Non-geographic numbers are used for various reasons, from providing flexible routing of incoming phone calls to generating revenue for paid-for services.
In the simplest case, calls are simply forwarded to a regular geographic number and routed by the telephone exchange in the normal way.
They are controversial as they are charged at premium rates and can be confused for mobile numbers, and therefore the cost of calls to them may not be apparent to callers until they receive their bills.
[41] The decision to introduce the new 03 range followed a period in which increased competition in the telecoms market had brought considerable change to the way in which calls were charged for.
Telecoms deregulation saw several more landline providers enter the market and call packages with "inclusive" minutes to 01 and 02 numbers started to become the standard offering after 1999.
In time, a situation developed where supposedly 'local' and 'national' rate prefixes (which by 2001 had been renumbered to begin 0845 or 0870) frequently cost more to call than a genuine local or national landline.
The Advertising Standards Authority made several rulings against companies claiming that their 0870 numbers were charged at national rates over the following years.
However, since that announcement Ofcom changed its decision, citing technical difficulties relating to alarm systems, some of which are life critical[64] and due to strong lobbying and pressure from the telecoms industry.
[7] During the 1980s and early 1990s, a range of premium rate prefixes were brought into use for a variety of purposes including competitions, recorded information, chat lines and television voting.
[68] Various new premium rate prefixes starting 090 and 091 have come into use in the years since and Ofcom has now set aside the whole of the 09 number range for use by premium-rate services.
For example, for 0844 numbers they would typically state: "calls cost 5 pence per minute from a BT landline, other providers and mobile operators may charge more."
As other landline providers and mobile operators often charged significantly more than the tightly regulated BT amount, there was considerable potential for bill shock and confusion.
Questions have been asked in the British House of Commons about how much money the UK government is receiving from call queuing on non-geographic numbers.
(Even more of the public is aware of the huge costs of 09 Premium rate numbers, where prices have to be clearly indicated, and on which call queuing is specifically prohibited.)
[74] It is objected that taxpayers are already financing government services via taxation, and in the specific case of DWP that many callers are benefit claimants without much money.
[81] In June 2014, the Consumer Rights Directive will make it illegal to use "numbers that cost more than the basic rate" for customer services and complaints.
Due to concerns raised by patients having to pay unfair costs when calling NHS services by telephone,[86] the usage of 0870 non-geographic numbers was banned by the Department of Health in 2005.
In December 2006, Lord Norman Warner sent a letter to all primary care trust chief executives drawing attention to the Central Office of Information guidance on telephone numbering, which suggested that healthcare providers consider adopting an 03 telephone number so that people "do not have to pay over the odds to contact their local services".
In July and November 2007, two early day motions were signed by numerous MPs calling for GPs to no longer use 0844 and other such expensive telephone numbers.
[118] In 2008, Leicester City NHS Trust looked into their usage of telephone numbers and revealed a complex set of issues to be solved,[119] some of which were fixed later in the year.
[120] Enfield Primary Care Trust wrote to all 62 surgeries in the borough warning them that it does not approve of them using premium rate 0844 numbers.
[122][123] The Department of Health published a consultation[76][124] at the end of 2008 calling for views on the usage of 084 numbers in the NHS[125][126][127] which received more than 3000 responses.
In April 2010, the Department of Health introduced new GMS (General Medical Services) contracts[78][142] so that GPs would now also be covered by the earlier direction.
[157][158] It was becoming clear that local decision makers (i.e. PCTs and GPs) had failed to understand the 0844 revenue share mechanism as well as the price regulations that apply uniquely to BT and make their call rates atypical when compared to other providers.
"[160][161] Primary care trusts (PCTs), en masse, had seemingly misunderstood the regulations or had been misled by the incorrect advice spread by NEG[162][163][164] and the BMA[165] as by November 2011 more than 1400 GPs were using the "banned" numbers.
[180][181] In January 2012, a parliamentary debate took place[182][183] where it was confirmed that users "should not pay more than a geographic rate call" and it was clarified that this applies to "both landlines and mobiles".
[186] A month later, the Department of Health issued further guidance on the use of 084 numbers in the NHS confirming that GPs should consider "all means of telephoning the practice – including from payphones, mobile phones and landlines"[187][188][189][190] which the BMA disputed.
We do not believe that it is appropriate for a patient to receive the Service Charge information advised by OFCOM when they contact their surgery as this will only seek to alarm them, and perpetuate the myth that all calls (to 084 numbers) are more costly.
[224] Multiple PCTs have failed to enforce the terms of the April 2010 variations to the GMS contract and many GPs continue to use the banned numbers.
It states Member States shall ensure that where the trader operates a telephone line for the purpose of contacting him by telephone in relation to the contract concluded, the consumer, when contacting the trader is not bound to pay more than the basic rate.HM Government enacted Article 19 concerning credit and debit card surcharges much earlier than originally scheduled,[237] and the bulk of the directive in July 2013.