FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced today the agenda items for the July Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, July 24, 2025. On the list of items to discuss is the Truth-in-Billing policy.
The policy was created to help customers better understand their telephone bills and identify unauthorized charges, called “cramming.”
During the meeting, the Commission will consider a proposal to “modernize and simplify” the rules of the policy to align with the current telecommunications marketplace and ensure that consumers are protected. The Commission will also discuss how to update the policy to “reduce regulatory burdens that can stifle innovation.”
The policy includes the following rules for telephone companies:
- provide a brief, clear, non-misleading, plain language description of the service or services rendered to accompany each charge;
- identify the service provider associated with each charge;
- clearly and conspicuously identify any change in service provider;
- contain full and non-misleading descriptions of charges;
- identify those charges for which failure to pay will not result in disconnection of the customer’s basic local service;
- provide a toll-free number for customers to call in order to lodge a complaint or obtain information;
- place charges from third parties that are not telephone companies in a distinct section of the bill, separate from telephone company charges; and
- provide a separate subtotal for third-party charges in the separate bill section and on the payment page.
Telephone companies also must notify consumers, on their websites and at the point of sale, of any options they offer to block charges from third parties that are not telephone companies.