The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau (Bureau) has announced that it has imposed a $2.3 million fine on Comcast for wrongly charging customers for services and equipment that they did not order. In some cases customers claimed that they were billed despite specifically declining service or equipment upgrades offered by Comcast. In a number of cases, customers alleged that Comcast customer care representatives refused to remove the charges, or issue refunds and generally made it difficult for the customers to get their billing disputes resolved satisfactorily. The Communications Act prohibits cable operators from charging customers for services and equipment that the customer has not affirmatively ordered, a practice known as negative option billing. Similar prohibitions apply to telecommunications carriers where the practice is known as “cramming.” According to the Bureau, Comcast will pay the largest civil penalty assessed against a cable
operator by the FCC and implement a five-year compliance plan.
