http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/209324/anger_at_dvla_phone_profits.html

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Drivers are being fleeced when they ring the 0870 numbers to get basic information, as calls can cost 8p a minute. Since 2003, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has raked in nearly £9million from motorists.

The Driving Standards Agency – which administers tests for learners – made an extra £2.75million in rev­enue over the same period, while the Vehicle and Operator Stan­dards Agency generated £81,000.

The figures emerged in a Parlia­mentary question from Conserv­ative transport spokesman Owen Paterson. He said: “This is a rip-off, another stealth tax.” A spokesman defended the DVLA’s use of the lines, claiming: “The 0870 numbers help prevent some customers benefiting from living near our Swansea HQ.”

The saynoto0870 group campaigns for public bodies to ditch costly premium lines. It told us: “It’s appall­ing. The DVLA knows you have to call.”
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..... (off-topic)

however the DVLA takes seriously the issue of snot:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/EDITORIAL/CARS/news/35197.html

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The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) changed its entire number plate licensing policy earlier this year in case people were offended by the prefix SN07, which it was feared could be misread as SNOT.

All Scottish plates begin with an S, and SN07 had been due to follow SN56 for all cars registered in Edinburgh in March.

Fearing that SN07 could leave them open to a stream of gags, as well as putting off potential buyers, the DVLA instead issued plates that began with TN07.

'It is our policy that any registration mark that can be construed as being offensive to people will be suppressed,' said a DVLA spokesman (same spokesman perhaps?).

'In this case, the SN07 marks would have been too similar to the word 'snot' and, as that could possibly offend some buyers, they were replaced with the new TN07 registrations.'
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idb wrote on Jul 17^th, 2007 at 11:42pm:

.. 'In this case, the SN07 marks would have been too similar to the word 'snot' and, as that could possibly offend some buyers, they were replaced with the new TN07 registrations.'

What utter tripe.

The only word it looks vaguely like is the inoffensive snoz, given that a 7 is like a Z apart from the missing bottom bar.

Its strange that the DVLA don't seem to have the same worries about causing public offence over using covert premium rate phone lines!

NGMsGhost wrote on Jul 18^th, 2007 at 12:34am:

What utter tripe.

You really couldn't make this up. There is some bureaucrat sitting in Swansea who actually decided that this was a real issue that needed to be addressed.