48.—(1) A person shall not be liable for any payment and shall be entitled to recover any payment made by him by way of charge for including or arranging for the inclusion in a directory of an entry relating to that person or his trade or business, unless an order or note complying with this section has been signed by him or on his behalf and, in the case of a note of agreement to the charge, a copy was supplied to him for retention before the note was signed.

(2) An order for an entry in a directory must be made by means of an order form or other stationery belonging to the person to whom, or to whose trade or business, the entry is to relate and bearing in print the name and address (or one or more of the addresses) of that person, and the note of a person’s agreement to a charge must state the amount of the charge immediately above the place for signature, and

(a) must identify the directory or proposed directory and state—

(i) the proposed date of publication of the directory or of the issue in which the entry is to be included and the name and address of the person producing it,

(ii) if the directory or that issue is to be put on sale, the price at which it is to be offered for sale and the minimum number of copies which are to be available for sale, and

(iii) if the directory or that issue is to be distributed free (whether or not it is also to be put on sale) the minimum number of copies which are to be distributed and

(b) must give reasonable particulars of the entry in respect of which the charge would be payable.

(3) A person shall be guilty of an offence if he demands payment, or asserts a present or prospective right to payment, of a charge referred to in subsection (1), or takes any action in furtherance of a demand for payment, without knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the entry to which the charge relates was ordered in accordance with this section or that a proper note of agreement has been duly signed.

(4) In this section “directory” does not include the alphabetical F31[directories] issued by the F31[Bord Telecom Éireann].