WRITTEN ON October 27th, 2009 BY William Heath AND STORED IN Uncategorized
High time someone asked this sort of question:
speaker:Oliver Letwin : 1 Written Answer
========================================Written Answers – Treasury: Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services (26 Oct 2009)
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2009-10-26a.295035.h&s=speaker%3A10355#g295035.q0
Oliver Letwin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether HM Revenue
and Customs (HMRC) accrued revenue in the last three months from callers
to HMRC 08 telephone numbers being kept on line while waiting to be
answered.
But the answer?
Stephen Timms (Financial Secretary, HM Treasury; East Ham, Labour)
HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) centrally managed network of contact centres has received no revenue in respect of its use of 08 telephone numbers. HMRC’s contact centre policy is to provide as quick and efficient service as possible.
Hang on- so does HMRC get 08 numbers for free? Or does BT keep the revenue?
3 Responses to “HMRC and the 08- numbers”
My hunch is that because its BT giving the revenue share in the first place its a cost neutral exercise on 08 numbers
Why does HMRC not move to 03 numbers
no-income no-cost.
Reminds me of the deal where charities used to pay the first so-many months of each donors collected direct debits to the company that signed them up; but after bad publicity (after all it’s a very inefficient way to donate even if it is an efficient way for the charity to collect [thats cos it’s the donor thats paying]) they stopped doing this and instead effectively “bought” a load of donors from the same companies (i.e. the donors own donation was not literally used to buy the donor) – however it all amounts to pretty much the same thing, that it is an inefficient way to donate.
The same thing is done with 084x 087x numbers, the company advertising the number no longer collects revenue but may receive a discount on call-centre services, etc.
So really it was a poorly worded question, it should have related to how much callers were having to pay (many callers have free geographic calls these days).