OK maybe I should have said 'being provided with', however, some operators of civil IFR flights in class G are 'required' by their Ops Manuals to be provided with RAS for arrival and departure, so 'placing' them under RAS on first contact is SOP.
The pilot does NOT need to actually request a particular type of service (some RAF pilots demand rather than request anyway) but it must be a tacit pilot/controller agreement as to what type of service is acceptable to both parties.