New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities has approved a settlement requiring Optimum Communications to pay $37 refunds to cable customers who were charged for service after they cancelled, and to give customers in its low-income broadband program six months of free service spread over two years. The agreement, announced September 11, ends eight years of litigation over Optimum’s failure to prorate final cable bills. It also opens the company’s low-income internet program to its entire New Jersey customer base with no income verification required.
The $37 refunds cover final bills from 2018 to 2023
According to the Board’s September 11 announcement, the settlement was approved at the Board’s agenda meeting and resolves claims that Optimum, formerly known as Altice USA, did not prorate final bills for cable television customers who disconnected service. New Jersey rules require cable bills to be prorated when a customer starts or cancels service, so that a customer who leaves partway through a billing cycle pays only for the days the service was actually connected.
The settlement provides $37 in refunds for each customer affected between December 18, 2018, and May 5, 2023. The refund is tied to that past period and to cable television service that was cancelled, not to current internet bills. A household that dropped Optimum cable during those years, whether to switch providers, move into a smaller home or cut expenses in retirement, is the kind of customer the refund is meant to reach.
Proration matters more than it may seem. Under a full-month billing approach, a subscriber who cancels a few days into a cycle can be billed for the entire month. For a hypothetical cable package costing $120 a month, cancelling on day five and paying for all 30 days would mean roughly $100 for service that was no longer being received. The flat $37 refund is the settlement’s uniform remedy for affected accounts, regardless of the size of any individual customer’s final bill.
“This settlement holds Optimum accountable and delivers restitution to customers who were improperly charged,” said Board President Ben Hertz-Shargel. “It also expands access to affordable broadband and ensures clearer oversight going forward.”
A cable account closed years ago can still produce a refund. Former Optimum customers can pin down whether their cancellation date falls inside the December 2018 to May 2023 window using the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice in The Settlement & Refund Recovery System.
How an eight-year dispute got here
The case began in 2018, when more than 100 customers told regulators that Optimum kept billing them for cable after they had cancelled. The Board issued an Order to Show Cause that December. When the company did not change the practice, the Board followed with a Cease-and-Desist Order in 2019 requiring Optimum to stop and to issue refunds.
Optimum challenged the Board in court. In 2023, both the New Jersey Supreme Court and the Appellate Division upheld the Board’s authority to require prorated bills and directed the company to comply.
The settlement itself was negotiated by Board staff, the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel, which represents utility customers, and Optimum. The Board approved it as a fair and reasonable resolution. Optimum’s own current terms note that, while cancellations generally take effect at the end of the billing period, that is not the case in New Jersey or Connecticut, reflecting the state rule at the center of the case.
Six free months for low-income broadband customers
The second part of the settlement looks forward. The Board required Optimum to extend its low-income broadband program to its entire New Jersey customer base, with no income verification required. Customers receiving service under that program will get six months of free service, delivered over a two-year period rather than all at once.
Optimum markets its low-cost internet plan as Optimum Advantage Internet, currently advertised at $15 a month with autopay and paperless billing for 100 Mbps service, including equipment and standard installation. At that price, six free months would be worth about $90 to an enrolled household. For retirees on Social Security who use the internet for telehealth visits, online banking and keeping in touch with family, a low-cost plan with free months can meaningfully trim a fixed monthly bill.
The six months are tied to enrollment in the low-income program. A customer on a standard Optimum internet plan does not automatically receive free service under the settlement, and a former cable customer owed a $37 refund is not automatically enrolled in the broadband program. The two benefits reach different groups for different reasons.
What customers should watch for
The Board also secured heightened reporting requirements meant to ensure Optimum’s ongoing compliance with New Jersey’s customer-service rules. That oversight does not put money in anyone’s pocket directly, but it gives regulators a clearer view of whether billing problems return.
Former cable customers who cancelled between late 2018 and spring 2023 should keep an eye on mail and email from Optimum and on updates from the Board. Keeping a record of the cancellation date, the final bill and any confirmation number will make it easier to confirm eligibility if questions arise. Current customers interested in the low-income broadband plan can ask Optimum about enrollment directly; because the settlement removes income verification in New Jersey, qualifying should be simpler than under the company’s usual terms.
As with any refund announcement, look-alike messages are likely. A genuine refund should not require a customer to pay a fee, buy a gift card or give remote access to a computer. Anyone unsure about a message can contact the Board’s customer assistance line at 800-624-0241 or call Optimum at the number printed on an actual bill rather than one supplied in an unsolicited text or email.
Small refunds are the easiest ones to lose track of
A modest credit from a cable account that closed years ago can arrive with little warning, and households with several open refunds and settlements often miss the smaller ones entirely.
The Settlement & Refund Recovery System includes a claim log and payment tracker for recording each refund as it arrives, the source vault of 12 official places money sits and the scam-proof rules for checking a refund message before responding.
Keep the Optimum refund and every other small payment on the books with The Settlement & Refund Recovery System.
This article was prepared with AI assistance and reviewed against the linked official sources.
