Millions of Australians are still being billed for calls to 1800 numbers after a group of 12 companies, including the telecommunications giant Vodafone, missed the 1 January cut-off to make mobile calls to those numbers free.
The industry set its own deadline to implement the changes in July 2014. Many essential service providers, including Centrelink, Medicare, the Domestic Violence Crisis Line and drug, alcohol and mental health support services, use 1800 numbers to encourage callers to contact them for free.
Chief executive of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, Teresa Corbin, said it was unfair some Australians were still paying for mobile calls to 1800 numbers.
“Recent statistics show that consumers are increasingly reliant on mobile phones for communicating,” she said. “Now that mobiles are the dominant form of communication we’re just asking that these free calls be extended to mobile.”
The network said some customers with Vodafone were being charged 98c a minute for calls to a 1800 number, plus an extra 40c connection fee. This means a two-minute call would cost $2.36.
Vodafone had an estimated 5.2m mobile phone customers in July 2014, accounting for 17% of the mobile phone market in Australia.
Executive director of Financial Counselling Australia, Fiona Guthrie, said it was hugely worrying that some Australians cannot afford to ring for help. “The cost of calling a 1800 number from a mobile is really prohibitive for many low-income consumers,” Guthrie said.
At June 2014, Australia had 31m mobile voice and data services operating. There are about 115,000 1800 numbers.