NBTC plans legal action on Bangkok Bank over Thai TV
THE NATIONAL Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission is planning to file a lawsuit in the Central Administrative Court against Bangkok Bank to claim a Bt1.7-billion bank guarantee for Thai TV Co, after the bank’s no-show on deadline day this past M
In parallel with this move, Sombat Leelapata, director of the NBTC’s legal department, said yesterday that his administration was also drafting a letter to notify the Bank of Thailand about the what he called the failure of Bangkok Bank to take responsibility as Thai TV’s financial guarantor, after the regulator decided to revoke two digital-TV operating licences following the company’s refusal to pay the second instalment of its upfront licence fees since late last year.
In addition, the broadcasting committee of the NBTC ordered Thai TV to pay the remaining five instalments worth Bt1.63 billion, plus value-added tax, as well as the unpaid annual licence fees and a daily fine of Bt60,000.
The company had been licensed to broadcast Thai TV news channel 17 and Loca Family channel 15, which was later renamed MVTV Family.
“Being the national regulator in the financial sector, the Bank of Thailand has to get informed about this issue, which potentially has an impact on the collection of state revenue,” Sombat stressed.
Following the notification to the central bank, it is believed that the NBTC expects to receive a constructive response from the national financial regulator. Even though Bangkok Bank revealed earlier that it had already set aside enough reserves to cover the Thai TV case, it failed to show up on April 18 to pay the guaranteed amount, which was the deadline set by the NBTC.
The NBTC decided to give a 15-day deadline by issuing a written notification to Bangkok Bank after the Central Administrative Court refused to issue a temporary injunction sought by Thai TV to protect it from the watchdog’s claim to the Bt1.748-billion bank guarantee.
