FCC Wireline Bureau docket 98-170. CTIA said the FCC "should refrain from compelling voice providers into one-size-fits-all requirements of how they present government-mandated charges on consumer bills." The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors wants itemization of government-related costs to be transparent "so that consumers can readily distinguish portions of their payments that a government entity requires the provider to collect from customers" rather than ones providers opt to collect as an itemized charge.