Telephone services
Telephone services are used for programme support, phone-ins, voting and interacting with game shows and competitions.
We should not use premium rate lines for help lines. Help lines should be offered as a free phone number.
We should not normally use premium rate lines for phone-ins.
We should normally ensure that premium rate calls are priced at the lowest tariff. They should not normally be used to generate a profit with the exception of BBC charity appeals.
With premium rate numbers we must tell people how much calls cost. With other numbers we should try wherever possible to tell people the cost.
We must prompt children to seek permission to call from the bill payer.
Any proposal to use premium rate lines for BBC output must be referred and approved by a senior editorial figure or for Independents by the commissioning editor. In addition, any proposal to use a premium rate for phone-ins must be referred to Chief Adviser Editorial Policy.
Any proposal to set up phone lines to make a profit or to give out a premium rate number on air not directly related to BBC output must be referred to Chief Adviser Editorial Policy.
We must comply with the code of practice issued by the industry regulator, the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS), which is available at www.icstis.org.uk.