COMMERICIAL PHONE NUMBER RIP-OFF CONTINUES - EURO MP FOLLOWS UP

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 4th Dec 2007

Non-geographical phone numbers such as 0845 and 0870 are continuing to cause misery for customers of many businesses and even government departments, forcing the public to pay more while earning money for the numbers' owners.

The situation has prompted a local Euro MP to write to OFCOM to clarify if rules are being broken and to see how this can stop this if it is the case.

Liz Lynne MEP was recently contacted by a constituent who wrote to complain of mistakes by the Department of Work and Pensions which had forced him to contact their 0845 number several times, costing him far more than a regular geographical (01 or 02) number - a problem faced by most customers who have inclusive monthly call packages.

Commenting today, Liz Lynne said:

"The biggest frustration for those chasing a service, such as a benefit claim or a helpline for a product that is not working properly, is that they need to pay over the odds for calls which are still marketed to customers as low-cost but to businesses as revenue-earners.

"Now that excessive mobile roaming charges have been addressed, we must tackle premium commercial numbers. A BT peak-time national call typically costs 3p per minute but 0845 numbers can cost up to 5p and 0870 up to 10p. Businesses often take a cut of this extra cost and are reluctant to give customers non-premium alternatives.

"Ofcom has standardised the prices customers pay, but despite their recommendations, many commercial numbers give customers no warning of the high charges before calls are connected. These numbers should be changed back to regular geographical numbers or the cost must be forced down. As an absolute minimum free customer warnings should be given about the charges before connection.

"I have now written to OFCOM because the current situation is unacceptable and must change for the benefit of the consumer. I believe customers are still being misled by these numbers and if this is the case, it is the job of the national regulator to enforce the rules."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

· The original idea behind 0845/0870 numbers was to allow companies to save their callers money by sharing the cost of the call. With competition driving down basic telephone rates, the numbers now regularly cost more and are used as a way of making money for the business called.

· Many companies on the internet still list 0845 numbers as Lo-Call, the name launched with 0845 to indicate it was the same price as a local number.

· Liz Lynne submitted a question on the 11th of May 2006 to the European Commission about the fact that 0845/0870 numbers have been advertised as low or standard rate numbers, and received the following reply: The Misleading Advertising Directive, which will be replaced by the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive as regards business to consumer commercial practices, provides consumer protection regarding, for instance, price information, banning misleading, aggressive or otherwise unfair practices. Failure to disclose beforehand the cost of premium rate calls, or misleading consumers to believing that they are normal numbers, when they are not, could constitute a misleading practice under the directive.

· Ofcom have so far refused to accept that these are premium rate numbers, despite the European Commission's recognition that they are, and so have not obliged businesses to inform customers of the cost before the call.

· An independent website, www.saynoto0870.com, lists alternative, non-premium rate, telephone numbers for consumers.

· There is also a petition to stop 0844 numbers being used by doctors' surgeries and other medical services at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/NGN-use-by-GPs/. These are also revenue generating numbers, are much more difficult to remember than a 5 or 6 digit local number and often cannot be accessed from abroad. These therefore penalise vulnerable members of society who need these numbers the most.