Zambia revokes one television license, suspends 13 radio stations over statutory fees

LUSAKA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in Zambia on Friday revoked a license of one television station and suspended licenses for 13 radio stations for failure to pay statutory fees in line with the law.

The affected broadcasting stations have since been given 14 days to settle the fees or face punitive action.

Justin Mutale, the Chairperson of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the regulator of the broadcasting industry, said the affected broadcasting stations have failed to pay the statutory fees despite repeated reminders and that some have been operating without paying the fees since 2015.

"The public may wish to know that the stations had been written to concerning their non-compliance, particularly failure to pay license fees," he told reporters during a press briefing.

He said the television station, Copperbelt Television, has not been broadcasting in line with the law hence the decision to revoke its license.

The regulator has also warned other broadcasting stations that have not paid their statutory fees for 2018 to pay the fees within seven days, failure to which action will be taken against them.

The broadcasting stations are supposed to pay statutory fees in January of each year.

The regulator expressed disappointment that broadcasting stations were finding it difficult to pay statutory fees when the fees were the lowest compared to what was happening in other countries in the region.

Zambia has seen the mushrooming of radio and television stations since the liberalization of the broadcasting industry.

Currently, authorities in Zambia have issued 115 radio licenses and 45 television licenses. Enditem