NTC refuses to lower TOT's late fee

The Nation (30 November 2007)

The board of the national telecom regulator has refused to lower the overdue regulatory fee owed by TOT.

National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) secretary-general Suranan Wongvithayakamjorn yesterday said the board suggested that TOT consult with the Finance Ministry to see whether a reduction of the overdue fee is possible.

By usual practice, after spending on administrative expenses, the NTC will return all the remaining regulatory fees to the Finance Ministry, which owns 100 per cent of TOT.

TOT paid only Bt1.055 billion in fees to the NTC last year out of a total of Bt1.649 billion, citing the heavy financial burden from the telecom excise duty.

The government of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra imposed the excise on all state and private telecom operators in 2003. It was terminated by the Surayud Chulanont government early this year.

Suranan said CAT Telecom had also made a similar appeal to the NTC.

He added that the board, which has yet to take the CAT's appeal into consideration, was expected to deliver a similar decision as in the TOT case.

CAT paid a regulatory fee of Bt519 million to the NTC last year out of a total of Bt645 million that was due.