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Hold the phone — the federal government has racked up close to $300,000 in late fees for cellphone services and other wireless devices over the past few years because it never paid its bills on time.

The eye-popping wireless late-payment charges have accumulated as the government insists it is owed $3.5 million in wrongfully charged late fees by telephone companies.

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Nearly $70,000 in cellphone late payment fees came in October 2013 alone and another $65,000 from November 2013, according to documents tabled this week in the House of Commons.

The Conservative government has been piling up late-payment fees as it preaches fiscal prudence, cutting billions of dollars in spending and laying off thousands of federal government employees.

“Taxpayers are having to pay more than a quarter of a million dollars because the government didn’t pay its cellphone bills on time and I think that’s outrageous,” said Liberal MP Geoff Regan, who requested the information from the government.