57Licence fees

57 Licence fees

57 Licence fees

(1) The holder of a licence must in each year pay to the appropriate regulatory authority, before the date prescribed by the regulations for the purpose, annual licence fees prescribed by or determined under the regulations.

(2) The regulations may make provision for or with respect to the payment of annual licence fees by instalments.

(3) If an annual licence fee is to be determined by the appropriate regulatory authority under the regulations, the appropriate regulatory authority must, not less than one month before the date prescribed for payment of the fee, notify the holder of the licence of the fee so determined.

(4) If the holder of a licence fails to pay an annual licence fee in accordance with this section, the appropriate regulatory authority may, by notice in writing, require the holder to make good the default and, in addition, to pay to the appropriate regulatory authority in accordance with the notice an additional amount prescribed as a penalty for default.

(5) If a fee or other amount due and payable under this Act or the regulations in relation to a licence is unpaid, the appropriate regulatory authority—

(a) may recover the fee or other amount from the current holder of the licence (or the last holder of the licence if the licence has ceased to be in force), or

(b) may recover that part of the fee or other amount that relates to a period for which an earlier holder of the licence held the licence from that earlier holder,

as a debt.

(6) This section does not apply to licences of a prescribed class or description.

(7) Nothing in this section precludes the regulations from requiring payment of the first or other specified licence fee in respect of a shorter or longer period than 12 months. In that case, a reference in this Act to an annual fee is to be construed accordingly.

Note.

Schedule 2 contains regulation-making powers with respect to the amount of fees, including provision relating to the scheme known as “load-based licensing”.

s 57: Am 1999 No 31, Sch 1.37 [1]; 2005 No 96, Sch 1 [11].