Malawi regulator to exiting MultiChoice: Pay R337 000 and take your electronic junk.

by Thinus Ferreira

In the escalating fight between Malawi's regulator and MultiChoice which announced it's exiting DStv from the country  after it was denied a price hike, Malawi's regulator has now informed the pay-TV operator that it must pay R337 000 in arrear fees and take its e-waste with it when it leaves.

After a tense stand-off that went to the country's High Court in Lilongwe, MultiChoice Africa Holdings (MAH) announced last week that it's removing its DStv service from the Southeast African country after the country's regulator, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), blocked the pay-TV operator's planned DStv price increase from August.

MACRA had already fined MultiChoice in January 2023 for implementing a price hike in July 2022 and also ordered it to refund all DStv subscribers for adjusting its DStv tariffs without approval from the regulator.

DStv Malawi last week told subscribers to stop payments for DStv and that all existing subscribers in the country will be cut off within 30 days or less, with no new DStv subscriptions or reconnections that will be done from today.

Around 90 people at MultiChoice Malawi are set to lose their jobs, along with independent pay-TV installers who will feel the impact, with the Malawi government which will lose out on taxes and regulatory licensing fees.

It's the first time MultiChoice, that operates its DStv service in around 50 countries across Africa, is exiting one in this way, with thousands of pay-TV subscribers set to lose access to the entertainment, sports and TV news channels carried on DStv.

MultiChoice's DStv price hike in Malawi was the latest after increases in several African countries this year, including Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania, South Africa and two increases this year each in Ghana and Kenya.

At the end of March MultiChoice had 14.2 million subscribers in Africa, excluding South Africa, and another 9.3 million in South Africa.

MultiChoice Africa and MultiChoice Malawi say that it's not MultiChoice Malawi deciding on DStv price hikes but MultiChoice Africa, with MultiChoice Malawi that has no choice but to implement price adjustments.

After MultiChoice Africa pulled the trigger and announced MultiChoice Malawi will shutter and DStv will exit Malawi, Daud Suleman, MACRA director-general, has now written to MultiChoice Malawi to tell the pay-TV operator it owes more than R19 million in unpaid licensing fees it needs to settle before exiting.

Suleman also informed MultiChoice that it needs to take its DStv equipment with it that will become obsolete and submit a plan to the regulator as to how it will remove its e-waste, and how DStv subscribers will be compensated for being left with worthless DStv decoders.

MACRA told MultiChoice the regulator must be informed of the "measures put in place to ensure your smooth exit, especially regarding how refunds to consumers would be affected, especially those that have paid beyond your shutdown date, as well as compensation to consumers for your proprietary DStv equipment that will become obsolete after your shutdown date".

"Further indicate the mechanisms put in place to ensure the appropriate disposal and take-back system of the equipment with regard to e-waste as your equipment will become obsolete within Malawi".

MACRA also wants to know what mechanisms MultiChoice is putting in place to "ensure that DStv signals from your satellite will not illegally use the Malawi spectrum after the shutdown date".

MACRA also sent MultiChoice its latest financial statement, telling the pay-TV operator that "you owe the authority MK19 372 447.20 (R336 930) in unpaid licence fees" which should be paid within 30 days and that MultiChoice Malawi must submit your audited statements for 2022 for the calculation of 2022 levies".

MultiChoice: Regulator has a hostile attitude

Dr Keabetswe Modimoeng, MultiChoice Africa group executive for corporate affairs, told TVwithThinus that MultiChoice Africa Holdings is "aware of a letter sent to MultiChoice Malawi on Friday 11 August regarding the withdrawal of the DStv service in Malawi".

"The letter is consistent with the hostile attitude the regulator has been engaging with, disregarding legal facts around the relationship between MAH and MultiChoice Malawi. We are aware that MultiChoice Malawi is preparing a response to MACRA."

Modimoeng says "the government of Malawi has directly reached out to MultiChoice Africa and exploratory discussions towards a speedy resolution are currently underway".

Modimoeng says MultiChoice Malawi provides a subscription management service to MultiChoice Africa and has a subscription management service licence and that MultiChoice Africa is not licensed by MACRA.

"MACRA has insisted that MultiChoice Malawi apply for approval for tariff increases for DStv, for which it does not set the tariff, which the law does not require it to do. This is the nub of the problem and why the parties are in court".

"MACRA fined MultiChoice Malawi in December 2022 and ordered that the increase tariff for DStv be refunded. MultiChoice Malawi approached the court and got an injunction stopping the order from taking effect toll the main matter is heard on 25 August. When DStv put through its latest increase, MACRA then also approached the same court which granted it the latest injunction."

"MultiChoice Africa Holdings and MultiChoice Malawi are two separate companies and MultiChoice Malawi is owned and controlled by separate shareholders. MultiChoice Africa is not MultiChoice Malawi's parent".

ALSO READ: MultiChoice Malawi in price hike court fight as country's regulator says DStv tariff increases are not allowed and that 'current, unchanged' fees will apply.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice shuts down DStv in Malawi after price hike is denied.

MultiChoice shuts down DStv in Malawi after price hike is denied.

by Thinus Ferreira

Pulling the trigger in a Mexican standoff, MultiChoice is shutting down its DStv service in Malawi effectively immediately and leaving subscribers without access to news and entertainment – the first time the pan-African pay-TV operator has ever done so – after Malawi's communications regulator blocked it from hiking prices.

DStv Malawi is telling subscribers to stop payments for DStv and that all existing subscribers in the country will be cut off within 30 days or less, with no new DStv subscriptions or reconnections that will be done from today.

In January this year, Malawi's regulator, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), fined MultiChoice Malawi for its DStv price hike it implemented in July 2022 and also ordered it to refund all DStv subscribers for adjusting its DStv tariffs without approval from the regulator.

Malawi's latest price increase for 2023 was set to come into effect from August as part of the latest in a string of DStv price hikes done by MultiChoice Africa and which has seen DStv price increased this year in various countries across the continent ranging from South Africa to Ghana, from Nigeria to Uganda, as well as Zambia and Tanzania.

In August, MultiChoice hiked DStv fees by up to another 6% in Kenya for a second time this year after a 10% increase a few months earlier in April and in Ghana MultiChoice also increased DStv fees by up to another 18% in a second increase this year after raising prices by up to 19% in February in the West-African nation.

MultiChoice Africa blames weakening African currencies as well as runaway inflation rates for the large increases, as well as the double yearly hikes in Ghana and Kenya.

After MultiChoice Malawi announced yet another price hike in the Southeast African country which was set to come into effect from August 2023, the country's communications regulator, Malawi's regulator ordered MultiChoice not to implement any price increases from August.

MultiChoice Malawi then went to court on 31 July and applied for an emergency injunction against the regulator's order, which was granted by the country's High Court and which remained in effect until yesterday, 8 August.

MultiChoice Malawi said that it had no choice but to increase DStv fees, since it's not MultiChoice Malawi but MultiChoice Africa Holdings (MAH) based in Dubai which is overall deciding on the DStv price increases across the continent which are then implemented by various countries' localised MultiChoice executive management. 

After MultiChoice Malawi's injunction was granted, Daud Suleman, MACRA director-general, in a statement, said that once it lapsed the regulator will still not allow MultiChoice Malawi to charge higher DStv fees.

Daud Suleman said that "the current, unchanged and approved DStv tariffs will apply from 8 August 2023 unless otherwise directed by the court", with the regulator that remained adamant that MultiChoice was not going to be allowed to charge its subscribers more from August.

Now MultiChoice has decided to shut DStv down in Malawi since it's not allowed to increase pay-TV fees.

MultiChoice Africa Holdings confirmed to TVwithThinus that MultiChoice is withdrawing "services from Malawi with immediate effect. This follows the injunction issued by the High Court in Lilongwe in a matter between MultiChoice Malawi and MACRA prohibiting an adjustment to the DStv tariffs".

According to Dr Keabetswe Modimoeng, MultiChoice Africa group executive for corporate affairs, "MultiChoice Malawi does not offer the DStv service to the public and therefore cannot set or adjust tariffs for this service, a point repeatedly made to MACRA".

"As a result, the order handed down to MCM is incapable of being implemented by them but carries with it grave consequences for the directors and management of MultiChoice Malawi, including imprisonment."

"MultiChoice Holdings Africa, given the impact on its supplier MultiChoice Malawi and an increasingly adverse regulatory environment is therefore left with no option but to terminate the DStv service indefinitely."

DStv subscribers in Malawi are "requested to halt payment for the DStv service," the pay-TV operator says.

"Customers who have already paid their new subscription for the DStv service will have those services honoured until the current 30 day viewing cycle ends on or before 10 September 2023. From Wednesday 9 August 2023 no new subscriptions or reconnections will be accepted."

"MultiChoice Africa Holdings would like to thank customers for their support over many years. MAH would also like to thank MultiChoice Malawi for their professional conduct in supplying services to MAH over as many years."

MultiChoice Africa Holdings shutting down DStv in Malawi breaks a promise it made 14 years ago in 2009 when the pay-TV operator said its DStv service would not exit the country. 

After another pay-TV operator in the country shut down, MultiChoice told DStv subscribers in Malawi that it has "a track record that shows that we are going to be there until time in memorial" and that "MultiChoice has been in operation for over decades and operates within 48 countries in Africa so it is an assurance that we are stable economically".

ALSO READ: MultiChoice Malawi in price hike court fight as country's regulator says DStv tariff increases are not allowed and that 'current, unchanged' fees will apply.

MultiChoice Malawi in price hike court fight as country's regulator says DStv tariff increases are not allowed and that 'current, unchanged' fees will apply.

by Thinus Ferreira

Growing confusion reigns in Malawi over DStv and GOtv prices after MultiChoice Malawi went to court to get emergency injunction against the country's communications regulator after the regulator ordered MultiChoice not to implement it's latest price hikes.

MultiChoice Malawi's latest price hike fight comes as the latest tiff following an ongoing series of drastic MultiChoice price increases across sub-Saharan Africa in various countries ranging from Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, from July in Tanzania and for a shocking second time in Kenya within months.

Since August MultiChoice suddenly hiked DStv prices for a second time within a year in Ghana.

When MultiChoice Malawi announced yet another price hike in the country which was set to come into effect from August 2023, the country's communications regulator, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) ordered MultiChoice not to implement any price increases from August.

MultiChoice Malawi then applied for an emergency injunction against the MACRA order, with the country's High Court which issued the injunction on 31 July, for a period until 8 August. 

What happens from today in Malawi with MultiChoice Malawi pricing is unknown - does MultiChoice Malawi now go ahead with price increases?

Daud Suleman, MACRA director-general, in a statement, says "the current, unchanged and approved DStv tariffs will apply from 8 August 2023 unless otherwise directed by the court" - which means that MultiChoice isn't allowed to charge its subscribers more since this month.

"On 4 August 2023, MACRA was served with yet another order from the High Court extending the temporary stay of injunction to Monday 7 August 2023."

"The extension was made following an application by MultiChoice Malawi to the court, in which MACRA understands, MultiChoice Malawi argued that its principal, MultiChoice Africa Holdings is unable to revert to the old DStv tariffs, claiming that reversing the tariffs would cause damage to MultiChoice Africa Holdings' business and operations in Malawi and several other countries."

MultiChoice Mawali in a press statement says it is "puzzled" by MACRA's order, since MultiChoice Malawi doesn't implement DStv price hikes but MultiChoice Africa Holdings.

"MultiChoice Malawi is puzzled by MACRA's conduct as MACRA is aware that MultiChoice Malawi does not offer the DStv service to the public and therefore does not set or adjust the tariffs for DStv."

"MultiChoice Malawi is also not the agent for MultiChoice Africa (MAH), the provider of the DStv service who had already effected the price increase on their systems."

"MultiChoice Malawi has applied and received approval from MACRA for adjustments of the GOtv tariff. This is so because MultiChoice Malawi provides the GOtv service to the public and sets the tariff for that service."

MultiChoice Malawi wants to increase DStv prices in the country as follows: DStv Premium from K67,000 to K 79,000, DStv Compact Plus from K43,000 to K51,000, DStv Compact from K27,500 to K33,000, DStv Family from 16,400 to 19,500, DStv Access from K10,200 to K12,500 and DStv Kufewa from K6,850 to K7,500.

MultiChoice to appeal to Federal High Court after losing its Tax Tribunal appeal over Nigeria's claim that pay-TV operator owes it $123.7 million in unpaid tax.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice will now go to court in an escalating row with Nigeria's tax authority after Africa's largest pay-TV operator this week lost its appeal at the West African country's Tax Appeal Tribunal, with Nigeria's tax collector alleging and demanding that MultiChoice owes it a staggering $123.7 million (R1.88 billion) in unpaid tax.

It's one of two tax claims that MultiChoice is involved in in Nigeria.

On Tuesday Nigeria's Tax Appeal Tribunal threw out MultiChoice Africa's appeal brought by MultiChoice Nigeria over allegations that MultiChoice owes $123.7 million in unpaid Value Added Tax (VAT).

Nigeria's Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) slapped MultiChoice with the $123.7 million dodgy "tax backlog" claim, and added another $218 million penalty, bringing the total to $342 million.

Hilariously, Nigeria' Tax Appeal Tribunal, on Tuesday said that it dismissed MultiChoice's appeal because the company failed to comply with the rules of the appeal.

MultiChoice neither deposited money as a bizarre requirement for the appeal to be heard, and MultiChoice then also apparently failed to adhere to "Order 3 Rule 6 of the Tax Appeal Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 2021" stating that an appellant like MultiChoice must file an affidavit "verifying the payment".

MultiChoice didn't pay a deposit and didn't file an affidavit.

MultiChoice is embroiled in two cases with Nigeria's FIRS - the $342-million case against MultiChoice Africa Holdings, as well as a N1.8-trillion (R68 billion) tax claim against MultiChoice Nigeria.

MultiChoice in a statement slammed the Tax Appeal Tribunal's decision and said that MultiChoice Nigeria will now lodge an appeal against the ruling of the Tax Appeal Tribunal at Nigeria's Federal High Court.

MultiChoice said that the Tax Appeal Tribunal's appeal ruling failed to look at the merits of the pay-TV operator's case.

"MultiChoice Africa Holdings respectfully disagrees with the ruling, which was based on a technicality rather than the merits of the case. Therefore, we will be lodging an appeal at the Federal High Court against the ruling."

"This tax appeal is a separate and distinct matter from the appeal launched by MultiChoice Nigeria (MCN), in which the Tax Appeal Tribunal found in MultiChoice Nigeria's favour last week, allowing it to proceed with that appeal," MultiChoice says.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice's share price falls nearly 8% on Wednesday to 11-month low as Nigeria's shakedown for money from the pay-TV operator continues and country demands MultiChoice pays 50% 'deposit' of R65 billion in dodgy 'tax backlog' claim.

ALSO READ: ALSO READ: Nigeria's revenue service orders banks to immediately freeze MultiChoice Africa's Nigerian bank accounts citing refusal to give access to servers, demands R63 Billion.