5 General provisions applicable to all premium rate services

5.1     Prior permission
 5.2     Legality
 5.3     Harm and offence
 5.4     Fairness
 5.5     Service replacement
 5.6     Internet dialler services

PROMOTIONS
 5.7     Pricing information
 5.8     Contact information
 5.9     Service identification
5.10    Promotions with long shelf-lives
5.11    Use of the word ‘free'
5.12    Inappropriate promotion
5.13    Promotion by non-premium rate services
5.14    ‘STOP' command

5.1    Prior permission

5.1.1     PhonepayPlus may require that particular categories of service must not be provided without its prior written permission for any service within that category. PhonepayPlus will give reasonable notice of such a requirement and the category of service to which it applies, and will publish a full list of such service categories from time to time. Prior permission may be granted subject to the imposition of additional conditions. Such permission may be withdrawn or varied upon reasonable grounds and with notice in writing.

5.1.2    

1. Where a service provider can demonstrate to the satisfaction of PhonepayPlus in relation to a particular service that any objective of the Code can be adequately satisfied by means other than strict adherence to the Code provisions, PhonepayPlus may give prior written permission (which may be given subject to conditions) for the service to be provided by such alternative means. Such permission may be withdrawn or varied by PhonepayPlus subject to the giving of reasonable notice.
2. Whenever PhonepayPlus grants permission under 5.1.2a above, it will publish on its website, in relation to that permission before the permission is to take effect, the following information:
1. the paragraph numbers of the Code provisions to which the permission relates,
2. details of the terms and scope of the permission, including any conditions attached to it,
3. a brief statement identifying the objective of the Code which PhonepayPlus has decided is capable of being satisfied by means other than strict adherence to the Code provisions in question, and stating PhonepayPlus’ reasons for being so satisfied, and
4. the date from which the permission is to take effect.
3. Nothing in 5.1.2b above requires the publication of “commercially confidential information” (information which is not already in the public domain and the publication of which would be likely to damage the commercial interests of a service provider or any other person). Where some of the information described in 5.1.2b is commercially confidential, PhonepayPlus shall publish as much of that information as is not commercially confidential at the time of first publication and may publish the remainder of the information if and when it ceases to be commercially confidential.

5.1.3     A breach of any condition imposed in connection with a permission granted by PhonepayPlus in accordance with this Code shall be a breach of the Code.

5.1.4     PhonepayPlus may require the payment of reasonable charges by applicants for prior permission in order to defray administrative costs. 

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5.2     Legality

Services and promotional material must comply with the law. They must not contain anything which is in breach of the law, nor omit anything which the law requires. Services and promotional material must not facilitate or encourage anything which is in any way unlawful. 

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5.3     Harm and offence

5.3.1    Services and promotional material must not, or must not be likely to:

1. result in any unreasonable invasion of privacy,
2. induce an unacceptable sense of fear, anxiety or distress,
3. encourage or incite any person to engage in unreasonably dangerous practices or to use harmful substances,
4. induce or promote racial disharmony,
5. cause grave or widespread offence,
6. debase, degrade or demean,
7. promote or facilitate prostitution.

5.3.2     Services and promotional material must not, in circumstances where it is not reasonable for a consumer to expect such content or material (and subject to 5.3.1 above):

1. contain material indicating violence, sadism or cruelty, or be of a repulsive or horrible nature,
2. involve the use of foul language. 

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5.4    Fairness

5.4.1    Services and promotional material must not:

1. mislead, or be likely to mislead in any way,
2. take unfair advantage of any characteristic or circumstance which may make consumers vulnerable.

5.4.2    Services must not be unreasonably prolonged or delayed.

5.4.3     Services must not be of a nature which encourages unauthorised use. 

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5.5    Service replacement

A service must not be replaced by another service which might give offence to, or might be inappropriate for, service users reasonably expecting the original service. 

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5.6    Internet dialler services

5.6.1     No premium rate service which requires that internet dialler software is delivered to the user’s equipment in order to access the service or any part of it (‘internet dialler services’) may be provided without prior written permission from PhonepayPlus.

5.6.2     In respect of internet dialler services, prior to connection to the premium rate service, prominent pricing information and the premium rate number being used must be displayed on the user’s screen.

5.6.3     An on-screen clock must be displayed throughout the duration of any internet dialler service showing the cumulative cost.

5.6.4     Unless permission to do otherwise is specifically granted by PhonepayPlus, internet dialler services which provide access to a website must not allow any further access via the service to the world wide web until the user has disconnected from the premium rate service. 

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PROMOTIONS

5.7     Pricing information

5.7.1     Service providers must ensure that all users of premium rate services are fully informed, clearly and straightforwardly, of the cost of using a service prior to incurring any charge.

5.7.2     Written pricing information must be easily legible, prominent, horizontal and presented in a way that does not require close examination. Spoken pricing information must be easily audible and discernible.

5.7.3     In cases where it is unlikely that a consumer will have seen or heard any promotional material containing pricing information, the service provider must place a short, distinct pricing message at the beginning of the service.

5.7.4     Unless PhonepayPlus has given written permission to the contrary, the pricing information in promotional material transmitted on television or in another audio-visual format must be spoken as well as being visually displayed if the cost of the service generally exceeds £2.

5.7.5     Premium rate services which do not generally cost more than 50 pence are exempt from all PhonepayPlus requirements on pricing information, unless the services are:

1. children’s services (see paragraph 7.5), or
2. accessed by automated equipment (such as a burglar alarm or a modem operating in conjunction with software that causes a number to be dialled automatically when the user wishes to access the internet), or
3. subscription services (see paragraph 7.12).

5.7.6     All operational or instructional messages necessary to obtain access to a service and provided separately to the service must be available free of charge to a user. 

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5.8    Contact information

For any promotion, the identity and contact details in the UK of either the service provider or information provider, where not otherwise obvious, must be clearly stated. The customer service phone number required in paragraph 3.3.5 must also be clearly stated unless reasonable steps have previously been taken to bring it to the attention of the user or it is otherwise obvious and easily available to the user. 

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5.9    Service identification

5.9.1     In all promotional material, any code, prefix, short access number or similar provision must be presented in such a way that it can be readily identified as a premium rate code or, as appropriate, an international prefix.

5.9.2     If the premium rate service operates on an international number, it must be made clear in the promotional material that an international call is required. 

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5.10    Promotions with long shelf-lives

In the case of premium rate services which are promoted in publications or other media which are likely to have a shelf-life of three months or more, the promotion must include a statement to the effect that the information given is correct as at the time of publication and that time must also be stated. If the charges for the service increase during the life of the promotion, such services must be prefaced with a short message informing users of the new charge levels. 

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5.11    Use of the word ‘free’

No premium rate service or product obtained through it may be promoted as being free unless:

1. a product or service has been purchased by the consumer using a premium rate service and a second product or service of an equal or greater value is provided at no extra charge, or
2. a product is provided through the premium rate service and the cost to the user does not exceed the delivery costs of the product and the promotional material states the maximum cost of the call. 

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5.12    Inappropriate promotion

Service providers must use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that promotional material does not reach those for whom it, or the service which it promotes, is likely to be regarded by them as being offensive or harmful. Service providers must use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that their services are not promoted in an inappropriate way. 

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5.13     Promotion by non-premium rate services

Wherever a premium rate service promotes, or is promoted by, a non-premium rate electronic communications service, both services will be considered as one where, in the opinion of PhonepayPlus, it is reasonable to do so. 

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5.14    ‘STOP’ command

Where a ‘STOP’ command is used in a service, clear instructions on its use must be given, including any necessary information on the placing of ‘STOP’ within any message to be sent by the user. When a ‘STOP’ command has been sent, the service provider must make no further charge to the user for the service.

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