Premium rate phone number

A extra rate telephone number is any telephone number whose cost is higher than that of a call to a subscriber to the telephone network. It is characterized, among other things, by the fact that no telephone company includes it in its flat rate scheme, and the subscriber must assume its cost separately at the flat rate contracted.

The profit obtained from the calls is divided between the telephone operator and the company that is called.

Extra rate telephones are usually differentiated by starting with a specific number, which can determine the final cost of the call.

Additional rate telephone codes in Spain

Previously, these numbers had the prefix 903; then 906 was added and, since then, 903 had to be expressly requested. Currently, it is the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and the Information Society, who declares which are the prefixes that fall into this category, due to the existence of a billing higher than the cost of the electronic communications service and in interest of a special protection of the rights of users (article 1.e of Royal Decree 899/2009, of May 22, which approves the letter of rights of the user of electronic communications services (Published in the BOE n º 131, of 05/30/2009).

Recently the prefixes have been changed to 80x (803, 806, 807) and in the case of the higher cost ones, it is necessary to request their activation to be able to use them. The ones with the lowest cost are activated for use by default, but their deactivation can be requested. In addition, there are 907, Internet access telephones with additional charges that are deactivated by default.

The classification of numbers is:

• 905: televote services and massive calls.
• 803: contacts and erotic. Adult services.
• 806: leisure and entertainment. Tarot, TV contests or other media.
• 807: professional services. Psychologists online, doctors,...
• 907: Internet access with extra pricing.

The fourth figure, the first after the prefix, indicates the cost of the call; the higher the number, the more expensive the call is. In any case, the cost of the call will be clearly indicated when the telephone is announced and with a 20-second announcement at the beginning of the call (except for 905, which have a different treatment), without any compensation for the call for these 20 seconds (the support fee is charged). In addition, the invoice must detail the identity of the company.

Telephone numbers with the prefix 905 are also considered premium rate numbers according to the provisions of current legislation that came into force on January 12, 2009.^{[citation required]}

These phones have caused a lot of controversy due to scams and bills of thousands of euros. It is currently being considered that tarot and divination services can be clearly misleading since they do not offer the results they advertise. In fact, many of the workers who answer the lines are not fortune tellers, and the best candidates for these jobs (80x's) are often actors.

Since 2013, abusive practices have been detected by some operators, who unilaterally apply additional rates to telephone numbers that do not have any of the above prefixes, under the pretext that the user uses them as a gateway to connect with other networks (for example www.vodafone.es --> legal and regulatory/tariffs/special pricing). These allegedly abusive practices have already been denounced.