“ZD; So why doesn’t the hotline rabbi tell the caller he cannot answer and he must consult his local rabbi.”
Maybe he assumes that the person doesn’t have a local Rav to ask, or he would have asked him in the first place and not turned to a hotline.
Remember, he has no idea who this person is and whom he would be asking if he hadn’t called the hotline (Reform “rabbi” perhaps), or if he has no one else to ask.