It is pretty grubby. Earlier, I spent a while trying to find a current geographic number. There are a couple of similar old ones, so they’re apparently in the habit of changing it when “too many” start using it. I did try guessing what the current number would be, but no dice. It’s more than possible that others could succeed where I failed (in which case they may wish to PM the number to the OP rather than posting it here).
For those unaware, a portion of the per-minute charge for these more expensive numbers goes to the call recipient (which is why they’re never included in flat-rate plans). So it’s essentially a stealth extra fee on top of the settlement amount, imposed on those who are usually desperate to avoid court and often hard-up.
While I don’t want to be too “bleeding heart” on behalf of those suspected of ticketless travel, it would be more honest to simply add an “IRCAS fee” onto the settlement, thus cutting out the phone company “middleman”.
At least the line’s automated nature means callers won’t be put on hold for long periods (I assume…) Still, this doesn’t do much for the arguably somewhat questionable reputation of IRCAS, and perhaps pressure could indeed be brought on them to change it.
www.ofcom.org.uk
