Washington, May 13 (EFE).- U.S. mobile telephone companies Verizon and Sprint will pay a combined $158 million for unauthorized charges on customers' bills, according to the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, the U.S. authority regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable.
Verizon Wireless, the biggest mobile operator in the U.S., will have to cough up $90 million while rival Sprint Corporation will pay $68 million for hitting customers with unauthorized charges for third-party premium text messaging services, commonly known as "cramming".
"For too long, consumers have been charged on their phone bills for things they did not buy," said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler on Tuesday.
Although monthly charges for the services ranged from 99 cents to $14, customers were usually charged $9.99, said the note.
Verizon kept 30 percent or more of the third party charges it collected and Sprint about 35 percent.
The FCC added that besides refusing to refund customers who complained they had not requested the services, neither operator was able to show authorization to charge users.
At least $70 million of Verizon's settlement and $50 million of Sprint's settlement will go towards refunding customers while $16 million and $12 million respectively will go to state agencies.
They will also give $6 million each to the U.S. Treasury.
The two companies have also promised to reform internal and external operational processes, to clearly delineate third-party charges on bills, to seek permission from customers before charging them for third party services, and to let them opt out of the services.
These latest settlements bring the total value of recent settlements between government agencies and wireless providers to $353 million, of which $267.5 will go towards customer refund programs.