Panel Rejects Tot Plea For Ais Compensation

[Lite Beer]

Panel rejects TOT plea for AIS compensation

By The Nation on Sunday

An arbitration panel has dismissed state-owned TOT's request seeking massive compensation from Advanced Info Service (AIS) in a telecom excise tax dispute.

According to the arbitration panel, TOT demanded Bt31.46 billion from AIS, the country's largest mobile phone operator, following the firm's deduction of revenue shared with TOT as the excise tax to be paid to the Excise Department.

The five-member panel ruled on May 20 to dismiss the case, which could mean AIS does not have to pay the massive amount to the state-owned TOT.

The panel, set up as part of the concession contract to settle disputes, reasoned that AIS had not breached the related contract.

The administration of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra imposed the controversial telecom excise in 2003.

Thaksin, whose family owned the majority shares of AIS back then, was ousted from office in the 2006 coup.

Under the Thaksin government-initiated change, fixed-line and cellular operators were allowed to pay 2 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively, out of concession fees to the Excise Department before paying the rest to TOT or CAT.

This was estimated to have cost TOT and CAT close to Bt100 billion.

In 2007, the Surayud Chulanont government reduced the telecom excise rate to zero.

In 2008 TOT demanded AIS pay the amount deducted as telecom excise from 2003 to 2007, plus monthly interest of 1.25 per cent. The sum totals Bt31.46 billion. This prompted AIS to take the case to the arbitration panel.

CAT Telecom lost a similar excise case to its concession-holder Digital Phone Co (DPC) in an arbitration panel ruling in March. CAT later appealed the ruling to the Central Administrative Court.

CAT demanded DPC pay Bt3.4 billion from its shared revenue as telecom excise to the Excise Department.

Besides DPC, CAT also took its other concession holders, Total Access Communication and TrueMove, to arbitration, claiming damages of Bt21.98 billion and Bt8.50 billion respectively, in regard to the telecom excise tax

-- The Nation 2011-05-29

[jaltsc]

What's the matter. Isn't TOT satisfied enough with the income they make from double billing and overcharging?

[OzMick]

Simplified:

govt companies (owned by the people of Thailand) lose out big time

private companies (a large portion of which were owned by certain members of the govt) reap it rich

the rules/laws taxes/excises of the dispute were set up and changed by govts run by the owners of involved private companies, but if you ask them, they will tell you that they are not criminals.

I wonder how much of the soft loan (granted by PM Thaksin) to Myanmar to upgrade their telecommunications (all bought from a certain company AFAIK) has been repaid. Somewhere between very little and none?