|
|
Complaints about premium rate telephone services in the UK has dropped by over half in a year. One of the reasons for this is that companies that break the rules are likely to be fined more heavily.
Complaints to the UK premium rate telephone regulator PhonepayPlus for the last three months of 2009 were down 61% on the previous year. But figures for the first half of last year show that fines were not dropping by the same proportion, meaning that individual fines are likely to be rising year on year.
Premium rate telephone services were the subject of 5,442 complaints in the last three months of 2008 and of just 2,132 complaints in the same period of 2009. That represents a fall in complaint numbers of 61%.
In the first half of 2008 operators were fined £310,773, while fines totalled £291,388 for the same period in 2009, the latest period for which figures are available, a drop of just 6%.
Though those figures cover slightly different periods, they indicate that fewer complaints are receiving larger fines.
Mobile phone services account for the bulk of complaints. In the last three months of last year mobile complaints accounted for 89% of the total.
Complaints about premium rate services on mobile phones reached a peak in July 2008, at which point the European Commission conducted a study and found that four in five of the websites selling premium mobile services breached consumer protection laws.
Figures released by Phonepayplus last autumn showed that in the 15 months following the study premium rate mobile services complaints dropped by 62%.
The continuing fall is likely to be connected to a tightening of the regulation of premium rate mobile services in the past year. In January 2008 Phonepayplus introduced a new regime aimed at making consumers better informed about the charges they were signing up for.
“Any consumer joining a subscription service which costs more than £4.50 per week must first receive a free confirmation text message detailing the cost and conditions of the service. The consumer cannot be charged until they have confirmed their subscription by replying to that text,” under the new rules.
The European Commission contacted those websites that had problems and it said that 15 months from the date of its investigation 159 of the 301 websites that were problematic had changed the way they operated and 54 had closed.
Phonepayplus closely analysed 10% of the complaint calls that came to it in the last three months of 2009 and found that WAP services accounted for 24% of them, adult chat and dating accounts for 16% and wallpaper and ringtone services for 12%.
For full details of the phonepayplus repport – click here.
If you are interested in setting up a premium rate telephone service aimed at people with debt or credit issues, this is possible under telecoms regulations. However, this type of service does require prior permission before you can start operations.
Shown below is the procedure to set up such a premium rate telephone service.
Consumer Credit Services – Introduction
Service providers seeking clarity about the application of any Code provision to a particular service are strongly advised to contact the Executive before starting to operate the service.
Consumer Credit Services: The Need for Prior Permission
PhonepayPlus, under paragraph 7.7 of the Code of Practice, has decided that consumer credit services, both recorded and live, will require prior permission before they can operate.
a) Definition of “consumer credit services”
For PhonepayPlus’ purposes, “consumer credit services” are defined as services which appear to PhonepayPlus to offer one or more of the following facilities:
1. consumer credit business
2. consumer hire business
3. credit brokerage
4. debt adjusting and debt counselling
5. credit repair services, giving advice on amending credit records including, for example, the removing of County Court Judgements Services 1 to 5 correspond with business categories ‘A’ to ‘D’ on a Standard Consumer Credit Licence and are to be construed accordingly.
b) Services which are not included in the definition
Services which offer debt collecting or credit reference agency facilities (business categories ‘E’ and ‘F’ on a Standard Consumer Credit Licence) are not included in this definition. However, they will still require prior permission if they feature live conversation or operate at a higher tariff. Service providers should also note that the definition of a consumer credit service extends to services for sole traders and partnerships, but not to services exclusively for limited companies.
Advice to Applicants Wishing To Operate Consumer Credit Services
a) Consumer credit and consumer hire businesses
This fact sheet sets out in detail how PhonepayPlus will treat applications for credit brokerage services. However, applicants wishing to operate other types of service for arranging loans or hire purchase agreements should note that their applications will be treated in a similar way.
b) Credit brokerage services
• Concerns about loan brokerage services
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) advises that brokers may not claim that loans are guaranteed. The decision on whether or not a loan application is granted should rest with the lender and should be subject to a proper assessment of the borrower’s creditworthiness and ability to repay. The application may be rejected by the lender, or may be granted in terms other than those sought.
Under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, the borrower is entitled to a refund (less £5.00) of the fee paid to the credit broker if for any reason the borrower does not enter into a loan agreement within six months of an introduction to a source of credit. The Office of Fair Trading has made clear that refunds should be made promptly and without the borrower having to request this. The borrower may, under contract law, be entitled to a full refund if the broker fails to make an introduction at all, or otherwise fails to provide the services offered.
PhonepayPlus considers that similar principles should apply to the use of premium rate brokerage services, where the cost to the borrower extends beyond the fee paid directly to the credit broker. PhonepayPlus will therefore generally limit the cost to a caller who does not proceed to take out a loan within six months of the call (or who exercises his or her statutory right to cancel a loan agreement) to £5.00.
Other conditions of operation are likely to be imposed which are designed to give callers information about the service on offer and to dissuade the least creditworthy from calling the service. A list of these conditions is set out below, but other conditions may be imposed on a case-by-case basis.
Information Which Must Be Provided By the Applicant
In order to apply for prior permission to operate a credit brokerage service, the following information should be provided to support the application:
• Consumer Credit Licence
• A copy of the broker’s Consumer Credit Licence must be provided, containing all necessary permissions to operate. The Licence must state the trading name of the broker.
• Details of promotion
• Sample promotional material must be provided. Promotions must comply with the promotional requirements set out below.
• The applicant must provide evidence that the advertisement complies with all relevant legislation and, where appropriate, with the Office of Fair Trading’s Guidelines on Non-Status Lending. This could be provided by the applicant’s local Trading Standards office, the Finance Industry Standards Association, or by any other third party recognised by PhonepayPlus as being competent to do this. Applicants should note that a fee might be charged for such a service.
Details of loans
• Details of the proportion of callers predicted to proceed to take out a loan (the
“acceptance rate”) should be provided. Evidence substantiating this forecast must be subsequently provided.
• Details of the ranges of interest rates available must be provided, together with the ‘typical’ APR at or below which 50% or more of the business is expected to be provided.
• Details of the lenders with whom the broker expects to place business arising from the calls must be provided, together with evidence of the lenders’ consent to the broker operating the premium rate service.
• Script
• The script to be used by operators must be provided, including any forms to be filled out by operators.
• Conditions of operation that are likely to be imposed
• A £5.00 maximum cost for callers who do not proceed to take out loans within six months of the call, or who exercise their statutory right to cancel a loan agreement. A service provider might propose to achieve this by, for example:
• limiting the cost of calls to £5.00, or
• implementing a system of refunding callers who do not proceed to take out loans within six months of the call, or who exercise their statutory right to cancel a loan agreement. The refund should not be less than the amount by which the cost of the call to the caller has exceeded £5.00. Furthermore, PhonepayPlus would expect the availability of such refunds to be promoted both at the beginning of the service and in all promotional material, and it should not be necessary for callers to have to provide a copy of their telephone bill in order to obtain a refund, or
• structuring the service so that sufficient information is obtained to determine whether or not a caller will proceed to take out a loan before the cost of the call reaches £5.00. However, a similar system to that described above would need to be implemented for refunding callers who exercise their statutory right to cancel a loan agreement.
• The identity of the lenders with whom the loans have been placed should be identified and the APR given in each case.
• A 15-minute maximum call duration.
• If a number of telephone calls to the service are required, the paragraphs above shall refer to the cumulative cost to callers of the telephone calls.
• Details of the acceptance rate and the number of offers of loans accepted by borrowers must be maintained, and provided to PhonepayPlus on request, together with substantiating documentation.
• The promotional requirements (below).
• Promotional requirements
• To avoid being in breach of paragraph 5.4.1 of the Code of Practice, service providers should ensure that:
• Only one trading name should be used in relation to premium rate services.
• The trading name should not be misleading.
• Promotions should not be targeted at non-status borrowers (as defined in the Office of Fair Trading’s Non-Status Lending Guidelines), or otherwise at people who have low or impaired credit ratings or who have already been refused loans.
Promotions should not suggest, either expressly or by implication, that loans are available regardless of a person’s income or other financial circumstances, or their credit rating, or regardless of whether they have been refused a loan.
• Callers should not be directed to the service from other brokers or lenders where the person has been refused a loan or has a low or impaired credit rating.
• Promotional material must comply with anything required by law, and where appropriate, the Office of Fair Trading’s Guidelines on Non-Status Lending, and must:
• if an APR is shown, be accurate and representative of the business being advertised,
• state the trading name of the broker (as it appears on the Consumer Credit Licence),
• state the total maximum cost of the call in addition to the numeric cost per minute,
• not contain a statement that loans are guaranteed,
• not contain a statement emphasising the speed with which loans can be guaranteed,
• if the service is live, state the full address of the service provider and hours of operation.
Below are examples of statements required in promotional material by law, or under the Office of Fair Trading’s Guidelines on Non-Status Lending:
• If secured loans or mortgages are on offer, a prominent statement in the prescribed format that the borrower’s home is at risk if they do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or other loan secured on it.
• A statement that written quotations are available on request.
• A statement that the APR is variable (if applicable).
• A statement that the credit broker is a credit broker.
• If the broker is acting for only one lender, the name of that lender.
c) Debt adjusting and debt counselling
Given the potential vulnerability of callers, debt adjusting and counselling services are unlikely to be granted prior permission unless the service provider is a member of a recognised industry self-regulatory body.
d) Credit repair services
Given the potential vulnerability of callers, so-called credit repair services are unlikely to be granted prior permission, although applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Any applicant wishing to operate a credit repair service will need to provide full and detailed information about their proposed methods for repairing credit records. PhonepayPlus will consult with the Registry Trust and other appropriate bodies about any such proposed method’s efficacy.
e) Advice to applicants wishing to operate debt collection services
Service providers are strongly advised to seek the Secretariat’s advice before setting up services relating to debt collecting. In any event, such services are likely to be in breach of the Code of Practice.
For more assistance and guidance – please visit – www.phonepayplus.org.uk
PhonepayPlus Executive (the ‘Executive’) received 53 complaints regarding a text prize competition subscription service operating on shortcodes 66333 and 63666. The service cost £2 per week and gave subscribers the chance to win a weekly prize, typically £500, by answering a general knowledge question sent to them by text. To join the service, consumers registered with one of the Information Provider’s promotional partners, selected this service and then opted-in. Originally, the opt-in was effected on-line but by February 2009 the opt-in was by means of a text message.
Complainants stated that the service was unsolicited and that they had received unsolicited chargeable messages. During the course of its investigation the Tribunal was also concerned about issues in relation to the service being misleading. In addition, complainants stated that the ‘STOP’ command had not worked properly. PhonepayPlus raised the following potential breaches under the Code:
- Paragraph 5.2 – Legality
- Paragraph 5.4.1a – Fairness (Misleading)
- Paragraph 5.8 – Contact details
- Paragraph 7.6.6c – Competition rules
- Paragraph 7.12.3a-c – Promotional material subscription requirements
- Paragraph 7.12.6a – Subscription termination
The Tribunal did not uphold the alleged breaches of paragraphs 7.6.6c and 7.12.6a but upheld the remainder. The revenue generated by the service fell within the mid range of Band 2 (£250,000-£500,000). The Tribunal considered the case to be significant, issued a Formal Reprimand and imposed a fine of £50,000. The Tribunal ordered the Information Provider to seek compliance advice in respect of the issues identified by the Executive in relation to this service and its promotion within two weeks from the date of publication of this adjudication, such advice to be implemented to the satisfaction of the Executive within two weeks of receipt. The Tribunal also ordered that claims for refunds are to be paid by the Information Provider for the full amount spent by complainants, except where there is good cause to believe that such claims are not valid.
- Service Provider – MX Telecom Limited, London
- Information Provider – Multiplex Media Limited, Nottingham
- Service Title and Type – Mobile Cash Quiz (promoted under the brands ‘Sure to Win’ and ‘Mobile Candy’)
- Breaches upheld against – Multiplex Media Limited, Nottingham
In September 2009, www.phonepayplus.org.uk received an industry complaint from a Network Operator in relation to a range of nine 070 numbers operating the same service that contained the same recorded explicit adult content. Upon calling one of these 070 numbers, a recording of a female voice would play. The recording stated that she (the female voice) would provide her mobile number and email address later in the call, with a view to meeting and engaging in sexual activity at no charge.
During the course of its monitoring, www.phonepayplus.org.uk found the same recording occurred on various 070 numbers. The recording lasted 25 minutes, and a mobile number and email address were provided at the end of the recording. However, when www.phonepayplus.org.uk called the mobile number, it was connected to a voicemail and www.phonepayplus.org.uk was unable to speak to anyone. The Service Provider terminated the service within 11 days of its commencement on the basis of its own monitoring
www.phonepayplus.org.uk was concerned that this service was a misleading sexual entertainment service (SES), operating on an incorrect prefix and designed to keep consumers on the line for as long as possible. www.phonepayplus.org.uk believed that this service contravened the PhonepayPlus Code of Practice (11th Edition Amended April 2008) (‘the Code’) and raised the following potential breaches under the Code:
- Paragraph 3.3.1 – Designated number range
- Paragraph 5.4.1a – Fairness (Misleading)
- Paragraph 5.4.2 – Undue delay
- Paragraph 7.11.5a-c – Sexual entertainment services – Introductory message
The Tribunal upheld all the breaches raised. The revenue generated by the service fell within the lower range of Band 6 (£1 – £5,000). The Tribunal considered the breaches to be serious, issued a Formal Reprimand and imposed a fine of £750. It also ordered that claims for refunds are to be paid by the Service Provider for the full amount spent by complainants, except where there is good cause to believe that such claims are not valid.
| Service Provider |
Royal Northern Star Ltd, London
|
| Information Provider |
Claire Powell, London
|
| Service Title and Type |
Unknown, fixed-line sexual entertainment service
|
| Breaches upheld against |
Royal Northern Star Ltd, London
|
| Procedure |
Standard
|
In December 2009, PhonepayPlus issued a Help Note on Virtual Chat services in response to the high number of investigations that had been brought for final adjudication since January 2009.
Following publication of this Help Note, PhonepayPlus received a number of representations from industry stakeholders seeking clarity on the provisions in the Help Note. We have therefore decided to revise and reissue the Help Note to clarify the following points:
-
Service/Information Providers must not continue to send charged messages to consumers after the £10 spend limit has been reached, until a positive response has been sent by the consumer;
-
Any promotions for services using mobile long numbers must be transparent, not misleading and clearly worded as a promotion, including all the required terms and conditions.
Compliance advice is available, free of charge and in writing, from the PhonepayPlus Executive. Please note that advice given by the Executive is not binding on the Code Compliance Panel, although a record of such advice is always maintained and will be taken into account by a Tribunal should a service later be found to be in breach of the Code.
To view the revised ‘Help Note on Virtual Chat services (Including text chat)’, pleas click here.
If you are considering setting up your own telecoms premium rate company with direct connection with British Telecom – the one thing you will need is a location for your equipment.
You can locate in specific build telecoms buildings – such as Telecom House in Docklands.
Alternatively you can co-locate with an existing telecoms company. This way you can receive the benefits of their knowledge as you start to build up your traffic levels.
One such company offering co-location facilities is http://www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk/
www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk offer full connectivity of IP or E1 originated calls using high quality carriers.
Managed connectivity is one of www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk key services. Over and above traditional A-Z offerings, this is a premium product designed for communication providers and other customers such as call centres concerned about the quality of their product.
Why choose Magrathea for this service?
• www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk offer various routing options using our standard and ‘gold’ routes with reflective pricing to allow customers flexibility in their routing
• www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk have high quality routes with excellent reliability
• www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk offer automatic failover if problems arise, backed up by regular manual checks on underperforming destinations
• www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk have a highly experienced support desk with a customer-centric approach to destination fault resolution
• www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk have excellent relations with carriers for fault resolution
How it works
www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk use multiple world class networks to deliver your telephone call to its destination using our years of experience in managing telecommunication networks to control call routing and pricing.
www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk use our volume buying power to ensure that the service gives great value for money and enables www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk to have access to routes that would normally not be available for low volume traffic. www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk also offer an even higher standard ‘gold’ routing product for those calls where you must have the very best possible quality available.
www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk intelligent switching equipment manages routing in real time ensuring that if any routing problem occurs, the call is automatically rerouted through alternative suppliers.
There is no requirement for credit checking processes or deposits as our service operates on a strict prepay only basis, which protects you from the effects of fraudulent traffic. This guarantees a stability not often found in this market.
Packages start from a simple minimum commitment of £250 + VAT and www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk are happy to talk about your individual needs. If you’d like to test the service, simply contact www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk and they’ll set you up with a test account with a free of charge allowance to make calls, with no obligation to continue using their service.
Following 10 complaints against a night-time television quiz programme broadcast on TV3, these have been upheld by the complaints committee of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.
The authority ruled that some of the PlayTV programmes broadcast on dates between July and November last year were unfair and misleading. It upheld some complaints in part.
Members of the public participate in the show by calling a premium-rate telephone number in an attempt to be put through the studio to answer a quiz question.
One complainant to the BAI claimed the programme he watched on August 9th last year “beggared belief” and alleged that some calls put through to the studio were “plants”.
TV3 defended the programme and said it had been notified to all appropriate authorities and received all appropriate consents. All the appropriate terms and conditions in relation to the show were also on display for viewers to see, the broadcaster contended.
In an 80-page report on the 27 complaints considered at its January 12th meeting, the BAI said of PlayTV: “Given the format of the programme and the details available in the terms and conditions, participants are playing a game of chance for a cash prize. This fact is not conveyed to viewers and, therefore, the current format of the programme is unfair and misleading.”
The committee also upheld three complaints in relation to a discussion broadcast on The Wide Angle programme on Newstalk radio on September 13th 2009 in relation to the second Lisbon Treaty referendum.
It found the programme makers and the presenter, Karen Coleman, “did not take sufficient action to mitigate the views and opinions expressed by the panel, which was overwhelmingly for a Yes vote”.
The authority said it was incumbent on the broadcaster to ensure that “ in dealing with the Lisbon Treaty, a matter of public debate, that both side of the issue were addressed fairly”.
It found the Yes side was given prominence in the discussion.
“The broadcast treatment of the treaty in this broadcast was one-sided and not fair to all interests concerned. The complaint was upheld with regard [to] fairness, objectivity and impartiality.”
Premium rate text messages are helping to raise funds for the victims of the Haiti disater.
More than $8 million (£4.9 million) of the total $35 million raised by Red Cross has been done via text message.
The charity said that it will help to provide kits with kitchen equipment, shelter and personal hygiene packs to help victims.
It added: “Please give what you can today to help thousands of people in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.”
Save The Children has said that premium rate text messages have brought on a new wave of donations, with its text service seeing many donations.
“Text messaging is helping to make the donation process more streamlined, so we can get aid to children and families more quickly,” said Anne-Marie Grey, vice president of resource development at the charity.
She added that the organisation expects the response to be bigger than the Indian Ocean tsunami’s public donation levels.
For more details on this appeal – visit – http://www.redcross.org.uk/
As announced on 22 May 2009, the Fund is in the process of being wound up and monies being returned to eligible contributors as at that date.
Unfortunately, progress has slowed considerably mainly due to difficulties in tracing contributors and/or persuading them to respond in a timely manner. Some contributors have ceased to exist, some proved more time consuming to correspond with and some have not yet been contacted at all. However, the Trustees continue to use their best efforts to expedite matters insofar as is possible.
To date, the Trustees have successfully distributed £415,400 to 62 of the 72 eligible contributors, who have each received £6,700. The Trustees believe that there now remain 9 eligible contributors, who have not yet been found and therefore have not been paid. The original estimate was that each contributor would receive back a total of £7,200 and the Trustees’ view remains that this should still be achieved. However, the final amount available will depend on a number of factors, some of which may not become known for a number of years and which require the Trustees to periodically assess the likelihood of tracing the remaining contributors and the likelihood of any challenges to the winding up.
The Trustees have received legal advice that the minimum period for which the Fund should continue is 6 years from the start of the winding up, so it is not until 22 May 2015 that the Trustees can be fully satisfied that they are in a position to finally wind down the Fund. Accordingly, the Trustees have presently resolved that the balance of monies currently available for distribution should be retained during this period.
Please find an Interim Distribution Statement showing the position of the Fund – starting from the first day of the current financial period to date – and the expected final balance available to contributors.
Finally, in answer to a number of enquiries, the Trustees will only pay cheques to the original contributor, subject to any registered change of name. The legal entity must be the original contributor in all cases.
Unless otherwise advised to us in writing, all correspondence will be sent, in the case of companies, to the registered office address shown at Companies House or equivalent for foreign companies and, in the case of individuals, to their last known address notified to us. If your address has changed then please notify us by email (steven@conybeare.com), by fax (0870 762 7925) or by post.
Dated 26 January 2010
Steven Conybeare and Paul Hampton
Trustees
3rd Floor, Clearwater House
4-7 Manchester Street
London W1U 3AE
0800, 0870, 090, 020 – there are so many different phone numbers that keeping tabs on how much they cost to call can be confusing. So what do they all mean?
This is a guide to common phone numbers, some of the ways that they are used and the costs of calling them from a British Telecom landline – other providers’ prices may vary.
Prices may be lower or higher than the examples quoted below, particularly from mobile phones.
The prices below are indicative only and should not be used as a definitive list of call charges. You should check with your provider before you dial.
As well as a pence per minute rate, most fixed line providers charge a call setup fee to connect the call of 5-10p for some calls.
01 & 02 numbers – Geographic Numbers
These numbers relate to specific locations in the UK and are used for homes and businesses. For example, Huddersfield is 01484, Bath is 01225, Edinburgh is 0131 and London is 020.
Calls from a BT landline are typically charged between 1.5p and 4.5p per minute depending on the time of day (plus a call set-up fee) and are included in free call packages. Most providers offer call packages that allow calls free of charge at certain times of the day.
03 numbers – UK wide geographic numbers
Many organisations use 03 numbers as an alternative to more expensive 08 numbers.
Calls cost no more than a national rate call (01 or 02) and must count towards any inclusive minutes in the same way. Calls cost up to 4.5p per minute from a BT landline during the day and are included in free call packages.
030 numbers – non-profit organisations
030 numbers are specially designed for non-profit organisations, charities and public bodies to offer consumers a single point of contact nationally. The BBC, the Met Police, the RSPCA, local councils, Ofcom and a number of government departments use 030 numbers.
They cost no more than calls to geographic (01 and 02) numbers and must be included in inclusive minutes and discount schemes. Calls cost up to 4.5p per minute from a BT landline during the day and are included in free call packages.
07 – mobile numbers
Calls to mobiles are charged between 6p and 18p per minute from BT landlines and are not included in free call packages. Call costs from mobiles vary according to the calling plan chosen and are often more expensive than calls from landlines. Calls between mobile phones are often included in free call packages.
070 – personal numbers
These are different from mobile numbers and calls to them are more expensive. They can be used as a “follow me” service where calls are diverted to another number. Some small businesses and sole traders use them to make it easy to manage calls.
Personal numbers are also sold on a one-off basis. For example, if you are buying or selling a used car and you do not want to advertise your private mobile or fixed line number on a website or in a magazine.
070 numbers can cost between 9p and 50p per minute from a BT landline and up to 75p per minute from a mobile phone, depending on the time of day you are calling.
0800 & 0808 Freephone
A number of businesses and organisations use 0800 numbers including some helplines and charities such as Childline.
Calls are normally free of charge from fixed lines but charges may apply from mobile phones. The operator must make an announcement before the call is connected telling the caller that they will be charged.
Chargeable 08 Business Rate numbers
These are used by businesses and organisations for sales, enquiry and customer service lines and for some pay-as-you go internet access services. Businesses and organisations generally receive a share of the call charge.
0843 & 0844 Calls are charged at up to 5p per minute for BT customers, calls from other providers may vary and cost more from mobile phones.
0845 Calls are charged at between 0.5p and 2p per minute depending on the time of day from most BT landlines and are included in free call packages. Calls from other providers may vary and cost a lot more from mobile phones.
0870 Calls from BT landlines and some other fi xed networks cost no more than a national rate call (01 or 02 between 1.5p and 4.5p) and may count towards any inclusive minutes in the same way. Calls from other fixed networks may vary and from mobile networks will cost a lot more.
Recently some other providers have also included calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers in call packages, making them free at certain times of the day.
0871/2/3 Calls cost up to 10p per minute for BT customers but can cost a lot more from a mobile phone. Services provided on these numbers are regulated by PhonepayPlus* to provide additional protection for callers.
09 numbers
09 numbers are mainly used for paid-for services such as competitions, TV voting, horoscopes, chat lines, adult lines, recorded information and professional advice services.
You can bar these premium rate numbers from being dialled from your phone, as you can with other numbers. These numbers are also regulated by PhonepayPlus*.
Calls can cost between 10p and £1.50 per minute from a BT landline but can cost more from other networks, and may cost a lot more from a mobile phone.
|
How To Make Money Training Videos
|
