"Thousands of businesses are trying to beat a watchdog's crackdown on expensive 0870 phone lines by switching to alternatives that could cost customers even more.

They include Traveline, the Government-backed national call centre which gives information on bus and rail timetables.

It has been phasing in an 0871 number costing up to 40p a minute ahead of yesterday's announcement from telecom regulator Ofcom cutting the cost of calls to numbers with an 0870 prefix from this autumn.

The move by Traveline and other firms to 0871 and 0844 numbers is driven by the fact that companies get a percentage of the call charges imposed on customers.

Generally, they get up to 22 per cent of the price paid by customers to dial 0870 and 0871 numbers and around 10 per cent of the charge to 0844 numbers.

When Ofcom's initiative on 0870 numbers bites they will lose that revenue, which they can avoid by switching to the other lines.

Calls to an 0871 number are charged at 10p a minute from landlines. For 0844 calls, the landline charge is 5p a minute. Both numbers cost up to 40p a minute from mobile phones.

An 0870 call currently costs up to 10p a minute from landlines and 25p a minute from mobiles. From the autumn, it should cost no more than a call to a geographic number beginning 01 or 02.

In theory, many of these calls will become free as they will fall into packages that charge a set monthly fee.

The switch to 0871 and 0844 numbers means that millions of consumers will see no benefit from the Ofcom initiative. BT, one of the providers of the numbers, shares in the revenue and is encouraging firms to switch.

It warns businesses and public bodies on its website: "If you do nothing, your 0870 number will remain but you will receive no call payment from when the changeover is confirmed by Ofcom. You also will be charged for incoming calls."

The move by Traveline, which gets six million calls a year, will be embarrassing for the Government and local authorities. While it is run by travel companies and councils, it is supported by the Department for Transport, Transport for London and Transport Scotland.

Julian Shersby, of the campaigning consumer group and website SayNoto0870, said: 'Ofcom has taken three years to tackle the scandal of high cost 0870 numbers, yet firms are now finding ways to carry on charging high prices by changing their numbers.

'It is disgraceful that Traveline should be changing to such a high-charging number for bus and rail timetables which are a clear public service.'

John Elliot, chairman of Traveline Scotland, said money raised from call charges goes on improving the service.

He added that the organisation had no choice but to switch from 0870. "Not only were we going to lose call revenue, but it was going to actually cost us for each call that we received. That would have involved horrendous costs."

Other companies which use 0871 numbers are National Rail Enquiries for its traintracker service and station numbers, some police and fire services, plus holiday companies such as Thomson and First Choice.

Approximately 10 per cent of calls made to 0870 numbers last year have been moved over to alternatives."



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