11.— The Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after section 13E:

“13F.— (1) The Commission may at any time, by notice in writing, require a postal service provider to provide it with such written information as, subject to subsection (3), it considers necessary to enable it to carry out its functions and, in particular, for any of the following purposes:

(a) establishing compliance by the postal service provider with the obligations imposed on it by or under the Communications Regulation Acts 2002 to 2011;

(b) making a designation under section 17 or 18 of the Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act 2011;

(c) conducting a review for any of the purposes of the said section 17 or 18;

(d) assessing the contribution (if any) to be made by a postal service provider to a sharing mechanism established under section 36 of the Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act 2011;

(e) assessing the contribution to be made by a postal service provider to the administration costs of the Commission under section 30(2);

(f) statistical purposes.

(2) A requirement made under subsection (1) shall—

(a) specify the information required, and

(b) state the purposes for which that information is required, including, where relevant, the statistical purposes for which that information is required.

(3) The nature and extent of the information, the subject of a requirement made under subsection (1), shall be proportionate to the use to which the information is to be put by the Commission in the performance of its functions.

(4) Information shall be provided by a postal service provider pursuant to a requirement made under subsection (1) in such form and manner and within such reasonable period as may be specified by the Commission in the notice.

(5) A postal service provider commits an offence if it—

(a) fails to comply with a requirement made under subsection (1) within the period specified in the notice or within such extended period as the Commission allows, or

(b) in purporting to comply with such a requirement, provides to the Commission information that the postal service provider knows to be false or misleading in a material respect.

(6) In proceedings for an offence under subsection (5) involving a failure by a postal service provider to comply with a requirement made under subsection (1), it is a defence if the postal service provider establishes—

(a) that it did not know and could not be reasonably expected to know or ascertain the required information, or

(b) that the disclosure of the information was prohibited by any enactment or rule of law.

(7) A postal service provider who commits an offence under subsection (5) is liable on summary conviction to a class A fine.

(8) (a) The Commission shall give to the European Commission, upon request, appropriate and relevant information necessary for it to carry out its tasks under the Directive (within the meaning of section 6 of the Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act 2011).

(b) Nothing in section 24(1) shall prevent the disclosure of confidential information (within the meaning of section 24) by the Commission to the European Commission under this subsection.”.