The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) is considering better ways to probe alleged irregularities in individual licence fee payments of set-top box firms.
The move comes after regulators discovered set-top box makers were trying to avoid paying the full amount of licence fees, said Sombat Leelapatta, acting deputy secretary-general of the NBTC.
He said set-top box makers had avoided paying licence fees by using subsidiaries or proxy companies to apply for licences from the NBTC for broadcasting services such as selling set-top boxes.
The proxy companies reported annual revenue much lower than the actual take, Mr Sombat said, adding that some companies claimed revenue of just 1 million baht a year.
The NBTC's broadcasting committee is also considering charging a licence fee for companies that sell only set-top boxes, as the business is categorised as a broadcasting service.
"It's unfair for small broadcasting companies who have completely complied with our rules and are paying fees, while those large firms are avoiding the payments," Mr Sombat said.
The NBTC estimates it could realise annual licence fees for set-top boxes of more than 120 million baht a year, based on research by a consulting firm that said sales of set-top boxes could reach 3 billion baht a year.
The broadcasting panel yesterday also considered clarification of the must-have rule in order to ease conditions for the industry.
For instance, global sport events that must be aired on free TV may be allowed to broadcast via the cable and satellite TV platforms.
The current rules state that global sporting events must be aired only through free TV.
The must-have rule encompasses seven sporting events — the SEA Games, Asean Para Games, Asian Games, Asian Para Games, Olympics, Paralympics and final round of the Fifa World Cup.
The NBTC has also floated an idea to widen the criteria of set-top box vouchers to redemption for satellite and cable TV set-top boxes rather than merely the digital terrestrial system.
The possible inclusion of satellite and cable is in response to slower-than-expected redemption rates for the digital vouchers.
So far, 2.6 million vouchers have been redeemed after the NBTC distributed up to 7 million.
The vouchers distributed in the first batch will be valid for redemption on May 31.
Mr Sombat said the NBTC would start distributing the fourth batch of vouchers for set-top boxes on Jan 28, with 600,000 vouchers going to households in Buri Ram, Surin, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Trang provinces.