PhonepayPlus has announced that it is reducing the levy that it applies to all outpayments from companies that generate revenue from premium rate services. The levy is used to fund the regulator and its activity in overseeing the premium rate industry.
The Association of Interactive Media and Entertainment (AIME) welcomes the announcement of a small reduction in the 2010/11 budget for PhonepayPlus of 3% and an associated reduction in the levy applied to the premium rate services (PRS) industry for the year to 0.21% of applicable revenues by utilising surplus fines funds.
AIME will continue to work closely with the regulator to assist it in carrying out its duties as allocated by Ofcom, the Telecommunications Regulator, from Section 121 of the Communications Act 2003, which also contains a commitment to support self regulation and we are sure that a spirit of industry/regulatory co-operation will enable us to return the PRS industry to healthy growth in the very near future.
The reported reduction in consumer PRS complaints of 62% can better be appreciated by considering that the current level of complaints is roughly equivalent to one complaint for every 100,000 customer transactions - a record that many other industries would be proud of.
The reduction is a recognition of the efforts of a responsible PRS industry which has introduced a number of self regulatory industry initiatives over the past two years. These measures have resulted in a dramatic decrease in consumer complaints.
It is also worth noting that non compliance with PRS regulatory requirements is now restricted to a very small number of offenders and the introduction of the AIME initiative for value chain registration during 2010 will make it increasingly difficult for these offenders to operate in the PRS market.
We obviously welcome the reduction in the levy as it demonstrates a number of things.
Firstly, it shows that self-regulation can work and there has been a number of AIME led initiatives in the last 12 months all getting industry buy-in which are all aimed at rebuilding consumer trust and working closely with the regulator with whom there has been a productive collaborative approach.
Secondly, it is right for the regulatory cost to industry to fall and for fines to be targeted at repeat offenders, where serious breaches of the code occur. It is encouraging that fine collections are over 90% which is a dramatic improvement compared to a few years ago.
Thirdly, we all need to work together to ensure that rather like inflation and interest rates in the economy, the levy stays low and that we see industry revenues growing again as trust is built and participation levels in premium services grow.
Edward Boddington, chairman AIME
The Association for Interactive Media and Entertainment is the new name for the longest serving trade body in the interactive media business where customers use their telephones, televisions or computers to access, interact with and pay for information and entertainment. AIME promotes excellence in the world of Interactive Media and Entertainment. The purpose of AIME is to create an environment of consumer confidence and trust within which our Members commerce can flourish within a framework of a strong Members code of ethics. AIME has a membership that represents the entire value chain from the providers of information and entertainment to the network operators and technical service providers that deliver and bill them to customers. No other organisation has such reach or representation.
For more information, please visit: www.aimelink.org
8th March 2010
Tim Banks
Short URL: http://prst.co/ht
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