Blog

Important changes to inbound non-geographic call services (NGCS)

Important changes to inbound non-geographic call services (NGCS)

Significant changes affecting non-geographic numbers come into effect on 1st July 2015 under Ofcom regulations. This impacts on non-geographic call services delivered to consumers using telephone numbers beginning with 08, 09, 116 and 118.

 How it works now:

 You sometimes see information about the cost of calls, which looks something like this:

"Calls cost 20p per minute from a BT landline. Other landlines may vary and calls from mobiles may cost considerably more."

This makes it hard to know the cost, unless you happen to be calling from a BT landline.

How it will work in future:

From 1 July 2015, the cost of calling service numbers will be made up of two parts:

• An access charge: This part of the call charge goes to your phone company, charged as pence per minute. They will tell you how much the access charge will be for calls to service numbers. It will be made clear on bills and when you take out a contract.
• A service charge: This is the rest of the call charge. The organisation you are calling decides this, and will tell you how much it is.

As a business wherever you advertise or promote one of these NGCS numbers, you must ensure that your service charge is displayed in a prominent position, and in close proximity to the telephone number.

Ofcom have launched a specific website to explain the changes - http://www.ukcalling.info 

or if you would like to speak to us directly please call us on 0141 353 4350.