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Verizon plans to hike late fees on monthly bills(Buffalo News, The (NY) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jun. 27--Paying your Verizon Communications bill late could get more expensive beginning next month. The telecommunications company is proposing to increase the late payment fee it imposes on bills that are paid late to either $5 or 1.5 percent of the outstanding balance, whichever is greater. For a customer with a monthly bill of about $40, paying as little as a day after the due date would result in a $5 fee, which is equal to about 12 percent of the outstanding balance, rather than 60 cents, which is what 1.5 percent would be. "We think this is a fair request," said Heather Wilner, a Verizon spokeswoman. "This is just designed to get customers to pay their bills on time." But Gerald Norlander, the executive director of the Public Utility Law Project, an Albany-based advocacy group for low-income residents, said the increased late fee will be an added burden on consumers. "That's a lot for something that's a day late, with the mail being what it is," he said. Verizon filed is proposal to increase the late payment fee with the state Public Service Commission last week. The commission currently is reviewing the proposal and must approve any change before it can take effect, said Anne Dalton, a PSC spokeswoman. The commission's next meeting is on July 19. Under Verizon's proposal, the increased late payment fee would take effect on July 21 and would cover balances that are unpaid at the time its August bills are prepared, the company said. Verizon said in earlier filings with the PSC that its late payment charge is less than those imposed by other competitors in the telecommunications industry, including Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Cablevision and Time Warner. The PSC's staff, while saying it is inclined to support the increase in late payment charges, also recommended that they higher fees not be imposed on customers using its Lifeline service, which is available to low-income consumers. The commission's staff also recommended that the increased fee not be imposed on customers with serious illnesses or consumers who have outstanding balances in dispute. The commission, in an earlier ruling in April on a broader telecommunications policy, said Verizon's argument in favor of the higher late payment charge was "reasonable." The increased late fee is the latest step Verizon has taken to try to reduce its bad debt. The company, in recent months, also has begun reporting to the nation's major credit reporting agencies which customers are paying their bills on time and which ones are paying late. Last week, regulators in Massachusetts were giving the company permission to impose a 1.5 percent late fee on Bay State consumers who pay their bills more than 30 days late. |