{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/communications-act-2003/schedule-16A/paragraph-4",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/communications-act-2003/schedule-16A/paragraph-4.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/2003/21",
  "legislation_title": "Communications Act 2003",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/communications-act-2003",
  "path": "schedule/16A/paragraph/4",
  "kind": "paragraph",
  "number": "4",
  "heading": "Maximum amount of penalties: group of entities",
  "text": "(1) This paragraph contains modifications of paragraph 3 where, in accordance with Schedule 16B, two or more entities are jointly and severally liable for a penalty.\n(2) Sub-paragraphs (3) to (6) of this paragraph apply instead of paragraph 3(1) to (4).\n(3) If the entities do not include the BBC or S4C, the maximum amount of the penalty for which the entities are liable is whichever is the greater of—\n(a) £250,000, and\n(b) 5% of the qualifying worldwide revenue of the group of entities that consists of—\n(i) the entity to which the confirmation decision or the penalty notice relates (“entity E”), and\n(ii) every other entity which (at the time the confirmation decision or the penalty notice is given) is a group undertaking in relation to entity E.\n(4) In any case other than that described in sub-paragraph (3), the maximum amount of the penalty for which the entities are liable is £250,000.\n(5) In sub-paragraph (3)(b), the reference to the qualifying worldwide revenue of a group of entities is to—\n(a) the amount of the group’s qualifying worldwide revenue for the most recent complete accounting period of the entities liable for the penalty, or\n(b) if the first accounting period of the entities liable for the penalty has not yet ended, the amount that OFCOM estimate to be the group’s likely qualifying worldwide revenue for that period.\n(6) In a case where the accounting periods of the entities liable for the penalty are different—\n(a) the reference in sub-paragraph (5)(a) to the accounting period of the entities is to be read as a reference to the accounting period of any of the entities (at OFCOM’s discretion), and\n(b) sub-paragraph (5)(b) is to apply as if—\n(i) for “the first accounting period of the entities” there were substituted “the first accounting period of all the entities”, and\n(ii) for “that period” there were substituted “the accounting period of any of the entities (at OFCOM’s discretion)”.\n(7) Sub-paragraphs (5) to (7) of paragraph 3 are to be read with necessary modifications for the purposes of this paragraph.\n(8) In this paragraph—\n“accounting period”, in relation to an entity, means a period in respect of which accounts are prepared in relation to that entity;\n“group undertaking” has the meaning given by section 1161(5) of the Companies Act 2006.\n(9) For the purposes of this paragraph, sections 1161(5) and 1162 of, and Schedule 7 to, the Companies Act 2006—\n(a) are to apply in relation to an entity which is not an undertaking (as defined in section 1161(1) of that Act) as they apply in relation to an undertaking, and\n(b) are to be read with any necessary modifications if applied to an entity formed under the law of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Sch. 16A inserted (23.8.2024) by Media Act 2024 (c. 15), s. 55(3)(g), Sch. 10; S.I. 2024/858, reg. 2(1)(z4)"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/21/schedule/16A/paragraph/4",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T09:18:16.154105+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}