Written question asked by Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative) on Monday, 23 May 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 25 May 2005. It was answered by Alun Michael (Labour) on Monday, 6 June 2005 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Premium Rate Lines

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on procedures for investigation of malpractice in the premium rate telephone information services industry.

Answer: The Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS) regulates premium rate services (PRS) via a code of practice approved by the electronic communications regulator the Office of Communications (Ofcom). ICSTIS has both a standard procedure, and a fast-track emergency procedure which can be used to disconnect a fraudulent PRS service in as little as two hours.In the course of 2004 DTI asked Ofcom to review the regulation of PRS to ensure that the right level of protection is in place to protect consumers. Ofcom has now produced its report with recommendations designed to strengthen ICSTIS' enforcement procedures and improve its effectiveness. We are now working hard to implement all these recommendations as soon as possible.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 1157; 434 c310-1W;434 c312-3W
Session: 2005-06
Subjects: Codes of practice Fraud Enforcement Misconduct Telephone services Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services