222
Opinion of the Court
"extend to any person any privileges or facilities in such communication, or employ or enforce any classifications, regulations, or practices affecting such charges, except as specified in such schedule." These provisions are modeled after similar provisions of the Interstate Commerce Act (ICA) and share its goal of preventing unreasonable and discriminatory charges. MCI Telecommunications Corp. v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co., 512 U. S. 218, 229-230 (1994). Accordingly, the century-old "filed rate doctrine" associated with the ICA tariff provisions applies to the Communications Act as well. See id., at 229-231; Arkansas Louisiana Gas Co. v. Hall, 453 U. S. 571, 577 (1981); cf. United States Nav. Co. v. Cunard S. S. Co., 284 U. S. 474, 481 (1932). In Louisville & Nashville R. Co. v. Maxwell, 237 U. S. 94, 97 (1915), we described the basic contours of the filed rate doctrine under the ICA:
"Under the Interstate Commerce Act, the rate of the carrier duly filed is the only lawful charge. Deviation from it is not permitted upon any pretext. Shippers and travelers are charged with notice of it, and they as well as the carrier must abide by it, unless it is found by the Commission to be unreasonable. Ignorance or misquotation of rates is not an excuse for paying or charging either less or more than the rate filed. This rule is undeniably strict and it obviously may work hardship in some cases, but it embodies the policy which has been adopted by Congress in the regulation of interstate commerce in order to prevent unjust discrimination."
Thus, even if a carrier intentionally misrepresents its rate and a customer relies on the misrepresentation, the carrier cannot be held to the promised rate if it conflicts with the published tariff. Kansas City Southern R. Co. v. Carl, 227 U. S. 639, 653 (1913).
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