FCC Ponders Fees in Prison Call Rate Overhaul
Published Date: 12/5/2025
Proposed Rule
Summary
The FCC is working on setting permanent price limits for phone and video calls for people in jail to keep costs fair and reasonable. They want to make sure facilities get paid fairly for providing these services, and they’re asking for public input by early 2026. This could affect how much families pay to stay connected and when new rules take effect.
Analyzed Economic Effects
6 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 1 costs, 2 mixed.
Proposal to Set Permanent Audio Rate Caps
The FCC is asking whether to adopt permanent per-minute price caps for audio inmate calling and is seeking data and comment to make those caps "just, reasonable, and fairly compensatory." The Commission adopted interim audio caps and notes it revised IPCS annual reporting on January 8, 2025 and received the first revised Annual Reports (including video data) on November 3, 2025 to inform any permanent decision.
Proposal to Set Permanent Video Rate Caps
The FCC proposes to adopt permanent per-minute price caps for video inmate calling services and requests detailed data on video market costs, demand, revenues, deployment, and how video IPCS shares costs with nonregulated video services. The FNPRM notes the video market is nascent and asks when commenters expect the market to mature enough to allow reliable permanent caps.
Proposed Continued Ban on Ancillary Fees
The FCC proposes to retain its prohibition on ancillary service charges (like automated payment fees and third-party financial transaction fees) and asks for comment on that decision and on HomeWAV's request to reinstate automated payment fees and third-party fees. The FNPRM notes the Commission previously found providers incurred an average ancillary-services cost of $0.011 per minute and that earlier fee caps had been $3.00 for automated payment fees and $5.95 for third-party transaction fees.
Site Commissions: Prohibition and Alternatives
The FCC proposes to retain the prohibition on site commission payments from IPCS providers to facilities and seeks comment on whether an industry-wide per-minute facility additive could replace the need for site commissions or whether, if site commissions were allowed, they should be capped or limited. The FNPRM also asks whether any site commissions in excess of a facility cost additive should remain prohibited.
Facility Cost Additive: $0.02 Interim Proposal
The FCC adopted a uniform interim rate additive of up to $0.02 per minute for audio and video IPCS to recover correctional facility costs and seeks comment on making that additive permanent or varying it by facility type and size. One limited survey cited reported an average facility cost of $0.08 per minute (30 facilities), which the Commission did not rely on when adopting the $0.02 interim additive.
Regulation When Facilities Pay (Agency-Paid Model)
The FCC seeks comment on how its IPCS rules should apply when correctional institutions, rather than individual callers, pay for IPCS (the "agency-paid model"), including that institutions may buy services using alternative units (e.g., ADP) instead of per-minute rates. The FNPRM asks whether the Martha Wright-Reed Act and the Communications Act give the Commission authority to regulate rates and conditions when an intermediary pays for IPCS on behalf of retail users.
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Key Dates
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