FCC Details Status of Inmate Calling Fee Caps, Other Rules After Partial Court Stays

said in a public notice Tuesday in docket 12-375. The PN was highlighting updated rate regulations after two court stays temporarily blocked the agency's 2015 caps on domestic ICS rates and single-call service fees, and its application of 2013 interim caps to intrastate services (see 1603070055 and 1603230058). For instance, it said, automated payment fees are capped at $3 and paper bill/statement fees are capped at $2 with no charges allowed for electronic bills/statements. The same effective dates cover other rules, including for: rates of calls involving TTY devices (text telephony used by deaf and hard of hearing people), tax and fee treatment, minimum and maximum calling account balances, a prohibition on per-call or per-connection charges and a prohibition on flat-rate calling. The PN said the interim caps still apply to interstate ICS rates: 21 cents per minute for debit and prepaid calls and 25 cents/minute for collect calls. It also said reporting, certification and disclosure rules are subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act and will take effect upon publication in the Federal Register of Office of Management and Budget approval. All other rules and requirements in the 2015 order are in effect, except for a one-time data collection obligation that will occur two years after OMB approval, the bureau said. Meanwhile, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued two orders (here and here) granting the requests of various states (Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada and Wisconsin) and Indiana sheriffs' groups to intervene in support of Oklahoma and ICS provider challenges to the FCC rules, plus a request of Network Communications International to intervene in support of the agency.