Opinion ID: 406177
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Symbolization

Text: 10 The Revised Interstate Commerce Act (the Act) requires carriers providing transportation or service subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission to publish and file with that agency tariffs containing the rates that are charged to shippers. See generally 49 U.S.C. § 10762. Regulated carriers may collect only the rates that are contained in tariffs on file with the Commission, see 49 U.S.C. § 10761, and departure from the filed rate schedule will subject a carrier to civil and criminal liability, 49 U.S.C. §§ 11901, 11903. The Commission is empowered to prescribe the form and manner of publishing, filing, and keeping the tariffs open for public inspection. 49 U.S.C. § 10762(b)(1). However, the Act itself clearly states that newly filed tariffs must plainly identify any proposed rate change and indicate its proposed effective date. 49 U.S.C. § 10762(c)(3). Normally a new tariff will become effective thirty days or, in the case of railroads, twenty days, after the carrier files it, id., unless the Commission suspends the proposed rate pending the outcome of an investigation pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 10707(a) or § 10708(a). 11 As authorized by 49 U.S.C. § 10762(b)(1), the Commission has promulgated regulations prescribing the form in which tariffs are to be published and filed. One such regulation governs the symbolization of changed rates, requiring that 12 (t)ariff publications shall indicate changes made in existing rates, charges, classifications, rules, or other provisions by use of the following uniform reference marks in connection with each such change: 13 or (R) to denote reductions 14 or (A) to denote increases 15 or (C) to denote changes which result in neither increases nor reductions in charges 16 49 C.F.R. § 1310.10(f)(1). As justified by the Commission, these requirements are designed to allow tariff users to rely on symbolization to (1) discover changes and (2) evaluate those changes. Discovery and evaluation are vital to tariff users' rights to timely protest proposed tariff changes. 44 Fed.Reg. 60123 (1979). 17 Until 1979, the Commission maintained a staff that examined every proposed tariff prior to its effective date in order to uncover obvious defects in publication, including symbolization errors. Tariffs submitted without the appropriate change-denoting symbols were rejected, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 10762(e), and the offending carrier then had to resubmit the proposed schedule in acceptable form. Apparently in the belief that few improperly symbolized tariffs would escape this scrutiny, the Commission never sought to exact any penalty for symbolization errors discovered after a tariff had gone into effect. Rather, it merely advised the carrier of its error and requested more caution in the future. 18 On October 18, 1979, however, the Commission published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking reporting a change of policy. In an order docketed as Ex Parte No. 370, the Commission explained that budgetary constraints had forced it to abandon its comprehensive tariff examination service. Thenceforth, the Commission could review only a random sample of newly filed tariffs. Since increasing numbers of inadequately symbolized increases would go undetected, the agency had concluded that stiffer sanctions were in order: 19 We believe it would be inappropriate for tariff users to be burdened with the onerous chore of comparing proposed tariff filings word-for-word or figure-for-figure against existing tariff matter. They should be able to rely on the accuracy of tariff symbolization. The rules proposed here would stipulate that improperly-symbolized changes which result in increases would be considered improperly published and thus invalid and uncollectable. This would offer retroactive protection to tariff users who had been effectively deprived of their right to protest by missymbolization. 20 44 Fed.Reg. 60123 (1979). The Notice proposed the following regulation for inclusion in the Code of Federal Regulations: 21 Changes resulting in increases which are not identified by proper symbols shall be considered unlawfully published and filed and therefore invalid and not collectable. In such cases, the lawful provisions will be those which were purportedly superseded. Invalid provisions shall be cancelled by publications which shall bring forward, or properly amend, provisions which have remained in effect by reason of invalid publication. 22 The Notice declared further that (c)harges assessed on the basis of the invalid provisions would be subject to the usual overcharge claim procedures. 44 Fed.Reg. 60124. 1 23 Following the obligatory period in which it received comments and suggestions from interested parties, the Commission published its decision in Ex Parte No. 370, Tariff Improvement (August 14, 1980). Despite the predictably unfavorable response from Carriers, 2 the Commission adopted the proposed rule without change. The decision explained that yearly increases in the number of published tariffs had combined with budgetary and personnel constraints to make the new policy imperative. As originally proposed, the new regulation was to apply only to improperly symbolized increases, since unnoticed rate raises pose the greatest threat to tariff users. The decision also made it clear that claims for overcharges accruing from publication of improperly symbolized-and therefore unlawful-tariffs could be filed at any time within the ordinary three-year limitation period prescribed by 49 U.S.C. § 11706(b). 24 The controversial regulation was duly codified at 49 C.F.R. §§ 1300.2(a)(4), 1303.4(d)(3), 1304.2(c), 1306.5(b)(2), 1307.5(r)(1), 1308.2(a), and 1310.10(f) (5). Although it was scheduled to become effective on October 14, 1980, this Court granted a temporary stay of its operation and enforcement pending our review. The Commission subsequently denied several petitions for reconsideration of Ex Parte No. 370. See 365 I.C.C. 43 (1981).