No, 01 numbers are not free to call from EE telephones, regardless of whether you are a pay-monthly, pay-as-you-go or landline customer. Non-EE customers will also be charged to call 01 numbers as these are geographic numbers rather than freephone helplines.
However free inclusive minutes offered on your EE tariff or rewards bundle can be used to call 01 area code numbers for no additional charge.
Who uses 01 numbers and how much do they cost to phone?
01 numbers are generally registered to a local business or individual in a specific geographical area within the UK, hence they are often referred to as local geographic phone numbers. Calls to these numbers, as well as 02 and 03 numbers, are charged at a standard rate for all telecoms companies including EE. The rules which Ofcom instated in July 2015 also state that inclusive minutes that are offered by EE can be used to call these numbers, so as long as you have minutes remaining on your monthly bundle you can essentially call 01 numbers for free as only your minutes will be used, rather than your monetary balance.