The Supreme Administrative Court's verdict on Monday is the latest bombshell to hit the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC). The higher court overruled a lower court decision to throw out a lawsuit filed by a consumer group against the telecom watchdog regarding the merger of True Corporation and Total Access Communication (DTAC).
The Foundation for Consumers filed its complaint with the Central Administrative Court on March 8, seeking a court order to scrap the NBTC's resolution regarding the merger that was approved in late 2022.
However, the court dismissed the complaint based on the fact it had passed its deadline. According to administrative court law, the filing had to be lodged within 90 days of the publication of the resolution in order to be valid.
The foundation subsequently appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court, which overturned the ruling on Monday. It also ordered the lower court to accept the case for reconsideration.
The court's verdict raises questions about the decision-making process of the NBTC board that approved the True-DTAC merger last year.
Regardless of the outcome of this reinitiated lawsuit at the lower court, the verdict is already negatively affecting the telecom industry. Monday's ruling begs several questions.
What would happen if the lower court disqualified the regulator's approval? Is this fair?
But the biggest question is whether the NBTC has done enough to protect consumers' rights.
The NBTC board that approved the merger prescribed remedies to regulate the move. One of these states that the merged company, True Corp, needs to reduce its fee by 12% from this June.
While True Corp has reportedly provided many additional perks for consumers, it is unclear if these are part of the reduced fee that has been called for.
Meanwhile, the Foundation for Consumers said many consumers have complained about the low service quality related to telecom products, as well as the lack of market alternatives, given there are just two dominant players.
It is the NBTC's duty to take these complaints seriously and verify whether the merger has indeed affected the price and quality of said products.
Above all, the regulator -- which last year played a key role in letting the merger go ahead despite warnings from economists about a possible trade monopoly -- needs to launch a monitoring campaign to watch out for a trade monopoly and its impact on consumers.
In short, the regulator must heed the court's verdict. The upper court's ruling clearly explains that telecoms are a basic service which affects people's daily lives.
The industry requires huge investments but only has a small number of players. The merging of telecom operators could, therefore, have a major impact on market competition.
Indeed, the court's ruling is in line with the spirit of the NBTC, which celebrated the 12th anniversary of its founding last month.
Yet, the idea behind the creation of the regulator was to break up a monopoly and ensure fair competition because two decades ago, the telecom industry in Thailand was dominated by two players and consumers at that time were left with no choice.
The current board of the NBTC must keep nourishing market competition and ensure consumers are well taken care of.