The FCC, on its own dime, is asking if it should grant MVPDs a six-month extension on their obligations under the Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019 (TVPA), which passed last December, to “give consumers a breakdown of all charges related to the MVPD’s video service” before those consumers sign a contract, and which gives consumers 24 hours to cancel service without penalty."
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The TVPA also requires more transparency in electronic billing and prohibits MVPDs from charging equipment they don't provide.
The deadline for MVPD compliance with those new obligations is June 20, but the bureau points out that the FCC could extend that deadline for "good cause" and wants to know if there are any good causes out there for a blanket extension.
It even offered a suggestion on what one of those might be. "For example," it said, "parties seeking an extension could describe the steps they need to undertake to update their billing systems in order to provide the required information to consumers, the time needed to implement such updates, and any associated employee training needed to fulfill the new requirements."
