0845 numbers have been "premium" ever since BT scrapped the price difference based on distance for calls to 01 and 02 numbers and moved all of their subscribers on to inclusive call plans for calling those numbers. This happened in August 2004. As 084 and 087 numbers were not included in the call allowance those calls always push the bill up further, costing the caller more. Whenever you call an 084 or 087 number, part of what you pay for the call is passed on to the operator of the non-geographic number. They use some of the money to pay the running costs of the non-geographic line and for routing the call to the final destination with any remainder paid out as revenue share to whoever you are calling. The cost of calls to 084 and 087 numbers is NOT changing. Two things are happening: - From 26 June 2015, all users of 084, 087 and 09 numbers are required to declare the Service Charge wherever their number is advertised. Ofcom published these rules on 12 December 2013. - From 13 June 2014, retailers, traders and passenger transport companies are required to use 01, 02 or 03 numbers for their customer service lines. BIS published these rules on 13 December 2013.

If the new 01, 02 or 03 number is run in parallel with the old 084 number left in place, your practice will still be in breach of their contract with the NHS. The NHS does not offer different levels of service based on ability to pay. The new 01, 02 or 03 number must be a replacement for the 084 number. The old 084 number must be either completely switched off or set to make an announcement about the new number. This can often be done at no cost to the caller.

The letter from NHS England to non-compliant practices appears to have had some success as the number of 0844 users has reduced over the last few months. However, the Fair Telecoms Campaign reports that as of 2 February 2014 some 440 practices in England are still in breach of their GMS Contract as revised in April 2010. Additionally, a number of 0844 and 0845 users remain in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Only Wales has similar contractual terms to those found in England.

We now know this move was a complete disaster. As soon as revenue sharing was removed from 0870 numbers, most companies simply shifted to an 0844 number in order to retain revenue sharing. A number of companies made the claim they were going to save the caller money by moving from a "national rate number" to a "local rate number"[sic]. With 0844 calls often costing more than 0870 calls, especially from a mobile phone, this simply wasn't true. Additionally, 0844 numbers have never been "local rate" calls. Upon seeing this failure, Ofcom did not proceed with removing revenue sharing from 0845 numbers (it had been rumoured that they would remove it soon after the 0870 measures had been put in place) as it would have likely led to a similar result. However, in anticipation of the removal of revenue sharing, BT had already made 0845 calls inclusive in call plans, and could not easily back out of that offer. This move has brought confusion to the market. Many people claim that revenue sharing has ceased on 0845 numbers. It has not. However, the payout rarely exceeds half a penny per minute and only those businesses with a very large volume of incoming calls receive such a payment. Callers continue to pay a 2p/min Service Charge within the price of the 0845 call. Where BT makes these calls inclusive, the Service Charge is funded from the monthly call plan subscription. BT does not offer a similar arrangement for 0843 and 0844 numbers with a similar leval of Service Charge because they control relatively few 0843 and 0844 numbers in comparison and so mostly pay the Service Charge they collect onwards to other providers. After a period of reflection, a very long period of consultation and a long period of overcoming objections from the telecoms industry, especially from the mobile industry, Ofcom published their new plans in December 2013. On 26 June 2015, all 0870 numbers will return to revenue sharing. This will confirm all 084 and 087 numbers as "expensive", both from landlines and from mobile phones. It will remove the current confusion where 0871 is always expensive but 0870 is expensive from mobiles and cheap or inclusive from landlines. 0845 numbers will continue as revenue sharing, as will all other 084, 087 and 09 numbers. All users of 084, 087 and 09 numbers will be required to declare the level of payment that the caller's telephone provider passes to the called party's telephone provider, irrespective of whether that payment leads to a revenue share payout or not. This payment is currently known as the "enhanced termination rate". It will be rounded up to the next penny and all users of these numbers will be required to declare it as their Service Charge. This will make it very clear that the called party is financially benefitting from the call in some way. Even where there is no revenue share payout, callers are still paying for the running costs of the non-geographic number and for the final-leg call-routing. This new system was originally planned to come into force around June 2014. However, the telecoms industry raised many objections, most of them utterly specious. Ofcom has a legal duty to respond to all objections. This process has wasted huge amounts of Ofcom's time resulting in the plans not coming into effect until 26 June 2015. On the same date, calls to 080 numbers will become free from all mobile phones, funded by users of these numbers paying a couple of pence per minute extra for their running costs. The forthcoming changes from Ofcom are not the whole story. New consumer protection legislation was published by BIS on 13 December 2013 and comes into force on 13 June 2014. This makes it illegal to use 084, 087 and 09 numbers for customer service lines in most business sectors. Users of 084 and 087 numbers can swap to the exactly matching 034 or 037 number. Alternatively they can choose a new 01, 02, 030, 033 or 080 number. The Financial Conduct Authority is expected to publish similar regulations for the financial sector. The Cabinet Office has already published guidance for government departments and public services. It recommends the use of 01, 02 and 03 numbers (and 080 numbers in certain circumstances) and discourages the use of 084, 087 and 09 numbers. Where 08 and 09 numbers are retained, it recommends 03 numbers be used as the "primary" number. Failure to provide an 03 alternative must be explained in writing to ministers. At first glance, returning 0870 numbers to revenue sharing might seem to be a backward step. However, when all of the other measures are also taken into account a pattern begins to emerge. We are rapidly heading towards a situation similar to this: 01, 02, 03 - "geographic rate" or inclusive in call plan allowances. 071 - 075 and 077 - 079 - "mobile rate" or inclusive in call plan allowances. 080 - free call from landlines (and free from all mobile phones by 26 June 2015). 084, 087, 09 - numbers with a Service Charge to the benefit of the called party and an Access Charge to the benefit of the caller's telephone provider. Work to tidy various exceptions to the above list and to deal with various issues affecting numbers beginning 0500, 055, 056, 070 and 076 is ongoing. With the recent and ongoing annual reductions in the Mobile Termination Rate, it may one day be possible for calls to mobile phones to be inclusive calls within landline call plans. In an ideal world, "geographic rate", "mobile rate" and the non-geographic "Access Charge" would all be charged at the same, or very similar, pence-per-minute rate, with all three being "inclusive" in call plans, leaving the caller to pay Service Charge on top whenever an 084, 087 or 09 number is called. In future, most 084, 087 and 09 numbers are going to be used for chargeable services that are charged for as the call is made. These include conference calling gateways, cheap international-call gateways, recorded information lines, phone-in quizzes, voting on TV and radio shows, chat-lines, and donations to charity where the call price includes the donation. The user of the number will make their fee clear by declaring the Service Charge. For normal day to day contact with businesses and organisations, callers will mostly be ringing 01, 02, 03 and 080 numbers along with standard mobile numbers, none of which incur extra charges to the benefit of the called party.

MPs are on the case... Live link added by Antone on edit: Story here.

Calls to 0845 numbers incur a 2p/min Service Charge to the benefit of the called party. This charge is hidden within the overall advertised call price. The called party uses this revenue to pay for the non-geographic call handling features and for routing the call to the final destination. This means they can often run the number at no cost to themselves. Before 2003, calls from landlines to 0845 numbers were charged the same as a "local rate" call. These numbers saved landline callers money if they were calling a business or organisation located in a distant place. In 2003, most landline providers moved their customers on to inclusive call plans. Calls to 01 and 02 numbers were included. Calls to 084 and 087 numbers were not, instantly making them relatively more expensive to call. Likewise 084 and 087 numbers were, and are, relatively expensive to call from mobile phones, especially for those that have inclusive calls to 01 and 02 numbers. 0845 numbers cannot generally be included in call plan allowances because the caller's phone provider has to pay the Service Charge to the called party's phone provider. BT controls most of the 0845 numbers used by businesses. Callers who use BT to make the call are charged a discounted rate. Since 2009, BT has included calls to 0845 numbers within inclusive call allowances. They can do this because most of the calls terminate back with BT. In 2007, Ofcom made 03 numbers available. These are charged at the same rate as calling an 01 or 02 number and count towards inclusive allowances on landlines and on mobile phones. Most businesses failed to make the change. With 03 numbers, the called party has to pay for the non-geographic call features, not the caller. Recent legislation from BIS comes into force on 13 June 2014 and bans the use of 084, 087 and 09 numbers for customer service lines in most business sectors. The Cabinet Office has recently produced guidance recommending government departments and public services use 01, 02 and 03 numbers, not 084, 087 and 09 numbers. The guidance is also intended to cover other bodies such as the Student Loans Company, Victim Support, Consumer Advice and many others. Ofcom will shortly require all users of 084, 087 and 09 numbers declare the Service Charge imposed on callers thus making it clear they are financially benefitting in some way from the call. Terms such as "local rate", "lo-call" and "low call rate" have not applied since 2003. The forthcoming requirement to declare the Service Charge should make this very clear.

This is the wording from the current version of the legislation: Help-line charges over basic rate 41.—(1) Where a trader operates a telephone line for the purpose of consumers contacting the trader by telephone in relation to contracts entered into with the trader, a consumer contacting the trader must not be bound to pay more than the basic rate. (2) If in those circumstances a consumer who contacts a trader in relation to a contract is bound to pay more than the basic rate, the contract is to be treated as providing for the trader to pay to the consumer any amount by which the charge paid by the consumer for the call is more than the basic rate. You'll need to refer to the separate guidance notes for details of what constitutes "basic rate". In essence, 01, 02 and 03 numbers comply, as do standard 07 mobile numbers. Freephone 080 numbers technically do not comply until they become free calls from mobile phones on 26 June 2015. Until that time it is best to offer an 01, 02 or 03 number running in parallel. Numbers beginning 084, 087 and 09 do not comply and Ofcom will be imposing additional regulation requiring users of these numbers to declare the Service Charge imposed on callers. Non-standard mobile numbers, personal numbers beginning 070 and pager numbers beginning 076 also do not comply. Numbers beginning 055 and 056 are not mentioned. They are also unlikely to comply, that is unless every phone network charges the same for them as they do for 03 numbers.

It is important to realise that all 03, 08 and 09 numbers offer the exact same call-handling, call-queueing and call-routing features. What differs with each number range is who pays for those features. On an 084, 087 or 09 number, the additional call-handling and call-routing costs are usually borne by the caller. They are collected through the Service Charge hidden within the overall advertised call price. Where the Service Charge collected from the caller exceeds the call-handling costs incurred by the called party they may also receive a revenue share payout. In using a number with a Service Charge, organisations also open up the possibility for the caller's provider to add a bit (or a lot) more to the call price and also make some extra profit. Ofcom is bringing transparency to these aspects by shortly requiring all users of these numbers to declare the Service Charge and requiring each phone provider to set a single Access Charge for each of their tariffs. The Access Charge will cover all 084, 087, and 09 numbers equally. On an 03 number, the user of the number pays the non-geographic running costs and for final-leg call-routing. This is often around 1p/min. The caller pays whatever they would normally pay to call an ordinary 01 or 02 number. If the caller has inclusive minutes to 01 and 02 numbers on their landline or mobile then calls to 03 numbers will also count towards that allowance. 03 numbers are "cost neutral". Each party pays for the costs incurred at their end of the call. 0870 numbers currently also work a bit like this, but remain expensive and non-inclusive from mobile phones. On 26 June 2015, 0870 numbers change back to being revenue share numbers with a Service Charge much like they were before revunue sharing was suspended in August 2009. Only 03 numbers will retain price parity with 01 and 02 numbers on landlines and on mobiles. On an 080 number, the user of the number pays the non-geographic running costs and for call-routing as well as an additional "call origination fee". This extra fee is meant to compensate the caller's provider for the fact that the caller is not paying for the call. For landline providers the payment is adequate. The same fee is paid to mobile providers when one of their customers makes a call to an 080 number. However, most mobile providers deem the level of payment to not be enough to cover their costs. In those cases, they also charge the caller for the call. However, this is not the expected 2p to 5p/min. Instead, most mobile providers charge anything up to 41p/min for calls to "freephone" numbers. This is changing. On 26 June 2015 the fees that 080 number users must pay for running their number will increase by a couple of pence per minute and calls to 080 numbers will become free from all mobile phones.

For the vast majority of people, calls to 03 numbers count towards their inclusive minutes on their landline or their mobile. For the remainder, the call never costs any more than a call to an 01 or 02 number. Since 1 August 2009 there has been no revenue sharing on 0870 numbers and no Service Charge. These calls are inclusive on many landlines but remain very expensive when called from mobile phones. Everything changes on 26 June 2015. This is when 0870 calls will once again return to revenue sharing and have a Service Charge around 10p/min. This will confirm all 084, 087 and 09 numbers as being more expensive than calling standard 01, 02 and 03 numbers. Before all that, another major change will occur. From 13 June 2014, new legislation bans 084, 087 and 09 numbers for use as customer service lines in many business sectors. The Cabinet Office has also published guidance effectively banning these numbers from government departments and public services. The Financial Conduct Authority is also expected to produce similar regulation for the financial sector. In order to comply, users must move to new 01, 02, 03 or 080 numbers. Users of 084 and 087 numbers can move to the matching 034 or 037 number.

Ofcom did not proceed with removing revenue sharing from 0845 numbers in 2009. Calls to 0845 numbers continue to incur a 2p/min Service Charge to the benefit of the called party. This fee is hidden within the call price. They use this revenue to cover the call handling and call routing costs incurred at their end of the call. This means they usually do not pay anything for the use of the number if calls are forwarded to a standard geographic number. They will usually incur fees if the call is routed to a mobile phone or to an international destination. Very large users of 0845 numbers may receive a revenue share payment approaching half a penny per minute. Revenue sharing has not been stopped on 0845 numbers, nor will it. BT controls most of the 0845 numbers used by businesses. BT gives callers using a BT line to make the call a discount in the form of making these calls inclusive within their call plans. 0845 calls are not inclusive from most other landlines and are almost never inclusive calls from mobiles. Under Ofcom's "unbundled tariffs" system users of 0845 numbers will be required to declare the 2p/min Service Charge. BT will be free to continue giving 0845 as inclusive calls within their call plans, but it will be clear this is BT giving their own customers a discount, not the normal price of these calls. Calls to 0870 numbers are inclusive in many landline call plans. Since 2009 there has been no Service Charge and revenue sharing has been banned. This has not brought down the cost of calling 0870 numbers from a mobile phone. Users of 0870 numbers currently have to pay the running costs for the non-geographic number and the call handling fees. In many cases these fees are similar to those that would be incurred if they had instead used an 03 number. On 26 June 2015, revenue sharing returns to 0870 numbers and the Service Charge is likely to be around 10p/min. After this time, these calls will no longer be inclusive in call plans. Calls to 0843 and 0844 numbers incur a Service Charge that varies from 1p to 7p/min depending on the number called. Calls to 0871, 0872 and 0873 numbers incur a Service Charge that varies from 1p to 13p/min depending on the number called. The first couple of pence per minute covers the call handling and call routing costs incurred by the call recipient and the remainder can be paid out as revenue share. Under Ofcom's new "unbundled tariffs" system, all users of 084, 087 and 09 numbers will be required to declare the Service Charge wherever their number is advertised. It will be clear that the call recipient is financially benefitting from the call. Before all that, another major change will occur. From 13 June 2014, new legislation bans 084, 087 and 09 numbers for use as customer service lines in many business sectors. The Cabinet Office has also published guidance effectively banning these numbers from government departments and public services. The Financial Conduct Authority is also expected to produce similar regulation for the financial sector. In order to comply, users must move to new 01, 02, 03 or 080 numbers. Users of 084 and 087 numbers can move to the matching 034 or 037 number.

DWP issued a press release on 27 January 2014 stating they will adopt 0345 numbers beginning March 2014. This makes good on the commitment they gave to the Public Accounts Committee enquiry on 2 September 2013. Calls to 0800 numbers are expensive from mobile phones (except for the 0800 numbers used by DWP and helplines beginning 0808 80). More than 55% of calls are made from mobile phones. It will be 26 June 2015 before calls to 080 numbers are free from all mobile phones. HMRC changed all of their 0845 and 0870 lines over to cheaper 0300 and 0345 numbers in several batches between April and September 2013.

That's the text from the August 2013 draft version of the legislation. Passenger transport is no longer exempt. The December 2013 legislation has the same intent but completely different wording, including provision for refunds from non-compliant businesses. The detail about which types of number are acceptable has been moved to separate guidance notes. The legislation bans 084, 087 & 09 numbers for customer service lines across many business sectors. In order to comply, businesses need to change to an 01, 02, 03 or 080 number. Those using 084 or 087 numbers can move to the matching 034 or 037 number. Separate Ofcom legislation will require users of 084, 087 & 09 numbers to declare the Service Charge. These numbers will in future be used mostly for chargeable services such as conference calling, international call gateways, recorded information lines and so on. This has some background: www fairtelecoms org uk/consumer-rights-directive.html