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

The wireless network allegedly misrepresents its "Regulatory Programs and Telco Recovery Fee" as a required federal government charge, 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 charge 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 charge, passthrough fee, or another regulatory-mandated fee.

However, it argues the fee is actually "a concoction designed to increase T-Mobile’s revenue and pad its bottom line."

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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 help the company pay for funding 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 benchmark, can change at will, and has an "arbitrary cost of $3.49."

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

"T-Mobile should have accurately stated the true monthly prices for its post-paid wireless plans in its price representations and advertising," the complaint states. "T-Mobile’s 'RPTR Fee' scheme has enabled, and continues to enable, it to effectively increase 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 company website's fees and charges section, the provider clarifies the Regulatory Programs and Telco Recovery Fee is "not a government tax or imposed by the government."

"Rather, the fee is collected and retained by T-Mobile to help recover certain 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 news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on X and Instagram @anthonyarobledo.