The UK’s premium rate services regulator, PhonepayPlus, is changing its name to the Phone-paid Services Authority (PPSA), and adopting a new statement of purpose: “The UK regulator for content, goods and services charged to a phone bill”. The name change will be implemented in autumn 2016.
Also today, PhonepayPlus’ new 14th Code of Practice for premium rate services comes into force, providing increased transparency and fairness and streamlining of our investigations, adjudications and appeals procedures.
David Edmonds CBE, Chairman of PhonepayPlus, explains: “As we introduce the latest edition of our Code of Practice, I’m pleased to announce PhonepayPlus’ new name: the Phone-paid Services Authority.
“We’ve worked closely with industry stakeholders, consumers and our staff on this project, listening to them on how we can explain our role clearly for consumers while reflecting and supporting competition, innovation and investment in the market that we regulate.
“As the Phone-paid Services Authority, we will continue to put consumers and the industry at the heart of our work as UK’s regulator for content, goods and services charged to a phone bill.”
PhonepayPlus ran an open-source consultation and suggestion process to gather ideas from stakeholders and staff, with a prize for best contribution, which goes to Mark Szemelka of Redcentric.
The new name is informed by stakeholders’ feedback that PhonepayPlus should make it clearer to consumers what the organisation is and does and it reflects the changing market of content and services that can be charged to a phone bill.
Our suggestion of Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to PRS Providers and Allied Value Added Services Industries (RSPCPRSPAVASI) probably came a close second. PPP is also trying to get PSA adopted as the acronym for Phone-paid Services Authority, but this will never catch on. PSA is more commonly used to represent Prostate-Specific Antigens – what oncologists measure to detect prostate cancer. Insert your own joke here…
More information about the new Code of Practice can be found here. A full copy of the Code is available here and the updated Supporting Procedures are available here.
