Premium Rate Phone Numbers In the UK

These are phone that are charged above the normal rate to raise money for company you are ringing.

Any telephone number starting 09xx, is charged on premium rates, in a similar fashion to a 900 number in North America.

The main virtual prefixes for premium rate phone calls were 0898 and 0891 along with some others (such as 0331, 0660, 0897).

In the 1980s, when premium rate was introduced, the main prefixes were 0055, 0066 and 0077. Premium rate services in the UK can range from £0.10/min up to £1.50/min.

Drop charge rates are also available which can cost the caller £0.10/call up to £1.50/call.

You can get a block on premium rate phones on your phone line. This is a good idea, but some companies charge you to get this.

ICSTIS is the governing body to regulate premium rate services in the UK. They are responsible for investigating complaints, and ensure information and service providers comply with a Code of Conduct. Although an independent body, ICSTIS can impose sanctions upon providers found to be in breach of the Code of Practice, including a levy and a ban on the service. It is criticised as not doing enough.

Unlike a normal call, part of the call charge is paid to a service provider, enabling a business to be funded via calls. While billing is different, calls are usually routed the same way for a toll-free telephone number, being anywhere despite the area code used.

The issuing of these numbers to service providers is typically regulated by a national body, such as ICSTIS (the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services) in the UK, to ensure certain community standards are adhered to in terms of content and price. Charges are presented as part ofa normal telephone bill.

Adult chat lines (phone sex) and tech support are common use of premium rate numbers. Other services include directory inquiries, weather forecasts, quiz shows, competitions and voting. Diplomatic services, such as the US embassy in London, have also been seen to charge premium rates for calls from the general public. In this case, a primary motive behind assigning a premium rate number may be to reduce the call volume from casual callers, a tactic also employed by tech support lines to also reduce call length.

The telephone numbers are usually allocated from a national telephone numbering plan in such a way they are easily distinguished from other numbers. Telephone companies typically offer blocking services to allow telephone customers to prevent access to the number ranges from their telephones. In some states, telephone companies are required by state law to offer such blocking.

NHS organisations will be banned from setting up new premium and national rate telephone numbers for patients contacting local services.

ITV announced the withdrawal of its ITV Play phone in quiz channel. It was replaced by a time delayed ITV2 — but will continue to broadcast phone-ins under the ITV Play banner late at night on ITV1.

Channel 4 considered an idea to dump premium rate phone-in provider after new error in their TV shows.

There is idea that Premium phone line operators will require a lottery licence to operate from September, according to the Gambling Commission. The changes will affect many of the competitions that have attracted criticism in recent weeks.

Computer criminals have used premium rate numbers to defraud Internet users. One scheme involved inducing users to download a program known as a dialer to surreptitiously dialed a premium-rate number, accumulating charges on the user's phone bill without their knowledge. This is a cruel and devious crime that has enabled bad people to gain a fortune.

A now-uncommon premium-rate scam involves television programming that induces young children to dial the number, banking on the notion that they are unaware charges that will be incurred. One variant, targeted at children too young to dial a number, enticed children to hold the phone up to the television set while the DTMF tones of the number were played.

http://www.icstis.org.uk/ Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of the Telephone Information Services, is the industry-funded regulatory body for all premium rate charged telecommunications services. This group have been criticised as not doing enough to stop crooks.

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