Refunds Wanted for Payphone Fee

Related Stories FCC knocks phone fee down a notch. (Feb. 17) (Note: To return to this story, click the "Back" button on your browser.)

The ATA Litigation Center is urging trucking companies to insist on refunds of a portion of the surcharge on payphone calls to their toll-free numbers. The surcharge was reduced from 28.4 cents to 24 cents, effective March 21.

The Federal Communications Commission did not order refunds when it decided in February to lower the fee, but it did ask long-distance companies to return the difference (2-15, p. 1).

"We are advising truckers to ask for the refunds," said Robert Digges, vice president of the Litigation Center.

The FCC originally said 35 cents should be the "default" surcharge, intended to reimburse payphone owners for toll-free long-distance calls, but urged the long-distance companies and payphone owners to negotiate their own fees.

The agency later cut the default rate to 28.4 cents, which American Trucking Associations said would cost the industry $70 million a year.

A business coalition involving trucking interests sought relief in federal court, which directed the commission to explain how it arrived at its default surcharge. After the court intervention, the FCC announced the reduction to 24 cents, Digges said ATA and the Truckload Carriers Conference are seeking still lower fees.