Compliance Advice on 0871 numbers

There have been some recent regulatory changes that will impact businesses that are considering purchasing an 0871 number. The following will provide compliance guidelines that need to be followed to ensure adherence to new regulations.

Ofcom published new guidelines for the 0871 number range in February 2009. The review of regulations was aimed at improving customer protection and transparency in pricing. Ofcom has decided that all 087 numbers, except the 0870 range, will come under the remit of the premium rate numbers regulator.

PhonepayPlus, the premium pay regulator has announced a six month implementation plan to enable smooth transition.

Compliance Advice on pricing Information

PhonepayPlus requires adequate pricing information to be given to the customers so that they are fully aware of all the costs that are associated with a call before they incur any actual charges. To improve transparency and to protect customers, two types of pricing information are proposed.

One is the written pricing information and the other is the verbal pricing information.

PhonepayPlus details the requirement of written pricing information in Section 5.7 of its Code of Practice.

It requires all service providers to provide complete information to users of all premium rate services. Service providers must ensure that users are fully informed, clearly and straightforwardly, of the cost of using a service prior to incurring any charge.

Written pricing information must also be easily legible, prominent, horizontal and presented in a way that does not require close examination.

Written pricing information has to be clearly presented in all promotional material that advertises the 0871 numbers. All promotional material must be submitted to the PhonepayPlus compliance team for approval prior to publication. The 0871 number will be activated only after the compliance team reviews and approves the written pricing information.

Verbal pricing information is required to be played to a caller before the call is connected. The requirements are detailed in section 5.7 of the Code of Practice.

The spoken pricing information must be clear, discernible and audible.

Many telecommunication companies such as Numbertalk provide call announcement features which will easily fulfil the compliance requirement for verbal pricing communication.

The PhonepayPlus Code of Practice mandates that a service provider must ensure that services are provided without undue delay. Undue delay will be determined on a case by case basis. Some call management features such as Hunt Groups, Call and queuing may cause undue delay.

If you need further explanation of regulatory changes to the 0871 number range, or any other services like 0845 Numbers, 0800 numbers, 0844 numbers, freephone numbers and 0330 Numbers, please contact Numbertalk.