There was a recent report from The Independent which might interest members:

Taking action over the high cost of essential phone helplines

It talks about making freephone calls from mobiles. Citizens Advice is in favour of this, as too is Mary Glindon, Labour MP for North Tyneside.

HMRC has accepted that it also needs "to act on its use of 0845 numbers", but won't be doing so before 2012, as it is going to wait until Ofcom has published its proposals.

I submitted the following comment to accompany this article.

As it has not yet appeared, I will share my thoughts here:


Quote:

Good piece, but a few points have been missed. See my Public Service Campaigner blog for more information. Some quick points: 080 numbers are only useful where the recipient wishes to bear the cost that would be incurred by the caller. Calls to 01/02 AND 03 numbers are charged at the same rate (on all phones) and this is often zero - so 080 numbers are no longer as necessary as they once were. The Helplines Association administers a scheme whereby mobile companies waive any charge for calls to certain "charity" 080 numbers. Some government departments - notably DWP have made their own arrangements with mobile companies to waive charges on calls to particular 080 numbers. The whole mobile phones issue is tied up with that of the "termination rate", which presently takes the place of line rental in the mobile market. This rate is gradually being reduced over time and will eventually make the cost of a 080 call from a mobile essentially the same as that from a landline. There will however be other implications of this move! Citizens Advice has a cheek getting involved in this issue as it uses expensive "business rate" numbers itself, so that callers pay a service charge to access its services. Citizens Advice has even failed to respond to demands for it to clearly state its service charge levels, so that these can be separated from the additional premium added by call providers. HMRC, DWP and many other extensive users of 0845 numbers - notably NHS Direct and NHS 24 - have a simple quick and cost effective remedy available to them. The 0345 equivalent number (charged, if at all, at the same rate as a call to a geographic number) can readily be provided as an alternative to every 0845 number, running in parallel. This would avoid the expense and confusion of extensive number changes and would remove the improper levying of a charge on users of public services to provide a subsidy to the service provider. The major current scandal is with NHS GPs and Hospitals (see my NHSPatient blog). Directions and contract revisions should have halted all use of 084 numbers in the NHS by March 2011. The government is failing to take the action necessary to ensure that these directions and contract terms are enforced.

To add a little on the tricky subject of 080 calls.

I can see why, when the costs of mobile telephones are met properly, the cost of all 080 calls should be met by the called party.

The mobile companies themselves waive the cost of 080 calls to charities registered with the Helplines Association scheme.

Public bodies have three options when choosing a non-geographic number:

1. To meet all the costs of the call themselves. [080]

2. To impose a Service Charge on the caller. [084 / 087 etc.]

3. To allow the caller to pay for the call under the best terms available from their provider. [03]

Deliberately treating service users differently according to the type of phone service they use, their provider or their type of arrangement is totally unacceptable. The fact that some callers are able to evade the imposition of a Service Charge should not be allowed to distort the argument.

DWP has shown that where 080 numbers are used under present regulations it is necessary to make arrangements with the mobile providers to ensure that the cost is passed on properly. I believe that mobile providers have been persuaded to waive charges for calls to some public service 080 numbers e.g. when the National Pandemic Flu Service helpline was in operation. Use of 080 numbers under other circumstances is wholly unacceptable.


Where a Service Charge is imposed, it must be declared and justified. That is a duty that falls on public bodies (and private ones also) regardless of whether Ofcom attempts to impose such a duty by regulation. Much as we may wish it, Ofcom does not have the powers to prohibit any specific body (government department, agency or public service contractor) from using Business Rate numbers.

Similarly with 080 numbers, if a public body wishes to meet callers costs then it must do so without discrimination. It is not Ofcom's job to direct them in this respect. I hope that Ofcom is waiting for the situation with the reduced termination charge to resolve itself before diving in with further regulations concerning calls to 080 numbers from mobiles. Attempting to do so whilst the situation regarding who meets the costs of mobile telephony is in flux would be a little foolish.

SilentCallsVictim wrote on Sep 4^th, 2011 at 5:17pm:

Similarly with 080 numbers, if a public body wishes to meet callers costs then it must do so without discrimination. It is not Ofcom's job to direct them in this respect. I hope that Ofcom is waiting for the situation with the reduced termination charge to resolve itself before diving in with further regulations concerning calls to 080 numbers from mobiles. Attempting to do so whilst the situation regarding who meets the costs of mobile telephony is in flux would be a little foolish.

Which probably means they'll do that then!

Heinz wrote on Sep 5^th, 2011 at 12:48pm:

... Which probably means they'll do that then!

Good point.

The danger of making the change at present is that the current high termination fees carried by those who pay for calls through the mobile network would have to be carried by call recipients in the case of 080 (reverse charge) calls, if this cost were not carried by the caller. Once the cost of connection to the mobile network is met in ways other than through call charges, there will be a level playing field for 080 calls to be treated in the same way for both landlines and mobiles.

The implications of the proposed change for those who's callers currently benefit from a discretionary charge waiver (i.e. charities in the Helplines Association scheme and some others) would be disastrous. Unless they could persuade their own telephone service providers not to pass on the full cost of their 080 calls, they would end up seriously out of pocket. The mobile companies clearly have some reason to sign up to this scheme, as their generosity in waiving charges on the caller is visible. The service providers to the charities have no such reason.

The increased cost to all users of 080 numbers may well cause some to withdraw them altogether.

Yes this would be more fair and in principle this should have been the situation with 080 throughout. Given that there may be a better opportunity to make a long overdue correction a little later, I would argue that it is best to wait. I am not even aware of the "essential helplines", on 080 numbers that are not free to call from mobiles, referred to by the article. The only specific cases mentioned (apart from the DWP 0800's) are on 084 and 03 numbers.

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My drafted brief comments (published above) did not address every point. I could have also mentioned the following.

The unattributed suggestion that 0845 numbers are charged at "local rates" from landlines and "often" attract far higher rates from mobiles, is factually inaccurate and somewhat misleading. The essential point that 084 numbers are unacceptable does however stand. (It might have been helpful to mention that Citizens Advice does not hold this view, neither for itself nor HMRC or DWP.)

I know of no case where a "Local number" can be cheaper than a 03 number to call from a mobile. It should have been mentioned that where calls to "landlines" are free, calls to 03 numbers are also free.

The quote from SayNoTo0870.com - "... There is nothing to stop you ...", fails to point out that although you can dial the "international alternative" number, your call may not be connected if it is recognised as coming from the UK.