Proposals to Reduce Phone Bills to be Followed Up

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 20th Nov 2003

Proposals to ensure customers are always charged on the cheapest tariff will be followed up by OFTEL.

During last week's hearing of the Public Accounts Committee, David Rendel MP questioned the regulator (OFTEL) about how customers are supposed to navigate their way through a complex charging system for phone calls.

Mr Rendel proposed:

• Suppliers could charge after the event according to whatever turns out to be the cheapest tariff. Customers often do not know in advance what the most appropriate tariff would be. For the customer to work it out after the event would be excessively time-consuming and almost certainly not cost-effective. The regulator described this as "a good idea" worth investigating on a voluntary basis. (He believed compulsion was outside his powers).

• Phone companies should make it easier to identify the customer's most used numbers, so that he can include them in the "friends and family" scheme. The regulator said he would "take note" of this suggestion.

• At the very least, customers should be given more information about what they would have been charged under alternative tariffs after the event, to guide them in changing tariff or supplier. The regulator agreed to look at the possibility of compelling suppliers to provide this information.

Mr Rendel said:

"I am delighted that OFTEL has responded positively to my suggestions. At the moment, only a third of fixed line customers are on their optimal tariff. This means that two thirds of customers could save money if they were given more information about the alternative tariffs available. Competition will only work if we have a much more open and transparent system that puts the customer first."