The National Council for Peace and Order on Wednesday invoked Section 44 to impose a three-year debt moratorium to help digital TV operators struggling to pay their licence fees to the telecom and broadcasting regulator.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, in his capacity as head of the NCPO, issued order No 9/2018 under Section 44 to establish a debt moratorium of up to three years for the operators, who owe the National Broadasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) billions of baht in unpaid licence fees.
The announcement was published in the Royal Gazette on Wednesday.
The NBTC earlier warned digital TV operators to submit their fifth licence payments today, or face having their channels blacked out after a 120-day warning period.
The operators argued that they could not afford to pay the instalment, but the NBTC reaffirmed that the operators must pay by the due date, as Section 44 had not been invoked to ease their financial burdens.
According to the Association of Digital Television Broadcasting, most digital TV operators are unable to pay and were expecting Section 44 to be invoked before the deadline.
The association said most operators cannot pay the combined 4.8 billion baht for the fifth term. It asked the government for additional assistance to ease operators’ financial burden.
The rescue package includes a three-year moratorium on unpaid licence fees and a 50% reduction in ground network fees for 24 months. Digital TV operators have already paid licence fees of 34 billion baht, or 68% of the licence payment total.
There are 22 digital TV channels run by 15 companies, down from the initial 24 channels and 17 companies, after two Thai TV channels exited the business and are still locked in disputes with the NBTC at the Supreme Administrative Court.
While the fifth payment of the digital TV licence amounts to 4.8 billion baht, the fee varies by type of channel and payment terms.
The use of Section 44 to invoke debt relief comes amid concern that digital TV operators may feel increasingly "in the pocket" of the military government.