In a move that essentially aims to codify the regulations pertaining to how and when consumers should be incurring the charges of smartphone apps, a consultation has been issued by the UK’s premium-rate regulator PhonepayPlus to the telecoms and digital industries, in an attempt which would chiefly deal with the hidden threats that consumers reportedly receive from malicious apps on smartphones.

Developed by the organisation earlier called ICSTIS, the consultation comes with a warning by PhonepayPlus that gullible customers are being charged by fake smartphone apps, with the scammers specifically targeting the Android-based handsets instead of the iPhone.

Along with codifying the rules for smartphone apps to charge consumers, the consultation issued by PhonepayPlus also includes the provision of a tribunal that will help clamp down on the creators of the supposedly malicious apps.

Launched on September 26, the consultation on app-based mobile payments aims at working out the best way to mitigate the threat of malicious apps and overcharging; with PhonepayPlus already having come across two cases in which smartphone users incurred charges through premium text messages without any warning.

Noting the importance of apps in the context of the UK’s digital scenario, PhonepayPlus said that it is “taking positive action” to make sure that scammers “ do not damage consumers' enjoyment of apps or harm the UK's growing digital creative economy.”