SINGAPORE — The drawn-out gripes that consumers have about unilateral changes with unfair terms in pay-TV contracts may soon be a thing of the past, as the Media Development Authority (MDA) takes measures to provide consumers more protection in this area.

Among the changes being looked at by the MDA is the consumers’ ability to cancel their pay-TV contracts without any penalty should the service provider increase prices or make changes to its programming, such as the removal of channels, without the consumer’s consent while the contract is in effect.

Announcing this at today’s (March 10) Committee of Supply debate, Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim said the MDA hopes to address consumer concerns over such unilateral changes. “This is a problem especially when the new terms are not to the consumer’s benefit,” he said.

Service providers could also be banned from forcing subscribers to upgrade non pay-TV services when they make changes to their pay-TV services.

These upgrades are “typically not necessary to support the changes in the pay-TV services”, noted Mr Yaacob.

To enhance transparency and increase consumers’ awareness of important contractual terms, service providers may also be required to brief consumers on important details such as pricing and changes to the service when the promotional rates expire, before a contract is signed.

Mr Yaacob was addressing Sembawang GRC MP Vikram Nair’s queries on ways to protect consumers rights in the face of unfair changes to pay-TV contract terms.

Mr Nair had highlighted a forum letter published in December last year in which the writer had expressed dismay after SingTel informed him that he would be automatically converted to a new package when his sports package contract ended, which would have cost him three times more.

A SingTel staff had also told the writer over the phone that the telco had the sole discretion to change the terms and conditions of his subscription under a clause in the contract.

The authority will be conducting public consultations on the proposed changes next month and is looking at introducing the protective measures by the end of the year.

These amendments follow cross-carriage measures implemented by the MDA in 2011, which stipulated that any pay-TV retailer that has acquired any exclusive content on or after Mar 12, 2010 must allow subscribers of other providers to access it at the same price it charges its own customers.

In 2012, soccer fans cried foul after SingTel removed the Champions League matches from the original sports bundle and charged customers who had already purchased a sports package a higher fee to continue watching them.

The MDA said yesterday that it considered consumer feedback and international practices when reviewing these additional measures, and “noted the need for consistency with existing legislation on consumer protection”. It will also be proposing safeguards to protect pay-TV retailers from consumers who are set on gaming of the system, it added.

Meanwhile, Mr Yaacob laid out the details of the help that will be provided for low-income households in accessing free-to-air digital television programmes. An Assistance Package, comprising a DVB-T2 digital set-top box, an indoor antenna and installation service, will be rolled out by September this year. Those who live in one- or two-room rental flats, or who are on ComCare assistance schemes, will be automatically included. Households with a monthly income of S$1,900 and below, or per capita income of S$600 and below, and who have at least one Singaporean member, are also eligible. Households who have no income and whose property has an annual value of S$13,000 and below also qualify.

However, Mr Yaacob said those who have pay-TV subscription or Integrated Digital TV will not qualify as they would already have access to digital TV through these channels. Some 160,000 to 170,000 low-income Singaporean households will qualify for the assistance scheme.