The government does not intend to bring in legislation to stop telecom firms charging customers by the minute rather than the second, economic affairs minister Maxime Verhagen is quoted as saying in the Telegraaf.

It is up to companies themselves to decide how to charge customers and customers have free choice of providers, Verhagen said.
KPN and Vodafone have been heavily criticised for moving to pay per minute systems and have since backtracked on the plans.
Verhagen said he would follow developments closely.
Earlier this month, European telecoms commissioner Neelie Kroes told a tv show the practice of rounding up mobile phone calls to the nearest minute, rather than charging per second, breaks EU rules.