|
In
May, U.S. District Judge William Pauley in New York had demanded
additional evidence of the deal's fairness before he would
approve the agreement, citing a dearth of details in the initial
papers filed jointly by the two sides.
The settlement is part of a broader deal in which Sprint and
Verizon Communications Inc agreed to pay $68 million and $90
million, respectively, to end various government probes into the
practice of "cramming," in which mobile carriers charge
customers for services such as horoscopes that they never
ordered.
Last year, AT&T Inc paid $105 million and T-Mobile US $90
million to settle similar probes.
Pauley and several other federal judges in recent years have
complained that parties seeking court approval for settlements
have sometimes viewed their role as little more than applying a
rubber stamp. In signing off on the deal, Pauley did not address
how his concerns had been met.
A spokeswoman for the CFPB declined to comment. A Sprint
spokeswoman was not immediately available to comment.
The case is Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Sprint
Corporation, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of
New York, No. 14-cv-09931.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by David Gregorio)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
