Court orders recomputation of supervision fee on PT&T

The Court of Appeals has ordered the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to recompute the supervision and regulation fee (SRF) it had slapped on Philippine Telegraph & Telephone Corp. (PT&T) in 2018 ahead of what was then a highly anticipated bidding for the third telecommunication player slot.

To recall, PT&T questioned P444 million in SRF charged by NTC for 2002 to 2017.

“The computation of NTC is incorrect since it is based on its erroneous interpretation of what constitutes PT&T’s paid-up capital,” PT&T said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday.

The CA rendered a decision remanding the case to NTC and further requiring NTC to recompute the SRF due from PT&T, the company said.

But considering that the decision is not yet final and executory, PT&T said there was no material impact on it yet.

The NTC, however, cited PT&T’s failure to contest the computation within the time allowed.

PT&T, a telco pioneer established in 1962, is moving into the digital services business following the entry of new shareholders. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla