Some cell phone companies charge their users $100 to $200 to end a contract

Some cell phone companies charge their users $100 to $200 to end a contract no matter what the reason and disguise their own charges as taxes on bills, witnesses told a congressional panel. Congress is now discussing a bill to end these practices.

The bill requires that early termination fees be pro-rated. Companies now sometimes charge $100 to $200 to users who decide to switch to another service, even soldiers who wanted to drop their service because they were being deployed to Iraq. The bill would also require cell phone companies to identify as "taxes" only charges that were required by federal, state or other regulation. Lawmakers also wanted companies to eliminate the practice of extending cell phone contracts without the consent of the user if changes were made to the bill that were as simple as raising or lowering minutes.