A complaint filed by the United States Federal Trade Commission against T-Mobile back in July has been settled. The FTC had charged the carrier with “cramming”, which is knowingly charging customers for unauthorized SMS subscriptions for prices up to $9.99.
Though T-Mobile initially called the FTC’s complaint “unfounded and without merit,” it today reached a settlement [PDF] that will see it paying out more than $90 million to consumers that were affected by its practices. The carrier will also be required to inform all current and former customers who paid the illicit charges about the refund program.
Several other carriers have been targeted by the FTC for the same practice. AT&T paid a $105 million penalty in October, while Sprint is facing a similar fine.
T-Mobile released a statement earlier in the year, saying it had stopped billing for premium SMS subscriptions in 2013, and already had a “proactive program” in place to provide full refunds to their customers. However, the FTC found that many customers were not compensated.
T-Mobile will also be paying $18 million in fines to attorneys in all 50 states and District of Columbia, along with a $4.5 million fine to be paid to the Federal Communications Commission.
