A California Court of Appeal has set aside a California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) decision requiring TC Telephone to repay more than $8 million in California Lifeline reimbursements and remanded the matter to the CPUC for further proceedings. The dispute arose from reimbursements paid to TC Telephone between January 2018 and March 2020 under California Lifeline’s measured rate service offering, which provided customers with 60 untimed local calls each month. TC Telephone sought reimbursement based on the total minutes associated with those calls, while the CPUC later determined that reimbursements should have been calculated on a per-call basis and ordered the company to repay approximately $8.16 million.
In granting TC Telephone’s writ of review, the court concluded that the CPUC had failed to provide adequate notice of its reimbursement interpretation during the relevant period. According to the court, the CPUC did not sufficiently inform carriers through regulations, written guidance, or other official action that the reimbursement methodology adopted by TC Telephone was impermissible. As a result, the court annulled the CPUC’s repayment decision and remanded the matter to the CPUC to recalculate any repayment obligation in a manner consistent with the court’s opinion.
