Ofcom to scrutinize regulation of premium rate calls

The regulation of premium rate phone services is to come under review, the telecoms watchdog Ofcom said today.

Thousands of people have complained to the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (Icstis), which regulates the industry, after finding unexpected charges from premium rate numbers on their phone bills.

Internet users in particular have been landed with big bills after being linked to premium rate numbers without their knowledge. It appears many have been redirected to the expensive services after innocently downloading a virus by clicking on a pop-up, an internet advert, or opening junk emails.

Other scams include the sending of unsolicited promotional text messages inviting mobile phone users to call a premium rate service with an 090 dialling code, and reverse billed premium rate services where a text message invites the use to respond by text. In turn, they will receive a number of texts, which they are then charged for.

Ofcom said the review of the way the ?1bn industry is regulated was designed to give consumers greater protection from fraudulent and unscrupulous operators, and will look into giving greater powers to Icstis.

A spokesman for Icstis said it welcomed the move: "We hope the review will look at the broad root causes of the problem." Icstis is calling for better co-operation from networks, which supply premium rate numbers, telecom companies which bill customers and other external regulatory bodies.