42.— (1) Subject to subsection (5), a postal service provider providing a postal service within the scope of the universal postal service shall give to the Commission at least 3 months’ prior notice in writing of its intention to withdraw such service.

(2) A postal service provider shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that the postal service users concerned are informed of its intention to withdraw a service the subject of a notice to the Commission under subsection (1) in order to mitigate any adverse effect of the withdrawal on postal service users.

(3) The Commission may give a direction to a postal service provider for the purposes of subsection (2).

(4) A person who fails to comply with subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a class A fine.

(5) This section does not apply to a universal postal service provider in the provision of a universal postal service.