MCA not empowered to order monetary compensation to dissatisfied customers
The Malta Communications Authority (MCA) said that it was not empowered to give monetary rewards to customers of GO and Melita over removal of popular Comedy Central and Living TV channels.
In correspondence with a complainant, the MCA said that while it agreed that people choose a service provider based on the television content, they do not regulate content and that provision of TV channels is subject to commercial agreements between service providers.
Disgruntled customers can however seek compensation if they believe that they have been provided a service that is not satisfactory by filing a claim before the Consumer Claims Tribunal. The tribunal is empowered to determine disputes between customers and traders and to make awards up to €3494.06 (Lm 1,500) including awards of up to €232.94 (Lm 100) for inconvenience or distress suffered.
GO and Melita have recently discontinued channels Comedy Central and Living TV due to rights issues. However a spokesperson for Living TV said the station should have never been broadcast on GO or Melita as they never possessed the necessary rights to air the channels.
While GO has already discontinued the channels, Melita is still running Comedy Central, which is set to be discontinued early in January.
Meanwhile, Nationalist MP David Agius accused the service providers of “taking customers for a ride” and should be compensating consumers left without the popular channels.