Telecoms in for new probe
The Assets Examination Committee (AEC) will decide next Wednesday whether to investigate the "unfair" excise-duty treatment given to private telecoms.
Representatives from the labour unions of TOT and CAT Telecom filed a joint complaint with the AEC yesterday against the amendment to the Excise Tax Act of 2003 by the government of Thaksin Shinawatra.The change allowed private telecoms on state concessions to deduct their excise payments from their revenue-sharing payments to TOT and CAT, leaving the two state enterprises with reduced incomes. AEC spokesman Sak Korsaengruang said the committee had appointed its member Banjerd Singkaneti to scrutinise the legal merits of the complaint and forward his findings by Wednesday. The AEC also appointed Kaewsan Atibodhi and Amnuay Thantara to find more information about the procurement of fire-fighting equipment by the Interior Ministry. Sak said AEC chairman Nam Yimyaem had also questioned 11 AEC members over reports that some panel members had met associates of Thaksin at a Japanese restaurant to accept bribes for not prosecuting him. All 11 denied that they had done so. Budsarakham Sinlapalavan The Nation
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