Regulation on Pay TV contracts

The MDA has now decided that they have to step in and regulate the Pay TV contracts as follows:

• The contract should not exceed 2 years
• There should be pro-rata refund on cancellation of contract.

This move, which is taken after a long time of free market practices, recognizes the weakness of the free market system. The businesses make things complicated and opaque and imposes unfair charges to boost their profits and take advantage of consumers.

There are many similar practices of this kind, for example, in life insurance contracts. In some countries, the regulators have decided to ban front end commission on these long term contracts, as they impose a heavy penalty on consumers, who were not aware about the front end costs.

There are so many bad practices that rip off consumers. The situation is especially bad in Singapore due to our legal system. At least, in USA, lawyers can take up class actions on behalf of consumers - but not in Singapore. 

I hope that our political leaders will learn about the reality of the free market and take the step to protect consumers - rather than leave things to be sorted out in the market. If the market can take care of these matters, there is no need to pay big salaries for ministers, political leaders and top civil servants.