Cramming

Background

Cramming is the practice of adding unauthorized charges to a phone bill for wireline and wireless services. Telephone companies profit from their own cramming activities as well as from billing for third-party service providers.

In October 2010, the CPUC adopted a Decision mandating that telephone companies resolve billing problems, including those for third parties. The decision emphasizes the responsibilities of the billing telephone companies to ensure that unauthorized charges do not surface on customer bills by requiring them to monitor service providers. 

DRA sponsored state legislation to require the reporting of first-party cramming complaints, but the bill failed May 2011 in a Senate committee.

DRA's Policy Position

DRA's policy objectives are to:

• Implement penalties and suspension for cramming.
• Require billing telephone companies to report their own cramming complaints.
• Require carriers to provide verbal disclosures to consumers regarding bill blocking at point-of-sale.
• Publish service provider complaint statistics on the CPUC website.

See DRA's filings:

• Comments on Wireless Industry Proposal  
• Reply Comments on the Assigned Commissioner’s Ruling  
• Comments on the Assigned Commissioner’s Ruling 

Current Proceeding Status

See the proceeding docket. 

Other Resources

• "AT&T Wields Enormouse Power in Sacramento" (Los Angeles Times, April 22, 2012)
• "Time to Get Serious About Fake Fees on Phone Bills" (San Francisco Chronicle, July 20, 2011)