The government is to ban the use of the 084X and 087X premium-rate numbers that businesses use for their complaints and inquiry teams. This is good news for us as consumers, especially those of us that use our mobile to call all and sundry. Explained in the draft regulation, any trader who you enter into a contract with will be required to provide a geographic number. Yes, I know there are apps (such as Say no to 0870) and websites out there that provide alternate numbers, but some companies still make this difficult – BSkyB for one.
The new ruling by a European Union Directive isn’t coming in to effect until June 2014 but I’m sure it’ll be welcomed by a large number of people. Especially by David Hickson of the Fair Telecoms campaign who’s said to The Guardian…
It is reassuring that the premium charges associated with 084 numbers are now recognised for what they are.”