New legislation attempting to limit the abuses of telephone calling card companies has cleared another hurdle in the House of Representatives, moving it one step closer on its way to requiring stricter government regulation of how the $4 billion industry treats its consumers.

Bronx Congressman Eliot Engel’s bill, the Calling Card Consumer Protection Act, was unanimously passed by a subcommittee on Sept. 16 and will now go for consideration before the House as a whole. If the bill were signed into law, it would require calling card companies to clearly disclose all terms, conditions, and fees in their advertisements and would ensure that the Federal Trade Commission has the ability to enforce these regulations.  

“These fees take considerable money out of consumers’ pockets every time they pick up the phone,” Engel said in a statement. “This deception is costing consumers and honest companies hundreds of millions of dollars each and every year.”

According to figures cited by Engel in his statement, on average, calling cards only provide to consumers 60 percent of the minutes they guarantee. And in noting that calling cards are often helpful to those who make frequent overseas calls or who cannot afford regular service, Engel said that the average 40 percent lost especially hurts those who are low-income, minorities or immigrants.