Closed petition Ban all local/central government and other public bodies from using 084x or 087x numbers

Closed on 5 May 2012

Not sure which department "owns" this issue as it transcends a number of departments - please forward to the appropriate department(s).

084x and 087x calls (previously - and in some cases still - referred to as "local" and "national" rate numbers) are very expensive - usually incurring a connection charge of (in my case 12p) and a per-minute charge of between 5p and 11p.

Some telecomms providers include 0845 and/or 0870 (but NOT 0843/0844 or 0871) numbers in their landline calling packages but some do not.

I would like the Government to BAN the use of ALL such numbers by ALL public bodies, including HMRC, local and central Government, etc.

There is no reason why either geographic (01 or 02) numbers cannot be used or, alternatively, the non-geographic 03xx numbers - which must be included in all calling packages and which, according to the Ofcom numbering team, can be used to route calls in the same way as 084x or 087x numbers. Thankyou