On January 19, 2023, the Federal Communications Commission issued an Order granting 37 appeals and one petition for reconsideration related to the E-rate invoicing process. Stating that “petitioners inadvertently made ministerial or clerical errors” when completing BEARs, SPIs, or invoice deadline extensions, the Commission waived the necessary rules for payment to be processed. The FCC noted that in all cases, the BEARs, SPIs, or extension requests were originally filed prior to their respective deadlines, and that “mistakes on these forms and requests are nearly identical to those mistakes made in the context of FCC Forms 470, 471, 486, and other related forms or submissions.”
In the Order, the FCC also directs USAC “to review appeals of ministerial and clerical errors… and not to direct these petitioners to file waiver requests with the Commission.” Stating that “applicants and service providers should not be required to submit a new reimbursement form to correct the error in question,” the FCC asserts that “USAC should allow the applicant or service provider to correct the timely filed reimbursement form or extension request, and not require that a new form or request be submitted to correct the error.”
The FCC’s Order may be viewed here.
