MUMBAI: Time Warner Cable (TWC) has agreed to pay a $1.9 million civil penalty to settle the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges as it allegedly violated the risk-based pricing rule by failing to send notices to subscribers.
TWC has been accused of demanding upfront payments or deposits from subscribers with negative credit reports, according to FTC. Under the rule, finalised in 2011, creditors have to notify the customers of higher charges that are based on less-than-favourable credit histories.
“Beginning Jan. 1, 2011, through at least March 5, 2013, TWC failed to provide consumers who paid a deposit or other pre-payment with a notice, as set forth in the Risk-Based Pricing Rule, that the deposit requirement was imposed based on information in the consumer's credit report," assistant U.S. attorney Ellen Blain wrote in the complaint that was filed Thursday at U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
According to FTC, TWC, the second largest cable MSO in the US, is the first company to face charges after the pricing rule was amended in 2011.
