FCC proposes letting ISPs bundle hidden fees into a single vague charge

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The FCC has proposed new rules that would let ISPs stop itemizing certain additional fees and instead disclose them as a single “up to” charge.

Current rules require providers to itemize monthly passthrough fees on broadband labels so consumers can better understand what they’ll pay.

ISPs would also no longer have to provide broadband labels in a machine-readable format, and could link to labels instead of displaying them directly on ordering pages.

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently proposed new robocall rules that many critics called a privacy threat . Now, the FCC has turned its sights on broadband plans with a new set of rules that could make it easier for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to profit while confusing consumers.

The FCC is going to vote on a draft order that will allow ISPs to bundle many additional passthrough fees into a single “up to” amount (via Ars Technica ). This would be a major reversal of the existing rules adopted under the Biden administration. Those rules required ISPs to list monthly passthrough fees separately rather than combining them into a single figure, making it easier for consumers to understand the actual price they’ll pay for their internet services.