What year 2013 has been!!!
Some of the highlights as I recall them :---
Transport for London abandon their 0843 number and move to 03.
Ofcom very belatedly publish the result of their three and a half years of Consultations on non-geographic phone numbers. Implementation of the proposals to be by July 2015!
The Department for BIS publish their proposed legislation for implementation of the EU's Consumer Rights Directive which will prohibit the use of higher rate numbers, meaning 084/087, for all post-contract phone based communications by customers from June 2014.
Transport companies are to be covered by the new legislation thanks to Which? --- er, according to Which?
Which? joined the campaign against rip-off phone numbers about September and now claim all this progress is down to them, forgetting the last ten years of campaigning by many others. Previously Which? Offered their members advice on how to avoid such numbers, by consulting this website for example, but declined to protest on behalf of consumers and failed to contribute to any of Ofcom's Consultations on the matter.
Although the Financial Services Industry is exempt from the EU's CRD, no doubt due to excessive lobbying in Brussels, the FCA has been asked to look at issuing guidelines, or rules, prohibiting rip-off numbers in that industry.
Three of our largest Banks have moved pro-actively to announce they are to abandon rip-off numbers, Barclays, HSBC and RBS, and the RBS subsidiary NatWest has already moved to 03!!! They did this within 2 weeks of the announcement; truly amazing!!!
On Boxing Day, the Cabinet Office issued their "Guidelines" to Government Departments and Agencies about NOT using rip-off phone numbers. They wouldn't have been trying to keep it quiet would they? Hoping to hide it behind other news-- it didn't work.
There may be other landmark events I have omitted; please add to the list.
One could say this has been a momentous year with far more progress in our battle then we have seen in any previous year.
I wish to place on record my appreciation of all the hard work so many campaigners have put in over the years, it is finally beginning to pay off. I was thinking of creating a roll of honour and naming those who have contributed so much but I fear I will leave out too many worthy people, so suffice to say congratulations to you all, you know who you are.
Who could have envisaged such moves at the beginning of this year? To borrow a well known quote, “this may not be the end, it may not be the beginning of the end, but it might be the end of the beginning.
There is still much to do and we must remain vigilant.
A Happy and Successful New Year to all.
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2013 -- What a Year! (Read 5,695 times)
