PhonepayPlus Administrative charges from 1 November 2013

As set out in PhonepayPlus’ annual Business Plan and Budget, published at the end of March this year, PhonepayPlus has a focus on strengthening its “polluter pays” principle. A key component of this is ensuring the comprehensive and accurate recovery of costs incurred during investigations which result in a case being upheld by a Tribunal.

To this end we have developed an in-house time recording system to ensure we capture the full costs of dealing with cases of non-compliance. These costs are passed on to providers found to be in breach of the PhonepayPlus Code of Practice (Code) by a Tribunal. This system has resulted in more accurate recording of the time attributed to cases and, as part of a review into administration rates, has assisted in the identification of additional billable activities, the costs of which should be recovered in appropriate cases. These additional rates are shown in the table below. 

These charges will apply to cases opened on, or after, 1 November 2013.

Background

The administrative charge system was introduced in September 1992 to ensure that Network operators and providers found to be in breach of the PhonepayPlus Code of Practice made a proportionate contribution towards the costs incurred in bringing their cases to a conclusion. This principle continues in the 12th Edition of the Code under paragraph 4.10.
PhonepayPlus retains the right to review charges as and when required, and the new administrative charges mark the conclusion of PhonepayPlus’ most recent review.

The new charges from 1 November 2013.

The new administrative charges reflect the current PhonepayPlus budget and new team structures following adjustments to teams in the last financial year. The calculations of hourly charge rates include the direct costs of personnel involved in bringing each case to a conclusion. The hourly rates also include a proportion of overheads (such as office and running costs) that can be fairly attributed to those personnel. As a result of these adjustments and to take account of changes to costs and volumes, some rates have increased on the previous year with others being reduced.

Please note VAT will not be applied as PhonepayPlus’ tax status has changed
  

		2013/14 Rate (£)		2012/13 Rate (£)
Hourly Staff Rates
Investigations Administrator		71		68
Investigations Executive		105		94
In-house Counsel		162		-
In-house Lawyer		136		126
Head of Investigations		162		162
Head of Legal		255		217
Director Of Operations		315		266
Chief Executive Officer		402		369
Regulatory Development		139		-
Research Monitoring - evidence gathering		64		-
Complaint Resolution - Manager		85		-
Complaint Resolution - Team		56		-
Secondary Charges    (Charge per complaint)		14		25
Informal Representation (per half hour)		192		192
CCP & Panels
Per Adjudication Tribunal Case		1,962		1,962
Per Oral hearing - Half day		2,810		2,810
Per Oral hearing - full day		5,620		5,620
Per Emergency procedure consideration		220		220
Per application for Review  (additional charges if application successful)		290		290
Oral Hearings
Clerk costs -  (External person has to be used, estimated at £6000+  per hearing)		Cost incurred to be passed on
Prior Permissions		300		300
Disbursements
Reprographic costs - Internal per page (pence)		0.14
Reprographic costs - External		Cost incurred to be passed on
Courier costs
Recording costs per session		31		-
Postage		Cost incurred to be passed on
Telecommunications		Cost incurred to be passed on
Research Monitoring - disbursements		Cost incurred to be passed on
Debt collection costs		Cost incurred to be passed on
Miscellaneous		Cost incurred to be passed on