Short answer: FCC Chairman Brendan Carr did not permanently eliminate limits on prison and jail communication prices. On June 30, 2025, the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau waived major parts of the 2024 rate-cut order, allowing the older 2021 framework to continue temporarily. The full FCC later replaced the delayed rules with higher interim caps. As of August 18, 2026, the amount a family pays depends on the facility’s size, whether the call is audio or video, the provider’s billing, and charges allowed outside the per-minute cap.
Carr’s waiver postponed the reductions many families expected in 2025. The replacement order still imposes federal ceilings, but its caps are higher than those adopted in 2024 and include a possible facility-cost additive.
What Carr’s June 2025 action did
On June 30, 2025, Carr announced a waiver delaying compliance with the 2024 order’s new rate caps, ban on site commissions and per-minute-pricing requirements. The waiver temporarily restored the operative 2021 framework, initially through April 1, 2027 unless the FCC acted sooner. Carr cited risks to service availability, inadequate recovery of safety and security expenses, and implementation problems for state and local governments. The announcement is available in the FCC waiver notice.
The waiver did not authorize unlimited prices. It postponed the newer requirements, allowing providers and facilities to continue under the older federal rules while the FCC reconsidered the cost calculations.
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How the FCC got here
- 2022: Congress enacted the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act, directing the FCC to regulate incarcerated people’s communications services (IPCS).
- July 2024: The FCC adopted FCC 24-75, lowering audio caps, setting interim video caps, prohibiting site commissions, limiting recoverable costs and adding consumer and disability-access protections.
- January 1, 2025: The 2024 order’s initial rollout was scheduled to begin, with nationwide implementation no later than April 1, 2026, according to the FCC’s announcement.
- June 30, 2025: Carr’s waiver delayed the major requirements and preserved the older framework temporarily.
- October 28 and November 6, 2025: The FCC adopted and released FCC 25-75, replacing the delayed schedule with a revised interim system.
- 120 days after Federal Register publication: The revised caps and related requirements become enforceable. FCC 25-75 superseded the April 1, 2027 date, but the order itself does not state the Federal Register publication date needed to calculate the calendar deadline.
What the 2024 order would have charged
The 2024 plan’s headline audio caps were:
| Facility type | 2024 audio cap |
|---|---|
| Prison | $0.06 per minute |
| Large jail (1,000+ average daily population) | $0.06 |
| Medium jail (350–999) | $0.07 |
| Small jail (100–349) | $0.09 |
| Very small jail (under 100) | $0.12 |
Those caps were delayed before the broad implementation dates arrived. States could impose lower rates, and the federal cap was never a guarantee that every facility would charge the maximum.
The replacement interim audio caps
FCC 25-75 uses billed minutes, includes reported safety and security costs, adds an “extremely small jail” tier and permits a separate facility-cost additive of up to $0.02 per minute. The base caps are:
| Facility type | Base audio cap | Possible additive | Maximum if additive applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prison | $0.09 | $0.02 | $0.11 |
| Large jail (1,000+ average daily population) | $0.08 | $0.02 | $0.10 |
| Medium jail (350–999) | $0.10 | $0.02 | $0.12 |
| Small jail (100–349) | $0.11 | $0.02 | $0.13 |
| Very small jail (50–99) | $0.13 | $0.02 | $0.15 |
| Extremely small jail (0–49) | $0.17 | $0.02 | $0.19 |
Video calls have different ceilings
The revised order’s interim video caps are higher than its audio caps:
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| Facility type | Base video cap | Possible additive | Maximum if additive applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prison | $0.23 per minute | $0.02 | $0.25 |
| Large jail (1,000+ average daily population) | $0.17 | $0.02 | $0.19 |
| Medium jail (350–999) | $0.17 | $0.02 | $0.19 |
| Small jail (100–349) | $0.19 | $0.02 | $0.21 |
| Very small jail (50–99) | $0.23 | $0.02 | $0.25 |
| Extremely small jail (0–49) | $0.42 | $0.02 | $0.44 |
These are federal maximums under the interim framework, not required posted prices. State law, contracts, taxes and permitted charges can produce a lower or different bill.
Why the FCC changed course
The FCC majority’s rationale
In its October 2025 announcement, the FCC said the 2024 methodology could make some services financially unsustainable, fail to cover safety and security measures, and lead facilities or providers to reduce or discontinue calling. The revised approach is described in the FCC’s announcement and FCC 25-75.
Critics’ objections
Consumer advocates, Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez and congressional critics argued that the waiver delayed relief required by Congress, left families paying more, weakened the 2024 order before broad implementation and preserved revenue incentives associated with expensive contracts. The 2024 order documented the FCC’s finding that excessive prices burden incarcerated people and their families. Claims that the action was “illegal,” a “giveaway” or a protection for “kickbacks” are arguments by critics, not settled legal findings.
Site commissions versus the $0.02 cost additive
A site commission is compensation or revenue paid to a facility or government from communications service. The 2024 order prohibited such payments, and FCC 25-75 retains that prohibition. The replacement order instead permits up to $0.02 per minute for specified facility costs incurred in making service available. The FCC says the additive is capped and cost-based; critics argue that an inadequately audited additive could operate much like a commission. Those are different legal categories even when they affect the caller’s bill in similar ways.
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A per-minute ceiling is only one part of a transaction. Check each line item:
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- audio or video service and the facility’s population tier;
- call duration and the posted per-minute rate;
- the facility-cost additive, if charged;
- connection, account-funding or payment-processing fees, where permitted;
- taxes and government-imposed charges;
- international-service costs or surcharges; and
- whether the call is covered by the particular FCC rule at issue.
International calls can include an additional amount tied to the provider’s average underlying international-service cost. Alternative pricing plans may be available under FCC conditions but are not automatically cheaper for every family. A high total bill is not, by itself, proof of a rate-cap violation.
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What applies at a particular facility
As of August 18, 2026, do not assume uniform implementation. Confirm the facility’s current rate sheet and whether the 120-day compliance period has elapsed from the Federal Register publication of FCC 25-75. Also check for contract-transition issues or a provider-specific waiver.
- Find the correctional facility’s communications page and identify the provider.
- Check the state department of corrections or county sheriff for a current tariff or contract.
- Request the provider’s complete rate schedule, including fees and video pricing.
- Compare a real bill with the per-minute rate, call length, taxes and other charges separated.
- Ask whether the $0.02 facility-cost additive is being applied and what category it covers.
- If the figures appear inconsistent with federal or state limits, contact the facility and provider in writing and keep the response.
Where to complain
Start with the facility administrator and the state corrections agency or county sheriff. Then contact the communications provider and, where applicable, a state public-utility or consumer-protection agency. The FCC accepts complaints about incarcerated people’s communications services through its Consumer Complaints Center. Include the facility, provider, service type, dates, rate, duration, every fee and copies of statements.
What happens next
FCC 25-75 establishes interim caps and seeks further comment on permanent rates and facility-cost recovery. The federal ceiling therefore remains subject to future Commission action. Litigation concerning the broader IPCS rules has been reported in the First Circuit; current docket developments should be checked before relying on that challenge. States remain free to set lower prices, so a facility can charge less than the federal maximum even while the FCC’s interim framework is in effect.
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