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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchThe FCC now regulates prison and jail communication charges under a revised framework, but there is no single nationwide price for a call. The current rules include interim rate caps, a separate facility-cost additive of up to $0.02 per minute, and possible facility-specific waivers. To find what a particular caller can be charged, check the facility, service type, provider’s current disclosures, and any applicable waiver—not just a headline cap.
What changed—and when?
Congress’s 2022 Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act expanded the FCC’s authority to regulate charges for incarcerated people’s communications, including intrastate service. The FCC used that authority in 2024 to establish a broad framework for audio and video communications. In 2025, it revised the way rates are set and adopted new interim caps after considering concerns about safety and security costs and the availability of services.
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| Date | Regulatory action | What it means for callers |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Congress enacted the Martha Wright-Reed Act. | The FCC gained expanded authority over incarcerated people’s communication charges, including intrastate rates. |
| July 18, 2024; released July 22, 2024 | The FCC adopted its broad framework for intrastate, interstate, and international audio and video services. | The order lowered existing audio caps and addressed ancillary charges, commissions, accessibility, disclosures, and inactive balances. |
| October 28, 2025; released November 6, 2025 | The FCC adopted revised rate-setting rules and interim audio and video caps. | The framework added a jail tier for average daily populations of 0–49, changed how reported safety and security costs are treated, and allowed a separate facility-cost additive. |
| December 5, 2025 | The 2025 rules and interim caps took effect upon Federal Register publication. | This is the effective date of the revised framework. |
| April 6, 2026 | Provider compliance with the new rules and interim caps was required. | As of October 2026, the compliance date has passed. |
Why can’t you look up one current nationwide price?
A cap is a ceiling under the rules, not proof of the rate charged at a particular facility. The applicable cap depends on factors such as facility type and average daily population tier, and the FCC’s revised framework also permits a facility-cost additive of up to $0.02 per minute. That amount is a maximum allowed additive, not a charge every caller necessarily pays.
The exact amount can also depend on whether the service is audio or video, whether an allowed alternate pricing plan applies, and whether the facility or provider has an applicable waiver. The actual rate and charges should be stated in the provider’s and facility’s current disclosures. The full revised tier-by-tier rate table and the status of every facility-specific waiver are necessary to calculate a particular caller’s applicable ceiling; without them, quoting one number as the current price would be misleading.
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- Up to 415 Domestic Minutes. Dialing Instructions: Dial the appropriate access number from the phone card, when prompted enter PIN number, then your destination number including the country code. Important: do not press talk button after international number, do not call from your phone contacts after dialing pin number or you will be billed at your carrier rates. No reimbursement of such phone company or hotel charges allowed.
- Call Africa: Nigeria Ethiopia Egypt Democratic Republic of the Congo South Africa Tanzania Kenya Sudan Algeria Uganda Morocco Mozambique Ghana Angola Ivory Coast Madagascar Cameroon Niger Burkina Faso Mali Malawi Zambia Somalia Senegal Chad Zimbabwe Rwanda Tunisia Guinea Benin Burundi South Sudan Togo Eritrea Sierra Leone Libya Republic of the Congo Central African Republic Liberia Mauritania Namibia Botswana
- Call Europe: Russia Germany Turkey France United Kingdom Italy Spain Ukraine Poland Romania Kazakhstan Netherlands Belgium Greece Czech Republic Portugal Sweden Azerbaijan Hungary Belarus Austria Switzerland Bulgaria Serbia Denmark Finland Slovakia Norway Ireland Croatia Georgia Moldova Bosnia and Herzegovina Armenia Albania Lithuania North Macedonia Slovenia Latvia Kosovo Estonia Cyprus Montenegro Luxembourg Malta Iceland Andorra Monaco Liechtenstein San Marino Vatican City
- Call MidEast: Iran Turkey Iraq Saudi Arabia Yemen Syria Jordan United Arab Emirates Israel Lebanon Palestine Oman Kuwait Qatar Bahrain Call Latin America: Brazil Colombia Argentina Peru Venezuela Chile Ecuador Bolivia Paraguay Uruguay Guyana Suriname FrenchGuiana Falkland Islands
- Call Asia: China India Japan South Korea North Korea Afghanistan Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia Georgia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Oman Pakistan Singapore Sri Lanka Taiwan Tajikistan Thailand Timor-Leste Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen
What did the 2024 rules change?
The 2024 order covered intrastate, interstate, and international audio and video communications, including video visitation. It was more than a rate-cap order: it also addressed the extra charges and practices that can make a posted per-minute rate an incomplete picture of the bill.
- Rate caps and fees: The FCC lowered existing audio caps, incorporated ancillary-service costs into the caps, and prohibited separate ancillary charges.
- Site commissions: The order prohibited provider site commissions and preempted state and local rules that required them.
- Safety and security costs: The 2024 framework limited recoverable costs to categories the FCC found were used and useful. The 2025 order later revised how reported safety and security costs were counted in setting the interim caps.
- Pricing options: The FCC allowed conditional alternate pricing plans.
- Access and transparency: The order strengthened accessibility and consumer-disclosure requirements, as well as annual reporting. It required accessible public disclosures and monthly billing or account statements.
- Unused balances: It strengthened protections for inactive accounts, including a 180-day inactivity threshold and rules for returning funds.
What should you check on a prison or jail phone bill?
- Identify the facility and provider. A prison and a jail may fall into different facility categories, and the provider’s current rate and charge disclosures are facility-specific. Start with the facility’s current calling instructions and the provider identified there.
- Confirm the service and rate basis. Check whether the charge is for audio calls or video service, whether the listed price is per minute, and whether an alternate pricing plan applies.
- Read the full charge disclosure. Compare the stated rate with any other listed charges and the monthly billing or account statement. The 2024 rules prohibit separate ancillary charges, but do not assume an old webpage or an unclear statement reflects the current rules or rate.
- Ask about the applicable cap and additive. Ask the provider or facility which population tier applies, what cap is being used, whether a facility-cost additive is applied, and whether a waiver affects the rate. The FCC’s revised framework permits an additive of up to $0.02 per minute; it does not establish that every facility adds that amount.
- Keep the evidence if the bill looks wrong. Save the statement and the public rate disclosure, note the facility and date, and ask the provider to explain how it calculated the charge. If the explanation does not resolve the issue, the FCC’s rules and consumer complaint channels are the relevant regulatory route; this article does not establish a particular facility’s compliance status.
What happens to money left in an inactive account?
Under the 2024 inactive-account provisions, an account can be deemed inactive after 180 days without activity. Providers must make reasonable efforts to return unused funds. A refund must be issued within 30 calendar days after a request or after the account is deemed inactive. Automatic refunds without a specific request are required only when the balance is greater than $1.50. For a smaller balance, the stated automatic-refund rule does not apply, so a person should ask the provider how to request any funds still due.
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- Dialing Instructions: Dial the appropriate access number from the phone card, when prompted enter PIN number, then your destination number including the country code. Important: do not press talk button after international number, do not call from your phone contacts after dialing pin number or you will be billed at your carrier rates. No reimbursement of such phone company or hotel charges allowed.
- Call Africa: Nigeria Ethiopia Egypt Democratic Republic of the Congo South Africa Tanzania Kenya Sudan Algeria Uganda Morocco Mozambique Ghana Angola Ivory Coast Madagascar Cameroon Niger Burkina Faso Mali Malawi Zambia Somalia Senegal Chad Zimbabwe Rwanda Tunisia Guinea Benin Burundi South Sudan Togo Eritrea Sierra Leone Libya Republic of the Congo Central African Republic Liberia Mauritania Namibia Botswana
- Call Europe: Russia Germany Turkey France United Kingdom Italy Spain Ukraine Poland Romania Kazakhstan Netherlands Belgium Greece Czech Republic Portugal Sweden Azerbaijan Hungary Belarus Austria Switzerland Bulgaria Serbia Denmark Finland Slovakia Norway Ireland Croatia Georgia Moldova Bosnia and Herzegovina Armenia Albania Lithuania North Macedonia Slovenia Latvia Kosovo Estonia Cyprus Montenegro Luxembourg Malta Iceland Andorra Monaco Liechtenstein San Marino Vatican City
- Call MidEast: Iran Turkey Iraq Saudi Arabia Yemen Syria Jordan United Arab Emirates Israel Lebanon Palestine Oman Kuwait Qatar Bahrain Call Latin America: Brazil Colombia Argentina Peru Venezuela Chile Ecuador Bolivia Paraguay Uruguay Guyana Suriname FrenchGuiana Falkland Islands
- Call Asia: China India Japan South Korea North Korea Afghanistan Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia Georgia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Oman Pakistan Singapore Sri Lanka Taiwan Tajikistan Thailand Timor-Leste Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen
How costly were calls before these reforms?
The FCC’s 2024 order cited an average cost of $5.74 for a 15-minute prison phone call in 2021. That is a historical average, not a 2026 rate or a current estimate for a specific facility. The same order recited that one in three families enter debt to pay for calls and visits to incarcerated family members; that figure concerns calls and visits together, not phone calls alone.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDo the new caps guarantee lower bills everywhere?
No. The revised interim caps constrain rates under the FCC framework, but a caller’s bill still depends on the applicable facility tier, service, additive, pricing arrangement, disclosures, and any waiver. The FCC described the 2025 caps as interim pending further consideration of permanent caps. The order’s adoption does not establish the exact charge at every facility or prove that every provider has applied the rules correctly.
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