SA's two pay-television operators now face a tribunal process after they were issued with compliance notices by the National Consumer Commission (NCC) last month.
Digital satellite television operator MultiChoice and newcomer TopTV were issued with compliance notices on 13 October, compelling them to review respective customer offerings in terms of section 13 of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA).
Commissioner for the NCC Mamodupi Mohlala said, at the time, consumers had the right to choose and “if goods are bundled, consumers must derive economic benefit from buying the bundle”.
In terms of the CPA, said Mohlala, the two entities would have to revise their packages and consider finer categorisation of channels, according to specific genres, as well as offer individually priced channels to customers, rather than just channel bouquets or “bundles” as they are currently doing.
Both operators refuted the notices, and the matter will now head to the National Consumer Tribunal in line with section 101 of the CPA.
Corporate affairs GM at MultiChoice SA, Jackie Rakitla, said the company did not believe it was in contravention of the CPA, but declined to comment further until the matter was resolved.
Vino Govender, CEO of TopTV's umbrella organisation, On Digital Media (ODM), said the company rejected the NCC's order because it would “force us to offer consumers the ability to pick and choose the channels they want to subscribe to”.
Govender said it would threaten ODM's business model and could force the only pay-TV alternative to MultiChoice out of business. He said a pick-and-mix a la carte option did not make financial sense and the remodelling of the product structure would cause serious harm to the business.
Mohlala says the tribunal may cancel, modify or confirm the compliance notices. Mohlala did not indicate when the tribunal process would start.
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