UK Statutory Instrument SI 2024/1046 United Kingdom

The Regulation of Premium Rate Services Order 2024

Read it on legislation.gov.uk (opens in a new tab)
Status
In Force
Penalty ceiling
Regulated

Does it bind you?

Business-side roles with duties under this instrument.

Trader29 Any Person9

Other Acts binding the same actors

If a role above is yours, these are the other instruments that most often bind it.

Trader — also bound by 825 other Acts
Companies Act 2006 243 duties
Companies Act 1985 85 duties
Any Person — also bound by 2340 other Acts

What it requires

Regulations creating concrete business duties or carrying penalties, grouped as the instrument is structured. Titles link to the source text — blue means you’re leaving for legislation.gov.uk.

s.art010 Requirements before carrying out a regulated activity Regulated
  • Register with OFCOM and appoint senior management before offering premium rate servicesTrader
s.art015 Prohibition on dealing with unregistered PRS providers Regulated
  • Verify other PRS providers are registered or exempt before dealing with themAny Person
s.art016 Prohibition on dealing with persons on whom a relevant direction, decision or sanction has been imposed Regulated
  • Do not deal with persons sanctioned by OFCOM or enforcement authoritiesAny Person
s.art017 Risk assessment requirements Regulated
  • Assess risks before entering premium rate service arrangementsAny Person
s.art022 Misleading information Regulated
  • Do not provide misleading information to consumersTrader
s.art023 Promoting and marketing services to children Regulated
  • Include required disclosures in promotions of children's premium rate servicesTrader
s.art024 Factual claims made in promotion and marketing about a controlled PRS Regulated
  • Keep written records of evidence for promotional claimsTrader
s.art025 Usage requirements for some types of controlled PRS to be stated in promotion and marketing Regulated
  • Include mandatory warnings in ads for certain premium rate servicesTrader
s.art026 Information to be provided before entering into a controlled PRS contract Regulated
  • Provide clear pre-contract information to consumersTrader
s.art027 Express consent for charges imposed under a subscription contract entered into by means of an internet access service Regulated
  • Get express consent before charging under online subscription contractsTrader
s.art028 Express consent for charges imposed under a subscription contract entered into by means of an SMS message Regulated
  • Get express SMS consent before charging for SMS subscriptionsTrader
s.art029 Express consent for charges imposed under a contract for an ICSS Regulated
  • Obtain express consent before charging for continued ICSS useTrader
s.art030 Requirement to provide a controlled PRS within a reasonable time Regulated
  • Provide premium rate services within a reasonable timeTrader
s.art031 Charging information for a controlled PRS purchased through the use of a mobile phone service Regulated
  • Send charging information to consumers after a premium rate service chargeTrader
s.art032 Notifications of charges for virtual chat services Regulated
  • Send SMS charge notifications for virtual chat services at £10 thresholdsTrader
s.art035 Records of consent Regulated
  • Keep a written record of consumer consent for premium rate servicesTrader
s.art036 Consumer enquiries and complaints: policies and procedures Regulated
  • Have written policies for handling consumer enquiries, complaints and refundsAny Person
s.art037 Consumer enquiries and complaints: requirements Regulated
  • Handle consumer enquiries and complaints in line with seven requirementsTrader
s.art038 Additional requirements relating to refunds Regulated
  • Process consumer refund requests and provide updatesTrader
s.art039 Vulnerable consumers Regulated
  • Protect vulnerable consumers when providing premium rate servicesTrader
s.art040 Harmful material Regulated
  • Do not include harmful material and protect consumersAny Person
s.art042 Valid ticket of entry for competition or voting services Regulated
  • Set a time limit for competition or voting entries and issue valid ticketsTrader
s.art043 Consideration of a valid ticket of entry for competition or voting services Regulated
  • Treat all valid tickets of entry equally for voting and competition servicesTrader
s.art044 Claiming prizes free of charge Regulated
  • Provide prize free of charge to winning consumerTrader
s.art045 Attempted use of a facility comprised in a competition or voting service after a time limit has expired Regulated
  • Do not charge for late competition/voting entries and refund if you doTrader
s.art046 Pricing restrictions for some types of controlled PRS Regulated
  • Notify consumers and stop charging at £15, £30, and £40 thresholds for premium rate servicesTrader
s.art047 Prohibition on provision of types of controlled PRS to persons under the age of 18 Regulated
  • Do not provide certain premium rate services to under‑18sTrader
s.art048 Age verification for some types of controlled PRS Regulated
  • Implement age verification for controlled premium rate servicesTrader
s.art049 Requirements for controlled PRS provided to children Regulated
  • Don't exploit children and cap charges for premium rate servicesTrader
s.art050 Charges for the provision of ICSS Regulated
  • Cap ICSS charges at £40 per consumerTrader
s.art051 Relevant qualifications for professional advice services Regulated
  • Ensure staff giving professional advice have proper qualificationsTrader
s.art052 Consumer information relating to remote gambling services Regulated
  • Provide consumers real-time access to gambling records and account balancesTrader
s.art055 Requirements to provide information to OFCOM Regulated
  • Provide information to OFCOM when requestedAny Person
s.art056 Record-keeping Regulated
  • Keep premium rate service records for the required periodAny Person
s.art058 Preservation of evidence for an investigation Regulated
  • Preserve evidence for OFCOM investigationAny Person
s.art062 Interim measures Regulated
  • Comply with OFCOM's interim directions under article 62Any Person
30 other provisions — procedural and definitional
s.art001 Citation, commencement and extent
s.art002 General interpretation
s.art003 Meaning of “controlled PRS”
s.art004 Meaning of “threshold service”
s.art005 Meaning of “chatline service”
s.art006 Meaning of “sexual content service”
s.art007 Meaning of “
s.art008 Meaning of “subscription service”
s.art009 Meaning of “PRS provider” and “regulated activity” etc.
s.art011 Exemption for certain merchants
s.art012 OFCOM’s duty to establish and maintain a register
s.art013 Registration for transitional cases
s.art014 Requirement to pay OFCOM’s administrative charges
s.art018 Suspension of arrangements by network operators
s.art019 Suspension of arrangements by intermediaries
s.art020 Arrangements entered into before 1st February 2025
s.art021 Requirements relating to relevant security testing
s.art033 Right to terminate subscription contracts
s.art034 Reminder notices of termination of subscription contracts
s.art041 Meaning of “competition or voting service”
s.art053 Requirement for network operators to retain relevant payments
s.art054 Requirement for network operators to keep premium rate number records
s.art057 Power of OFCOM to publish notice of investigation
s.art059 Provisional enforcement notice
s.art060 Penalties
s.art061 Final enforcement notice
s.art063 Confirmation of directions under article 62
s.art064 Directions for serious contraventions
s.art065 Interpretation of this Part
s.art066 Transitional arrangements for the purposes of a relevant approved code
Schedules

Schedules

2 of 21 shown
s.sch001 Specific information required from merchants Regulated
  • Provide detailed service information for each controlled premium rate serviceTrader
s.sch002 Specific information required from merchants Regulated
  • Disclose other PRS providers and contractors involved in your serviceTrader
19 other schedules
s.sch001 Interpretation
s.sch001 General details of the PRS provider
s.sch001 Main telephone number.
s.sch001 Main email address.
s.sch001 Website address (if applicable).
s.sch001 Confirmation as to whether the PRS provider is—
s.sch001 Generally authorised person
s.sch001 Directors or members of senior management
s.sch002 Interpretation
s.sch002 General details of the PRS provider
s.sch002 Main telephone number.
s.sch002 Main email address.
s.sch002 Generally authorised person
s.sch003 Interpretation
s.sch003 Pre-contract information
s.sch004 Interpretation
s.sch004 General
s.sch004 Enforcement of provisions of a relevant approved code
s.sch004 Discontinuance of proceedings commenced under a relevant approved code

Duty extraction and severity labels are Guvnor’s analysis of the instrument, not the instrument itself. Always verify against the linked source text.