NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE UTILITY CONSUMER ADVOCATES

RESOLUTION 2012-06

EXPRESSING APPRECIATION FOR THE WORK OF THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE AND TRANSPORTATION OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE REGARDING THE CRAMMING OF UNAUTHORIZED CHARGES ONTO CONSUMER PHONE BILLS AND SUPPORTING S. 3291, THE “FAIR TELEPHONE BILLING ACT OF 2012”

Whereas, on July 12, 2011, following a three-year investigation, the staff of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of the United States Senate released a report entitled “Unauthorized Charges on Telephone Bills: Why Crammers Win and Consumers Lose,” and

Whereas, the report concluded that the cramming of unauthorized charges onto consumer phone bills is a problem of “massive” proportions and that, over the past decade, telephone consumers appear to have been scammed out of billions of dollars through third-party billing on landline phones; and

Whereas, on July 13, 2011, the Committee conducted a hearing on the topic that was replete with references by witnesses and senators to “crooks,” “scams,” “frauds,” “deceptions,” “phantom billings,” “bogus charges” and “con artist stuff”; and

Whereas, during the hearing, a spokesperson for the telecommunications industry acknowledged that cramming “remains a very, very significant, very pervasive problem”; and

Whereas, members of the Committee have since worked to secure changes within the industry that begin to address the problem, resulting, among other things, in announcements by Verizon, AT&T and apparently CenturyLink that they would cease certain third-party billing on wireline bills; and

Whereas, on June 13, 2012, the Honorable John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, Chairman of the Committee, introduced S. 3291, the “Fair Telephone Billing of 2012”; and

Whereas, S. 3291, if enacted as introduced, would, except as authorized in the bill, prohibit local exchange carriers and providers of interconnected VoIP services from placing third-party charges on consumer phone bills; and

Whereas, S. 3291, if enacted as introduced, would direct the Federal Communications Commission, in consultation with the Federal Trade Commission, to promulgate rules to protect consumers from unauthorized third-party charges on wireless phone bills; and

Whereas, S. 3291, if enacted as introduced, although containing exceptions and therefore not reaching the entire problem,

[i] would represent what could prove to be the most substantial contribution to date toward providing a thus far elusive solution to the problem;

Now, therefore, be it resolved, that NASUCA, for itself and on behalf of the telecommunications consumers it represents, expresses its profound appreciation to the Committee, including its chairman, members of both parties and staff, for their diligent and productive efforts to investigate and solve this problem; and

Be it further resolved, that NASUCA supports S. 3291 and directs that a letter noting this support and enclosing this resolution be sent to the members of the Committee; and

Be it further resolved, that the Telecommunications and Consumer Protection Committees of NASUCA, with the approval of the Executive Committee of NASUCA, are authorized to take all steps consistent with this Resolution in order to secure its implementation.

Submitted by Telecommunications and Consumer Protection Committees

Approved June 25, 2012

Charleston, South Carolina

[i] See NASUCA Initial Comments in Response to Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking filed June 22, 2012, pp. 5-9, FCC CG Docket Nos. 11-116 (Empowering Consumers to Prevent and Detect Billing for Unauthorized Charges (“Cramming”)), CG Docket No. 09-158 (Consumer Information and Disclosure), and CC Docket No. 98-170 (Truth-in-Billing and Billing Format).