The Administrative Court's injunction disallowing the broadcasting regulator from claiming an additional bank guarantee from Thai TV Co is just a normal procedure as the legal battle between the two is not over, an expert says.
The court on Thursday granted the injunction to delay the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) from claiming additional guarantees from Bangkok Bank, the guarantee issuer for Thai TV.
The NBTC has already claimed Thai TV's bank guarantee totalling 500 million baht for the second and third instalments of auction fees for the ailing company's two digital TV channels -- Loca and Thai TV.
Piyabutr Bunaramrueang, deputy dean of Faculty of Law, University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said it was not surprising to see the court issue the injunction to protect Thai TV's bank guarantee.
"The damage caused by the channel licence revocation is not too vast and the NBTC can still wait for some time to receive the final court ruling and redeem the whole bank guarantee," he said.
Thai TV Co, led by media veteran Pantipa Sakulchai, defaulted on the second auction fee instalment in May 2015. Thai TV is the first operator throwing in the towel for its digital TV business as it faced huge losses of 300 million baht.
The two channels permanently stopped broadcasting in December 2016 while their licences have already been revoked.
The regulator is in a lengthy court battle against Thai TV as it wants to redeem the 1.97-billion-baht bank guarantee placed by the debt-ridden company. Thai TV is required to pay the remaining auction fees with interest worth 1.78 billion baht to the NBTC.
Under the NBTC's rules, any digital TV channel wishing to end its business and return the licence is still required to pay the remaining auction fees in full.
In the case of Thai TV, when its two channel licences were revoked, the company was liable to pay the remaining auction fees. The NBTC will therefore move forward to redeem the guarantee claims to pay for the fourth, fifth and sixth instalments of auction fees.
Thai TV itself also sued the NBTC for failing to facilitate the digital TV transition, contributing to its financial losses and lower viewership figures.
Mr Piyabutr said other digital TV channel operators have attempted to solve their financial problems, with some improving their content to serve audience demand, as well as bringing in new investors to raise additional funds.
"I don't think the case of Thai TV Co will set a precedent for the digital TV business, as the other digital TV channels will try their best to survive," he said.