Does anyone know if there are problems now or charges for using 141 to withhold one's number?   I have just tried it twice with two different numbers & get the automated voice response: "You are not subscribed to this service. To use this service please contact your telephone provider."   This seems very odd and is certainly a retrograde & unfair change if it is true that individual subscribers either can't use 141 or have to pay for it whereas others are free to breach TPS etc with impunity & withhold their numbers.   I have used 141 without problems in the past & we are not with BT (we're with Utility Warehouse) so their newly-introduced charges for some things shouldn't affect us.   Any help & advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you, I'll try again over the next couple of days & if it's still a problem contact our TP.

SilentCallsVictim wrote on Jan 21^st, 2014 at 4:54pm:


They don't however offer an absolute right to conceal WHERE you are calling from rather than what number you are calling from.

A considerable number of the more aggressive 084 users such as Ticketmaster go to great lengths to identify if your call is coming from a UK destination or not (regardless of them not having the actual CLI you have withheld via 141) and then refuse to connect your call on their geographic alternative number from within the UK.  The same is true of their line for Glasgow 2014 and was true of call centres like HMRC before they finally switch to 03 numbers.

Perhaps SilentCallsVictim can illuminate us on how Ticketmaster and others know WHERE you are calling from as distinct from WHAT NUMBER YOU ARE CALLING FROM?

If the CLI is withheld companies are able to over ride this feature even when based in the U.K.

And if the company is based outside the UK Ofcom or any other regulator are able to override this feature.

The company I use for my none geographical numbers provide this service. It is essential for Taxi Drivers as they can ring the customer and confirm the fair before they set off.

this is my view and I cannot say for a fact that this information is correct

Many taxi firms have an automated ringback service that informs you when the taxi is about to pull up outside.

It rings back on the number the booking call came from.

It's an automated system. The call is made from the taxi firm's central office.

The driver does not have access to the phone number, merely pushes a button on a dashboard controller when nearing the pick up point.


The system also allows phone numbers known to call in hoax bookings or run off without paying to be blocked from making bookings.

Any call terminating telecoms company that reveals withheld CLI to its clients is breaking the law. Whatever the arguments about the value of this information to taxi companies, the caller's wish to withhold CLI MUST be respected.

Regulation 10 of the PECR covers the right to withhold CLI - free of charge.

Regulation 13 of the PECR requires the call terminating operator to co-operate with the call originating operator, by ensuring that a request to withhold CLI is respected.

Regulation 14 of the PECR covers the processing of "location" data, as referred to in Reply #4.
There may be technical legal issues over the manner in which "consent" to use this data is granted in some cases, however I would suspect that anyone calling a number advertised as only being usable from overseas would have a problem in getting action taken over a case where their misuse of such a number (to call from the UK) was detected without their consent.

The ICO is strictly responsible for enforcement of compliance with the terms of the PECR, as this is technically classed as a piece of Data Protection Legislation. Ofcom is however primarily responsible for the behaviour of telcos through the imposition and enforcement of General Conditions.

General Condition 16.2(b) (on Page 56/95) requires: Calling Line Identification Facilities to be provided “in accordance with the requirements of Relevant Data Protection Legislation”. A breach of the terms of such legislation would represent a breach of that General Condition.

If anyone has clear evidence of a breach of any of these regulations, the fair telecoms campaign would be delighted to support them in getting action taken.