Mobile phone users currently charged up to 20p a minute will dial for free after fees are outlawed
Currently mobile phone companies charge customers up to 20p a minute to dial what are free numbers from a landline phone. The net result is that millions of people dialing what should be free services run by the NHS, the government and company call centres end up paying hefty charges. Alternatively, some who rely on mobile phones rather than landlines are put off accessing these services by the cost.
The charges will end from July 1 under proposals published by the telecoms watchdog, Ofcom.
They are part of a new regime imposing new rules covering the cost of calling the 084, 087 and 09 numbers used in TV show phone polls, by businesses, GP surgeries and government departments – as well as 118 directory enquiry numbers.
At the moment, the cost of calling these numbers is mired in confusion with charges varying enormously depending on whether you are using a landline or a mobile phone.
In future, organisations using these numbers will be required to advertise a single ‘service charge’ for dialing them. Separately, each phone company will apply an ‘access charge’ for putting people through. Consumers will add the two figures together to work out the full cost, which will vary depending on which phone company they are signed to.
OFCOM and phone companies will be publicizing the changes under the banner UK Calling before the switch in the summer. The regulator’s chief executive, Sharon White, said: ‘In July we’ll see the biggest changes to phone calls in over a decade, affecting 175 million phone numbers.
If you are a business using 084, 087 and 09 numbers find out how to comply
with OFCOM’s new regulations here.
