SINGAPORE — The drawn-out gripes that consumers have about unfair terms and unilateral changes in pay-television 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 giving consumers the ability to cancel their pay-TV contracts without any penalty, should the service provider raise prices or make changes to its programming, such as by removing channels, without a subscriber’s consent while the contract is in effect.

Announcing this at yesterday’s Committee of Supply debate, Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim said the MDA hopes to address consumer concerns over such changes.

“This is a problem, especially when the new terms are not to the consumers’ 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 pay-TV services,” noted Dr Yaacob.

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

Dr 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 last December, in which the writer had expressed dismay after SingTel informed him that his sports package would automatically be converted to a new package when his contract ended, which would have cost him three times more.

A SingTel employee had also told the writer over the phone that the telco had the sole discretion to amend 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 March 12, 2010, must allow subscribers of other providers to access it at the same price it charges its customers.

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

The MDA said yesterday it had considered consumer feedback and international practices when reviewing these additional measures and “noted the need for consistency with existing legislation on consumer protection”.

It would also be proposing safeguards to protect pay-TV retailers from consumers who are set on gaming the system, it added.