CPUC Launches MetroPCS Probe in Prepaid Dispute
MetroPCS faces up to $230 million in possible fines for failing to remit California USF payments for prepaid phone service, the California Public Utilities Commission said Friday. The CPUC ordered an investigation into whether T-Mobile’s Metro violated the state’s 2014…
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Prepaid Act. The agency said the carrier failed to remit the full amount of surcharges and user fees paid by customers in 2017 and 2018 for state public purpose programs that support low-income and disadvantaged consumers. CPUC staff tried to collect, but Metro claims it owes nothing, the agency said. A related 2017 lawsuit brought by MetroPCS (see 1811060005) is pending in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco (case 3:17-cv-05959-JD). The company challenged the Prepaid Act and related CPUC resolutions imposing surcharges as unlawful and preempted. The district court agreed with Metro in a 2018 decision, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded in August 2020. The district court case awaits a new trial date and is scheduled for a case management conference May 12, the CPUC said. "This is a longstanding dispute with the CPUC that Metro has been litigating in federal court for well over four years," a T-Mobile spokesperson said. "We ... are confident in our position based on federal law. Metro has remitted and continues to remit surcharges to the Commission consistent with federal law and in a manner that is non-discriminatory to its prepaid customers."