Verizon quietly raises its operations fee on post-paid plans

Verizon is one of the biggest cellular phone providers in the United States, alongside other giants like AT&T and T-Mobile. With as big a market influence as the company has, it’s been subject to many criticisms over the years relating to alleged artifical price gouging practices.

According to one Verizon customer over on Reddit, it appears that the telecom giant is back at it again, this time raising its Administrative and Telco Recovery Charge fee. According to the user, their online bill displays a note, with a warning that the fee has been raised from $3.30 to $3.50 per month, per voice line.

Other major US carriers follow a similar practice of tacking recovery charge fees onto their post-paid phone plans, so this situation isn’t wholly unique to Verizon. Nevertheless, it’s a concerning development. Back in mid-2022, the company raised this same fee by a whopping 70%, from $1.95 to $3.30. This was later followed by a class action lawsuit in 2023, in which the company eventually settled.

Price hikes and overzealous phone carrier charges are a well-known phenomenon within the North American telecommunications scene, though market disruptors such as eSIM provider Airalo might one day lead to a shift in both influence and pricing structures within the industry.