Illegal rebroadcast and non-payment of annual fee subject to fines

The Rebroadcast Regulation has been amended to make the rebroadcast of content without permission and the non-payment of annual fee punishable with a fine.

The Maldives Broadcasting Commission (BroadCom) announced the revised regulation was published on the Government Gazette on Sunday.

The new regulation has four main amendments. They are:

A license is mandatory to provide rebroadcasting services in Maldives, unless it is for private use.

Application for license renewal is mandatory 90 days prior to expiration of current licenses. Applications submitted after the deadline will be rejected.

Parties that rebroadcast content without channel rights will be fined.

Failure to pay the annual fee is subject to a fine.

Previously, only licensed rebroadcasters had been subject to fines for rebroadcasting content without channel rights. But, with the new amendment, unlicensed rebroadcasters will also be fined if they fail to prove they have channel rights.

Meanwhile, the regulation was also amended to stipulate the fine for failure to pay the annual fee will be on an yearly basis, and that no fine will be incurred once the license expires.