The broadcasting regulator has amended its rule governing the process of seeking a body to run TV viewership ratings after it was blamed for favouring a particular organisation.
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) issued the rule on May 23. This followed a Section 44 order, issued on April 11, that ushered in a programme intended to assist TV digital operators and telecom operators.
The NBTC's rule said the receiver of the budget for handling the TV ratings system must be an organisation that gathers members of licensed digital TV operators.
One of the conditions is that this organisation must be a juristic person which was registered at least three years before the rule was enforced. This condition later caused Channel 7 to lodge a petition at the Administrative Court, saying the rule allowed favourable treatment for a particular organisation.
The only organisation registered three years before the rule came into effect was the Association of Digital TV Operators.
NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said yesterday that he was made aware of the complaint on Sept 20. He called a meeting with an NBTC team to iron out the rule and was informed that the team is adhering to the NBTC law to fund allocation.
Mr Takorn said there was no need to adhere to such a law because the process was following the Section 44 order. The amended rule was posted on the NBTC website yesterday.
"There is no mention of the registered juristic person for three years," Mr Takorn said. "If no one is interested in a year, the NBTC must return the budget of 431 million baht to the government."