A recently announced class action lawsuit filed against T-Mobile alleges the corporation has disguised a hidden fee as a government fee for two decades.

The wireless network allegedly misrepresents its “Regulatory Programs and Telco Recovery Fee” as a required federal government fee, according to a complaint filed in California federal court by 23 plaintiffs on Oct. 29.

The complaint alleges T-Mobile’s Subscriber Agreement lacks any mention of the RPTR while omitting how “much is charged, when it is charged, and that it is charged per line.”

Introduced in 2004, the “hidden” fee has been increased over the years to a monthly fee of $3.49 per line. The complaint alleges the fee is disclaimed in the “Government Taxes and Fees” section to disguise it as a government fee, passthrough fee, or another regulatory-mandated fee.

However, it argues the fee is actually “a concoction designed to boost T-Mobile’s income and pad its net income.”

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Complaint alleges fee explanations are invalid

The complaint also challenges the explanation for the RPTR fee written in the subscriber agreement.

The explanation claims the fee is meant to assist the corporation pay for financing and comply with government mandates, programs, and obligations. The complaint alleges this explanation is “unfair and deceptive” as it isn’t linked to a specific standard, can transformation at will, and has an “arbitrary expense of $3.49.”

The complaint also alleges customers can only discover what fees they are being charged by examining their statement after already signing up.

“T-Mobile should have accurately stated the factual monthly prices for its post-paid wireless plans in its worth representations and advertising,” the complaint states. “T-Mobile’s ‘RPTR Fee’ scheme has enabled, and continues to enable, it to effectively boost its rates without having to publicly announce those higher rates. And consumers have been duped into paying these hidden charges for two decades.”

T-Mobile website states RPTR is not a government fee

On the corporation website’s fees and charges section, the provider clarifies the Regulatory Programs and Telco Recovery Fee is “not a government levy or imposed by the government.”

“Rather, the fee is collected and retained by T-Mobile to assist recover sure costs we have already incurred and continue to incur,” T-Mobile states.

A representative for T-Mobile declined to comment on the lawsuit, telling USA TODAY that it has nothing to add regarding pending litigation.

Anthony Robledo is a trending information reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected] and pursue him on X and Instagram @anthonyarobledo.