The New Registration Scheme - What you need to know.
PhonePayPlus are implementing an industry wide registration scheme this year. You may have heard about it already. We have included a recent PPP newsletter on the subject, for your reference, below. Please make sure you read and undestand what this means for you as an RMT client or person marketing premium rate services.
Newsletter published by PhonePayPlus 31/03/11
New Code and Registration Scheme
What? Who? When? How? Why?
What?
In 2011, PhonepayPlus – the UK regulator of premium rate telephone services (PRS) – will introduce a new Code of Practice that regulates our industry and a mandatory, industry-wide Registration Scheme.
These changes will affect you as our client, so please read the following information carefully.
Who?
The new Code states that no one can operate a PRS without registering with PhonepayPlus and that you cannot do business with others in the PRS market unless they are registered. This means that if you currently have a contract with us, whether as a client or supplier, the likelihood is you will be required to register. The ONLY exemptions, for an initial 12-month period, are as follows:
0871/2/3 services will be exempt from the requirement to register;
Registered charities engaged in PRS activity and PRS Providers with annual PRS revenue of less than £5,000 will be required to register on the Scheme, but are exempt from paying registration fees.
When?
The new Code of Practice is published on the 30th March 2011. Both the Code and Registration Scheme will come into force on the 1 September 2011. The new Code of Practice requires providers of PRS to register on the new Scheme. If you are contracted with us, this means you need to register by 1 September 2011.
To help everybody in the PRS industry manage this transition to the new Code, the industry Registration Scheme is planned to be open for pre-registration in April and remain open until the end of August. We may pre-register you as one of our clients but you will still need to confirm this registration and pay the fee before 1 September 2011.
How?
PhonepayPlus has aimed to make registration a quick and easy process through the PhonepayPlus website – www.phonepayplus.org.uk. You must first register your organisation and pay the registration fee with a credit card or debit card.
Registration will be valid for one year from when you register and pay the registration fee. The registration fee is set at £100 (+VAT) in the first year, with discounts for ‘early bird’ registration as follows:
• £50 (+ VAT) for pre-registrations in April and June
• £80 (+VAT) for pre-registrations in July and August
If you are pre-registered by us as our client, you will still be responsible for paying the registration fee when you confirm registration, unless you are exempt for paying the fee because:
• You are a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, or the equivalent in Northern Ireland and Scotland
• Your revenue is les that £5,000 per year – to quality for this exemption PhoneypayPlus will request your outpayment details from any provider who pays you outpayments for verification purposes.
Once completed you will then be required to register all of your services so that consumers are provided with an almost 100% positive response to number checks.
Following the registration of your organisation, PhonepayPlus will notify industry when service registration opens.
To help smaller providers, PhonepayPlus will offer a free bulk upload service, to industry providers with 50 or more clients, to pre-load basic data to the Scheme. Client organisations will receive an email asking them to validate their registration and pay the fee.
Similarly, for organisations with more than 50 services to register, PhonepayPlus will allow bulk uploads of these services using a downloadable spreadsheet available on the registration homepage.
We will be taking advantage of this service and PhonepayPlus will set deadlines for submission of clients details in April - June - please do not ignore the request to validate your registration when its arrives.
Registration is quick and easy and the required information is as follows:
For organisations:
• Company details – organisational name, address, Companies House number (if applicable)
• Director details – full name and date of birth
For services
• The PRS number by which consumers access the service
• Identity of the next party in the value-chain
• Your customer care telephone number (non-PRS number)
• The identity of the company providing customer care
Why?
As an industry, we have lobbied for a registration scheme that makes our industry more accountable and more transparent, improving consumer confidence and allowing the regulator to focus enforcement action where consumer harm is occurring. The new registration scheme will allow all of us to do better due diligence on other providers and to provide consumer with the best services possible.
Find out more at www.phonepayplus.org.uk
If you have any questions, please contact us.
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