A method is provided in one example embodiment and may include receiving congestion information for an environment in which a user equipment (UE) is operating; receiving a first request to deliver content to the UE; determining that the environment in which the UE is operating is experiencing congestion based, at least in part, on the congestion information; determining a re-try interval based, at least in part, on the congestion information; and deferring delivery of the content to the UE until the re-try interval has expired. In one example embodiment, the method can include provisioning one or more policy rules for a service data flow associated with the content and communicating the indication indicating that delivery of the content has been deferred to a charging system to set charging information for at least one of a user associated with the UE or a provider of the content.