Sprint Pays Oregon $1.6 Million Over Lifeline Program | JAM'N 107.5

May 12, 2021
The Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) and Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum today announced a $1.6 million dollar False Claims Act settlement with a Sprint (now T-Mobile) subsidiary called Assurance Wireless, for overcharging the Oregon Lifeline program. This program, managed by the PUC, provides discounted voice and broadband service to qualifying low-income Oregonians paid for with federal and state subsidies.
In 2019, PUC staff launched an investigation of Sprint’s billing practices and discovered it had been systematically overcharging the Oregon Lifeline program for ineligible usage. PUC’s discovery eventually led to a nationwide investigation where the FCC recovered approximately $368 million for the federal Lifeline subsidy and issued a $200 million penalty. After securing an Oregon refund of $788,061 in December 2020, the PUC assisted Oregon DOJ’s civil enforcement team in securing an additional settlement payment of $859,451 under the Oregon False Claims Act, for a grand total of $1,647,512 returned back to the state.

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