23.—(1) A person who fails to provide information in accordance with an information requirement is guilty of an offence and will be liable—
(a)on summary conviction, to a fine in England and Wales, or in Scotland and Northern Ireland to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;
(b)on conviction on indictment, to a fine.
(2) In proceedings against a person (“A”) for an offence under paragraph (1) it is a defence for A to show—
(a)that it was not reasonably practicable for A to comply with the requirement within the period specified by OFCOM; but
(b)that A has taken all reasonable steps to provide the required information after the end of that period.
(3) Proceedings for an offence under paragraph (1) may be brought in respect of a breach by a person of an information requirement only if—
(a)OFCOM have given the person a notification under regulation 19 in respect of that breach;
(b)that notification required a person to provide information;
(c)a confirmation decision has been given under regulation 22 in respect of that requirement;
(d)the period allowed under that decision has expired without the required information having been provided; and
(e)OFCOM have not imposed a financial penalty under regulation 20 in respect of that breach.
(4) A person (“B”) is guilty of an offence if—
(a)in pursuance of any information requirement, B provides any information that is false in any material particular; and
(b)at the time B provides it, B either knows it to be false or is reckless as to whether or not it is false.
(5) A person guilty of an offence under paragraph (4) will be liable—
(a)on summary conviction, to a fine in England and Wales, or in Scotland and Northern Ireland to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;
(b)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine, or both.
(6) Where an offence under this regulation is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of—
(a)a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate; or
(b)a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity,
that person (as well as the body corporate) is guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(7) Where an offence under this regulation—
(a)is committed by a Scottish firm; and
(b)is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a partner of the firm,
that person (as well as the firm) is guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(8) In this regulation, “director”, in relation to a body corporate whose affairs are managed by its members, means a member of the body corporate.