Registering with PhonePayPlus & setting up a Premium Rate Service

In some situations businesses may wish to use a Revenue Generative, or ‘Premium Rate’ telephone number to earn revenue from calls in return for offering a specialist helpline, for example: technical support, directory enquiry or voting lines. Typically, consumers can pay for the cost of this service by charging the cost of the call to their phone bills and pre-paid phone accounts. In order to operate a premium rate number, you must first comply with a number of rules and be registered with PhonePayPlus.

Is a Premium Rate Number right for my business?

Premium rate numbers are not the right choice for every business and can sometimes predetermine how your customers perceive your company and can affect the way they interact with you. For example, if you ran an ecommerce store and operated a premium rate line for sales enquiries, this may put-off potential customers from getting in contact, whereas a local rate, 01, 02, 03 or Freephone 0800 numbers act as a form of encouragement for customers to call. If you are concerned that premium rate numbers may hinder sales, then they are not the right choice for your business.

New government rules changing the use of Premium Rate Numbers

As of June this year, new government phone rules stipulate that businesses are no longer allowed to use revenue generative, aka; premium rate numbers for post-sales (after sales) telephone support. This means that businesses using non-geographic 084, 087 and 090 telephone numbers will need to switch to a local rate or Freephone telephone number for or post sales customer support.

I want to set up a Premium Rate Number for my UK business

If you think a premium rate telephone number is right for your business, there are certain regulations you will have to conform with in able to operate a premium rate telephone number.

Register with PhonePayPlus

Firstly, you will need to be registered with PhonepayPlus who are the UK regulators of premium rate/ paid phone services. Phone Pay Plus regulate every premium rate service enquiry in accordance with their code of practice, which sets out the rules of which all premium rate service providers must comply.

Phone Pay Plus will investigate complaints about premium rate service providers and if they decide that their rules have been broken, they can fine the company responsible and bar access to its services.

Companies can register with PhonepayPlus via their website: www.phonepayplus.org.uk.

Setting up a Premium Rate Number with Tripudio

Once you have registered with Phone Pay Plus, (and assuming you a UK registered business) you can contact Tripudio for advice on setting up a premium rate number. We will need to know the following information:

• Your PhonePayPlus number
• Your company name, address, website address and registration number
• Details on how the telephone number will be used (the nature of your business) and where the number will be advertised
• Details on the rate the caller will pay
• Your estimated call volume

To find out more information about premium rate numbers or registering with PhonePayPlus, email us on [email protected] or call us on 0330 365 3650.


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By David Bell