Cite as: 511 U. S. 431 (1994)
Ginsburg, J., dissenting
Were the Commission in fact set on adherence to the filed rate doctrine, carriers like Riss could employ no "rubber instruments." Riss' tariff clearly said that the carrier incorporated the distances in HGCB's guide. The Commission could hold Riss to that representation, while imposing a sanction for the HGCB membership lapse that did not negate the filed rate. As Judge Flaum stated in Brizendine:
"Under the filed rate doctrine, even tariffs that contain substantively unlawful rates or violate ICC filing rules are not nullities. The shipper must pay the rate on file, and may then sue for the harm, if any, caused by the tariff's unlawfulness or irregularity. The enforceability of published rates, however defective, discourages the parties (especially shippers, who may face undercharge suits later) from bargaining for other prices." 4 F. 3d, at 463 (citations and footnote omitted).
The Court attempts to justify the Commission's application of 49 CFR § 1312.4(d) (1993) as a "void-for-nonparticipation" rule by equating that rule to a tariff's expiration date. Ante, at 441-442. But American Trucking held that the Commission generally lacks authority to reject a tariff "once that tariff has gone into effect." 467 U. S., at 360; see id., at 363, n. 7; Brizendine, supra, at 463 (American Trucking "makes clear that a carrier's submitted rate becomes the legal, governing rate when the ICC accepts it."). As Judge Silberman explained in Overland Express:
"A regulation that purports to make a tariff[, once effective,] 'void' or 'ineffective' if a carrier fails to follow a procedural rule, . . . does not [escape] American Trucking's holding. The Commission is restricted whenever it attempts to invalidate (or alter the past effects of) a tariff after [the tariff's effective date]. Otherwise, shippers and carriers could not rely confidently on the rate on file with the Commission, and . . . the filed rate doctrine would be undermined." 996 F. 2d, at 359-360.
459
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