Postal Services Act 2011

46 Contributions for meeting burden

(1) This section applies where the Secretary of State has directed OFCOM to require contributions to be made for meeting some or all of the burden concerned.

(2) The contributions are to be made by either or both of the following—

(a) postal operators providing services within the scope of the universal postal service,

(b) users of services within the scope of the universal postal service (by way of the charges paid by them).

(3) OFCOM may determine that the contributions under this section are to be made only by a description of postal operator or user.

(4) The assessment, collection and distribution of the contributions must be carried out in accordance with a mechanism provided for in a scheme contained in regulations made by OFCOM.

(5) OFCOM must exercise their power to make the regulations in a way they consider will secure the operation of the scheme—

(a) in an objective, proportionate and transparent way,

(b) in a way that does not involve, or tend to give rise to, any undue discrimination against particular postal operators (or a particular description of postal operators) or particular users (or a particular description of users), and

(c) in a way that avoids, or (if that is impracticable) minimises, any distortion of competition.

(6) The regulations may provide for—

(a) the scheme, and

(b) any fund set up for the purposes of the scheme,

to be administered by OFCOM or some other person specified in the regulations.

(7) A person may be specified only if OFCOM are satisfied as to the person’s independence of both—

(a) universal service providers, and

(b) postal operators providing postal services within the scope of the universal postal service.

(8) The regulations may not be made unless—

(a) the Secretary of State has consented to the making of them and

(b) a draft of the statutory instrument containing them has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.