Goodbye ICSTIS … Hello PhonepayPlus!

23 November 2007

The industry-funded regulatory body for premium-rate telecoms services has changed its name: ICSTIS is dead; Long Live PhonepayPlus.  But do you know what it does?

The new PhonepayPlus will (continue to) regulate the content and operation of premium-rate telecoms services and will continue to co-operate with CAP and the ASA in the latter’s regulation of the promotion of those services.



So, what is a premium rate?  How can you tell what constitutes a premium-rate line.  It is widely seen as a very expensive form of telecommunication but, in reality, premium-rate calls can cost as little as 10p a minute or up to £1.50 a minute.  The money paid for the call is split between the telecoms company providing the infrastructure and the company providing the service content.  The service provider is the one responsible for ensuring that the content and promotion of the service complies with the PhonepPayPlus Code of Practice and the CAP and BCAP Codes.

Can only phone calls be premium-rate?  No, a wide variety of communication methods can be premium-rate, for example fax, PC, mobile or interactive digital TV.  Some of the more headline-grabbing services PhonepayPlus regulates are interactive voting systems, sports coverage, sex lines and directory-enquiry services.

PayPhonePlus’s primary role is to prevent consumer harm by ensuring clear and accurate pricing information and honest and relevant service content.  As well as its Code of Practice, Statement of Expectations and Help Notes, PhonepayPlus offers a complaints service.  An upheld complaint can result in a financial penalty for the company concerned (up to a hefty £250,000), an order to refund consumers and a bar from access to the telecoms system for not only that company but also the individual(s) behind that company.  Like CAP’s Copy Advice service, PhonepayPlus provides an advice service for service providers, which is also free.  The advice it can give ranges from how to set up a service through application to ensuring compliance with its Code of Practice.

www.phonepayplus.org.uk