The Supreme Court agrees that carriers should not be allowed to list taxes and other regulatory fees separately on a consumer's bill. The court let a lower court's ruling stand in the case, which carriers hoped the Supreme Court would overturn. The carriers claim that state and local governments try to hide taxes and fees from their constituents by not allowing them to break them out from the rest of the bill, but consumer advocates argued that carriers tack on a number of fees and taxes that are not the result of government taxes.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned an FCC ruling in 2006 and ruled that states could prohibit line items on bills. The Supreme Court may not have reviewed the case, however, because the Justice Department's solicitor general asked the Court to turn it down while the FCC considers other reasons for pre-empting state regulation of the wireless industry.
For more on the case:
- read this article from Forbes