Mobile operators to offer free helpline calls

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) expects all UK mobile operators to end charges for calls to its 0800 helplines by the end of April.

Vodafone, T-Mobile, O2, Orange, Virgin Mobile and Tesco Mobile have already agreed that by the end of January their customers will be able to call the DWP's 0800 benefits and pensions lines without charge. But work and pensions minister Jim Knight has confirmed that the department expects the "remaining 24 or so" mobile operators to join the agreement by April 2010. "With this agreement we have achieved a significant step towards making a reality of our policy of free calls to our 0800 claims lines for all our customers," he added in response to a parliamentary written question from Labour MP John Battle on 27 January. About 15 percent of the 60 million calls made each year to the DWP's 70 freephone helplines are from mobile phones. Several mobile operators normally charge more for calls to 0800 numbers than to standard geographic numbers. Knight said the department is also exploring the use of text messages as a way to cut callers' phone bills.