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CA's decision on non-payment of free TV licence's provisional variable fee by ATV
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The following is issued on behalf of the Communications Authority:

     The Communications Authority (CA) considered another case of non-compliance of Asia Television Limited (ATV) with the relevant statutory and licence requirements arising from its failure to pay the provisional variable fee of its domestic free television programme service licence (free TV licence) for the licence year 2014-15 in accordance with the stipulated deadline.

     Under the Broadcasting (Licence Fees) Regulation (Cap. 562A) (Broadcasting Regulation), ATV shall pay to the CA a provisional amount of the variable fee of its free TV licence not later than 60 days after the commencement of the licence year (i.e. by January 30, 2015, for the licence year 2014-15). ATV failed to settle the above-mentioned fee by the deadline stipulated in the Broadcasting Regulation. Despite the issue of a demand note and a reminder by the Office of the Communications Authority to ATV, to date, ATV still has not made payment for the outstanding licence fee.

     Having considered the circumstances of the case and the representations of ATV, the CA considered that ATV's failure to settle the provisional variable fee by the deadline stipulated in the Broadcasting Regulation was a clear breach of the statutory provisions and licence condition on licence fee payment. This is the third occasion in a space of three years that ATV has breached the relevant provisions in the Broadcasting Ordinance (BO) (Cap. 562) and its free TV licence.

     The CA took a very serious view over such a repeated contravention by ATV. Indeed, since early January 2015, a month before the provisional variable fee fell due, the CA has in the context of ATV's non-payment of the fixed fee of its free TV licence and annual fee of its fixed carrier licence clearly emphasised to ATV that it had a fundamental duty to pay licence fees on time and the serious consequence for breaches relating to payment of licence fees. Notwithstanding the CA's warnings, ATV did not pay the provisional variable fee on time and committed repeated breaches of the same requirement.

     In view of the severity, nature and duration of the contravention, the CA decided that a financial penalty of $100,000 should be imposed on ATV for its breach of Condition 14.1 of ATV's free TV licence, section 13(1) of Schedule 4 to the BO and section 3(2) of Schedule 1 to the Broadcasting Regulation.

     The CA also decided to reject ATV's application dated January 30, 2015, for deferral of the payment of the provisional variable fee of its free TV licence to February 27, 2015. Taking into account its representations, the CA directed ATV to settle in full the outstanding provisional variable fee on or before February 18, 2015, the same date by which the CA has directed ATV on February 2, 2015, to pay the first instalment of the outstanding fixed fee of its free TV licence and annual fee of its fixed carrier licence. The CA has put ATV on notice that any failure of ATV to comply with the said direction to pay the outstanding provisional variable fee by the deadline set would lead to the CA imposing further sanctions on ATV, including the possibility of the CA invoking the licence revocation procedures in accordance with the BO.

Ends/Thursday, February 12, 2015
Issued at HKT 17:26

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