How PhonepayPlus deals with premium rate number complaints

When you complain about a premium rate service, we look at the information you give us and assess whether the PhonepayPlus Code of Practice may have been breached. If it's likely that a breach has taken place, we decide what action to take based on:

• the potential harm the breach may cause
• the company's history of breaching the Code

Code of Practice breach procedures

We follow different procedures depending on the severity of the Code breach:

• for minor breaches we work with you and the company to resolve your complaint and get you a refund
• for more serious breaches a decision on what action to take is made at an oral hearing or tribunal (adjudication) after an investigation

What action we can take

If a tribunal decides a breach of our Code has taken place, the company running the service must make changes to the service and/or its promotional material immediately. Depending on the severity of the breach we may:

• order the company to refund your costs
• impose a fine - up to a maximum of £250,000
• close or suspend the service
• withhold revenue from the service
• bar a person from running premium rate services

The outcome of breach of Code of Practice cases

If you make a complaint about a premium rate service to PhonepayPlus we’ll keep you informed of the outcome. Please note the more complex cases may take up to 14 weeks to investigate.

We keep a record of all breach of Code of Practice tribunals and oral hearing cases. Summaries of tribunals are available.