New European tariff

mcdonn

Hi, I have noted on the BBC website call charges should be limited across europe to no more than 23p per min for calls as of 1st July 2012. I got a txt from Vodafone yesterday telling me the charges in Rep of Ireland would be 28.8p per min. Now even if you factor in VAT (I am thinking it is 20%) that should mean the maximumm they can charge is 27.6p per min.
I went onto the Vodafone site and the Vodafone rep said that the charges had not kicked in yet. Can anyone clarify if Vodafone are correct?

NFH

Vodafone are incorrect. The maximum they can charge for an outgoing roaming call from an EEA country is €0.29 x 0.7999 x 1.20 = £0.2783652 per minute including VAT. They are not allowed to round up this charge.

mcdonn

Thanks - I reckon they have done more than round up as the cost is 28.8ppm Are they wrong about when it should kick in too?

NFH

mcdonn wrote: »

Thanks - I reckon they have done more than round up as the cost is 28.8ppm Are they wrong about when it should kick in too?

Yes, Orange have similarly set all their published charges at higher than is allowed. Vodafone are indeed wrong about when it should take effect.

See this other thread on a similar topic regarding data.

Ofcom are the enforcement authority for this, who took action last time I reported an overcharge in breach of the EU regulations. However, Ofcom won't take action this time until someone is overcharged. Advertising high charges (without actually overcharging a customer) does not breach the regulations.

mcdonn

Thanks NFH, well I haven't been overcharged but maybe someone else has and hasn't noticed. Is there any point in me bringing it to Ofcom's attention?

NFH

mcdonn wrote: »

Is there any point in me bringing it to Ofcom's attention?

No, because they're not interested until someone has actually been overcharged. They have no power to investigate advertised prices, and they will simply refer you to the Advertising Standards Authority.

digp

In that case, perhaps report it to the ASA?

NFH

digp wrote: »

In that case, perhaps report it to the ASA?

I'm not sure if the ASA would be interested if a business is advertising a higher price than they are charging or than they are meant to be charging.

simax

The operators are not incorrect at all.

One thing you have to bear in mind is that the European roaming rate caps are set in Euros, not Pounds Sterling. The operators in the UK are allowed to choose a date that they "fix" the exchange rate for the purpose of converting the cents/minute or MB to pence/minute or MB.

Hence the slight variance. If the exchange rate fluctuates wildy then we may benefit or suffer depending on which way it goes.

NFH

simax wrote: »

The operators are not incorrect at all.

One thing you have to bear in mind is that the European roaming rate caps are set in Euros, not Pounds Sterling. The operators in the UK are allowed to choose a date that they "fix" the exchange rate for the purpose of converting the cents/minute or MB to pence/minute or MB.

Where do you get this drivel from? Did you research this before posting such utter rubbish?

The European Commission press release states clearly "Currency exchange rates are calculated based on the rates published in the EU Official Journal on 1 June 2012 and will be revised annually"; the EUR/GBP rate is clearly stated as 0.7999. The Wikipedia article on this subject gives a history of previous exchange rates with links to the EU Official Journal for each date.

simax

Well if you believe it is wrong, then make your voice heard. However I for one have better things to worry about than 1p/min difference.....