Written question asked by Matthew Pennycook (Labour) on Monday, 25 April 2016, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 27 April 2016. It was answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot (Conservative) on Tuesday, 3 May 2016 on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Telephone Services: Fees and Charges

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will give Ofcom the power to set or cap access charges with regard to 084 and 087 numbers.

Answer: Under the Communications Act 2003, Ofcom already has the power to impose tariff principles and maximum prices for the purpose of protecting consumers. Ofcom made changes in July 2015 to simplify non-geographic numbers and make call pricing clearer for consumers. This included making Freephone 080 and 116 numbers free from all telephones; and imposing a common simplified structure on revenue generating numbers - 084, 087, 090, 091 and 118 - which splits the price of the call between the phone company and the call service. Ofcom will be reviewing the effectiveness of these new regulations after their first year of operation and will consider whether further regulation should be imposed.

Secondary information