Part 3: Enforcement of consumer protection law False or misleading information Section 197: Provisional false information enforcement notice
This section, in conjunction with section 198, gives discretionary power to the CMA to enforce against the provision of materially false or misleading information provided to it in connection with the exercise of its direct enforcement functions under Chapter 4 of Part 3 of this Act or under paragraph 16B or 16C of Schedule 5 to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (as inserted by paragraph 2 of Schedule 17 to this Act).
	The CMA’s power under this section may be used where, for example, the CMA has reasonable grounds to believe that it has been given, without reasonable excuse, materially false or misleading information in written representations on a provisional infringement notice, during an oral hearing, or in response to proposed undertakings or proposed material variations of undertakings.
	Subsection (1) sets out the circumstances in which the CMA may give a provisional false information enforcement notice under subsection (2).
	The provisional false information enforcement notice must specify certain details (subsection (3)), including:
the information in question and why the CMA believes that it is materially false or misleading,
the CMA’s reasons for proposing a monetary penalty and its proposed amount,
the representation process that applies. If the respondent thinks that their circumstances warrant oral representations, the CMA must arrange for an oral hearing and this opportunity must be specified in the provisional false information enforcement notice (subsection (4)).