iTV to await court ruling on fees
Free-to-air broadcaster iTV Plc insists it will not pay the government-contested concession fees until the Supreme Administrative Court rules on the case.
The broadcaster told the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) in a statement yesterday it had replied last Friday to a government demand for claimed past concession fees and penalty payments. On June 23, the Prime Minister's Office demanded immediate payment of concession fees and fines. The office asserted iTV was required to comply with its concession contract following a May 9 Administrative Court ruling. That decision overruled a 2004 arbitration panel decision cutting the annual concession fee to about Bt230 million and allowing the broadcaster to change its prime-time content. The SET filing said the government claim for payment of concession fees was a misinterpretation of the law. The filing cited the Administrative Courts and Administrative Court Procedure Act. It said the act permitted iTV to exhaust all legal avenues before complying with the May 9 ruling. The company added that it had lodged an appeal with the Supreme Administrative Court. The SET filing said the Administrative Court decision was "unenforceable". iTV said that until such time as the decision was enforced or overturned by the Supreme Administrative Court on appeal, the company and the government were required to comply with the 2004 arbitration award.
|
