Charging consumers for telephone calls

A firm which operates a telephone line for the purpose of enabling a consumer to contact the firm in relation to a contract that has been entered into with the firm, must not bind the consumer to pay more than the basic rate for the telephone call.

The ‘basic rate’ is defined as the simple cost of connection with no additional contribution to the firm’s cost or revenues.

Examples of numbers which comply with the rules are:

• Geographic numbers or numbers which are always set at the same rate, which usually begin with the prefix 01, 02 or 03;
• numbers which can be free of charge to call, for example 0800 and 0808 numbers; and
• standard mobile numbers, which usually begin with the prefix 07, provided that the firm ordinarily uses a mobile number to receive telephone calls.

Examples of numbers which do NOT comply with the rules are:

• premium rate numbers that begin with the prefix 09;
• other revenue sharing numbers in which a portion of the call charge can be used to either provide a service or make a small payment to the firm, such as telephone numbers that begin with the prefix 084 or 0871, 0872 or 0873; and
• telephone numbers that begin with the prefix 0870. The cost of making a telephone call on such numbers can be higher than a geographic cost and will vary depending on the consumer’s telephone tariff.