§ Mr. FORRESTasked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that in the rural district of Goole, Yorkshire, notwithstanding the message-rate system of charging having been adopted, telephone subscribers are now being asked to pay for many calls per annum more than used in spite of paragraph 5 of a circular notice issued to subscribers when notice was given to terminate their old agreements?
§ Mr. KELLAWAYThe question appears to relate to an exchange provided at Reedness, near Goole, in 1920, to meet the requirements of two residents in the neighbourhood. In the ordinary course an exchange would not have been provided there; but, as the rentals for exchange lines to Goole would have been prohibitive and a call office existed at Reedness, rentals were assessed specially for connexions with the call office. The subscribers were given the benefit of the maximum number of local calls permissible under the old measured rate, subject to the proviso that no rebate would be allowed for unused calls. The original agreements have been allowed to stand up to the present, as the question of the method of assessing rentals for small rural exchanges is under review, and it is unlikely that more favourable terms could be quoted under the new tariff.