Explanatory note

This Order is made under section 8 of the Electronic Communications Act 2000 and amends the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971 (the 1971 Act) so as to make provision for orders to be placed electronically for directory entries.

Section 3 of the 1971 Act provides that a directory publisher may not lawfully demand payment in respect of a directory entry without first having obtained from the prospective purchaser one of two alternative forms of agreement, in written paper form, to the charge to be made for the entry. If a publisher demands payment or asserts a present or prospective right to payment without knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the directory entry was ordered in accordance with the provisions of section 3, then he commits an offence.

This Order provides that the publisher will comply with section 3 of the 1971 Act if he receives an electronic communication in the prescribed form from the person seeking to place an entry, on the condition that, before the electronic communication is transmitted by that person, the publisher has communicated specified information to that person.

A Regulatory Impact Assessment has been drawn up by the Department of Trade and Industry and is available from the Consumer Affairs Directorate of the Department of Trade and Industry, Room 420, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET, telephone 020 7215 5014. Copies have been placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament.