Melita plc has been fined €5,000 by the Malta Communications Authority (MCA) twice after it removed various football channels from Melita’s TV XL package without notifying its clients and after it failed to present a letter of comfort regarding its billing system.

On 1 July, Melita removed the Milan, Roma, Juventus and Inter football clubs channels without informing its clients or the MCA.

In a formal communication,

the MCA advised Melita that the

termination of these channels constituted a material change to the TV service provided and therefore a breach of the authority’s decision. In the communication, the MCA urged Melita to say whether their clients were informed of the change at least 30 days before the four channels were removed, whether they had the right to withdraw from their contracts without penalty should they not agree to the modification, and whether they were notified about the manner in which any deposit or advance payment would be refunded if they wished to unsubscribe from the service.

Melita reacted by saying that the discontinuation of the four sports channels was not a matter that fell under the MCA’s remit and made reference to its terms and conditions, which said that the channels it provided were subject to change at its discretion.

Although the rights over a number of sports channel were licensed until June 30, these were won over by the other operator GO.

In a letter addressed to Melita’s CEO, Andrei Torriani, the MCA pointed out that Melita had acknowledged the fact that customers were not informed that the channels were going to stop and of their rights affected by this decision. The company was therefore in breach of the law and the MCA imposed an administrative fine of €5,000 on Melita.

In another decision, Melita was fined €5,000 after it failed to present a letter of comfort issued by an independent auditor, stating that Melita’s billing system is operating satisfactorily and is meeting generally accepted standards with regards to accuracy of bills issued to consumers, as it was asked in a communication sent last April.

Back in August, the MCA noted that it had received various complaints about Melita’s billing system and that some complaints even caught the media. Therefore, it warned Melita of a one-off €5,000 fine and of a daily fine of €100 as from 1 September until a suitable letter of comfort is presented. However Melita argued that the MCA’s request was unbalanced and outside the authority’s remit.

The MCA disagreed and stated that it has a clear remit and responsibility at law to ensure not only that the rights of consumers are adequately protected but to actually ensure “a high level of protection for consumers in their dealings with suppliers”. Had it ignored the consumers’ complaints than MCA would be failing at law, it said, thus making its intervention justified.  

In its decision, the MCA said that it had a clear remit to ensure “a high level of protection for consumers in their dealings with suppliers,” according to Maltese law, and that it would be failing in its responsibilities if it ignored the complaints made. The authority outlined that it had a duty to ensure that suppliers provide clear information, particularly the transparency of tariffs.

Melita reaction

Meanwhile in a statement, Melita said it will be appealing the MCA’s decision.

In addition, the company said that as a result of a multi-million investment programme in customer care implemented this year, 75 per cent of calls to Melita’s call centre are now being answered in under one minute. Moreover, 70 per cent of all calls are resolved during the first call.

Melita acknowledges that the broadcast of certain football club channels was discontinued on its platform for reasons related to exclusive broadcasting rights, but said Melita doubled the channel lineup for the XL TV subscribers, offering additional, premium channels for free.

The XL package now contains 140 channels and XL customers were given around 50 extra channels for free. This is the largest TV package available in Malta.

While the MCA did not take a stand on this great positive improvement to customers, it also remained silent on other recent cases of local and international channels ceasing broadcast both on the Melita and GO platforms, said Melita.

At the same time, Melita reiterated that as all other local and international operators, it has no control over third party channel broadcasting.

Billing procedures

Melita said it had been kept in the dark on the criteria that the MCA is adopting to judge the IT system employed for billing procedures and also, on the international telecommunication industry benchmarks that the MCA is applying to reach its decisions.

Moreover, Melita is contesting that it is unreasonable and unrealistic for the MCA to expect an audit report on undefined criteria and benchmarks within the limited time frame provided.

Whilst the company investigates and resolves letters it receives from customers and others published in the media, Melita was unable to investigate and resolve the complaints referred to by the MCA since it was left in the dark on the nature and the quantity of these complaints.