How the State makes a killing out of premium phone lines: MPs' outrage as 'vulnerable' taxpayers calling for help rack up a £56million bill Almost two thirds of calls fielded by the Government are premium rate Victim Support, HMRC and the Department for Work and Pensions use them Almost half the total was generated while callers waste their time on hold MPs have demanded that new rules are established to protect callers The Government was last night accused of profiting from "vulnerable" people by forcing them to phone premium-rate numbers. A damning investigation has found that more than 100million calls to State-backed offices by crime victims, pensioners, the recently bereaved and students were to high-rate numbers charging up to 35p a minute. MPs condemned the practice - which cost callers £56million in 2012/13 - as it was revealed that even the Department for Work and Pensions, a bereavement service and the largely government-funded charity Victim Support were using the premium-rate numbers. Frustration: Premium numbers for calling public bodies are costing the taxpayer millions - almost half of which is wasted waiting on hold Nearly two thirds of calls fielded by government organisations were made to the higher-rate 0845 numbers, a Commons committee found. Only 40 out of the 365 customer phone lines are free to use. Anyone who phones a government line to report the death of a spouse for tax or benefits purposes pays premium rates, while the Student Loans Company also uses the numbers, saying that doing away with them would cost it £1million in revenue. Almost half the £56million was generated while callers were on hold, waiting to speak to advisers. Last night Margaret Hodge, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, said: "Customers of government services should be able to contact these services easily and cheaply. Charging customers higher rates by making them use 0845 or other high-rate numbers is not acceptable, especially when the customers are often vulnerable. Pocketed by the taxman: HMRC was held up as an example of 'astonishingly bad' customer service, keeping callers on hold for an average of seven minutes She said the Cabinet Office had to urgently establish rules for charging, adding: "There should be low-cost alternatives for all services used by a lot of vulnerable people." Callers should also be informed of the costs involved in phoning particular numbers, her committee concluded. Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: "It's ridiculous that people face a bumper bill to call a public body, especially when they have to wait on hold. Almost 60,000 people have supported our Costly Calls campaign for all companies and public bodies to provide either freephone or local rate numbers for their customer service and complaints lines. This practice has been costing cash-strapped consumers millions of pounds. 'Not acceptable': Public Accounts Committee chairman Margaret Hodge said new rules were urgently needed The committee also found that many departments were "astonishingly bad" at answering calls. HMRC answered only 16 per cent of the calls it received on its tax credits helpline on the deadline day for notifying the department of changes of circumstances. Customers to the tax department were put on hold for an average of seven minutes. The Cabinet Office told the committee that the current situation was unacceptable. It has set up a working group to define new rules for premium-rate numbers within government. Outside central government, NHS trusts and GPs have also faced criticism for using premium-rate numbers. Mrs Hodge said that one of her East London constituents spent £30 to make an appointment for her 30-year-old disabled son with a GP. She added: "I don't know how many calls she had to make. That is a shocker. Jeff Gardner, head of Victim Support's help line, said: "We are currently looking at ways of reducing the cost to people calling Victim Support's support line." A DWP spokesman said: "The DWP provides free telephone numbers (0800) for all of our claim lines. The DWP does not earn any revenue from 0845 numbers.