The Government is planning to ban premium rate customer service lines – used by the likes of PC World, Argos, Royal Mail, Phones4U and energy suppliers – forcing firms to charge normal landline rates to customers.
The proposal, unveiled by Consumer Minister Jo Swinson, has been branded “long overdue” and will see the use of 084 and 087 numbers slashed. However, transport firms, financial businesses and Whitehall departments will be exempt.
Experts claim the public can pay as much as 41p per minute to call an 0845 number, from a mobile phone, with consumers spending nearly £2bn a year on calls to premium rate numbers.
The National Audit Office recently claimed that callers spent more than £80m ringing premium rate Government lines last year – £26m of it waiting to be put through.
David Hickson of the Fair Telecoms campaign said: “This is a great step forward. This is a Government department saying for the first time that it is unacceptable to use premium rate lines for customer service and complaints.
“It puts huge pressure on the likes of the Department of Work & Pensions, the Citizens Advice helpline, the banks and the transport companies to follow suit, regardless of what the proposals state. For me the tide is beginning to turn.”
Which? executive director Richard Lloyd added: “It’s unbelievable that companies would add insult to injury by charging their customers a premium to make a complaint. The proposals to end this practice are long overdue, so it’s encouraging to see the Government tackling this issue.”
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