§ Mr. Walkdenasked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that telephone subscribers in non-automatic districts when making a number engaged call in an automatic exchange area have sometimes to wait five minutes before the local operator announces number engaged; and whether he will give an assurance that in such cases if upon hearing the engaged signal a subscriber immediately replaces his receiver he will not be charged for the call.
§ Mr. Wilfred Paling:Under our standard practice, the operator should notify the calling subscriber of number engaged, within a few seconds; but I regret that this advice may occasionally be delayed during periods of heavy traffic. I can give the hon. Member an assurance that the subscriber is not charged for the call if he replaces his receiver immediately on hearing the engaged signal.