Regulatory Best Practice

AIME promotes the principle of co-regulation with industry and regulatory bodies co-operating to agree and apply responsible standards to premium charged services accounted using the consumer’s telephone bill.

AIME’s membership applies the philosophy that consumers who are accurately and openly informed of the nature, content and cost of participation in an interactive service experience are perfectly placed to exercise their freedom of choice and thereby enjoy the most effective form of consumer protection.

Examples of industry initiatives undertaken by AIME are listed below.

Mobile Terminating Provider Best Practice

• AIME brought together all the UK Mobile Terminating Providers to share their experience and agree a Code for processing interactive calls.
• Issue 1 of the Best Practice Code for Mobile Terminating Providers launched June 09

Merchant Promoter Registration Scheme

• AIME originated a proposal for a Service Promoter registration scheme designed to distribute responsibility for compliant services more fairly and accurately and particularly closer to the point of sale.
• The proposal was originally submitted in 2004 and again to ILP and Ofcom in 2007
• Ofcom and PhonepayPlus have now included the scheme as part of their PRS scope review and 12th Code Discussion Papers respectively.

Industry Value Chain and Descriptors

• The term of Service Provider used in PhonepayPlus 11th Code of Practice actually means the Aggregator Technical Facilitator who, according to the Code, takes responsibility for all aspects of services handled by their platforms across their network. Consumers have no relationship with Aggregators.
• This leads to regulatory anomalies e.g. prior permission enforced at aggregator, not provider
• Definitions for mobile and fixed environments are not entirely compatible.
• AIME created simplified Industry Value Chain & Descriptors Document, supported by MEF
• Value Chain has also been presented to the ILP
• AIME now using value chain descriptors in communications with Ofcom and PhonepayPlus

Customer Care incl. Number Checker & Complaints Handling

• AIME member research found PhonepayPlus number checker accuracy to be less than acceptable and with incomplete content.
• Tabled at ILP and working group has been formed
• Shortcode management group looking at feasibility of modifying short-codes.com to encompass an accurate Number Checker facility
• PhonepayPlus looking at customer care processes again based on input from AIME board
• AIME continue to lobby PhonepayPlus on importance to Industry of an accurate number checker for customer care and centralised Industry database

Ofcom PRS Scope Review

• Need for co-regulatory, industry / regulatory body, co-operation
• Need for a more self regulatory approach with improved standards
• Support for tariffs transparency
• Application of regulation across the value chain
• Confusion from regulatory overlap
• AIME response