Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) and Access Communications Limited Malawi risk license revocation for failure to pay a combined K3.3 billion licence fees to the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra).
Macra Director General Daud Suleman told the Public Accounts Committee (Pac) of Parliament on Tuesday that the two institutions were already engaged last year.
He said they were given up to May 2023 to square their balance or else the licences would be revoked.
Suleman said the K3.3 billion has accumulated over the years due to failure to pay the fees.
“Our mandate is to regulate the sector and to make sure that all licence holders abide by rules and regulations. So, for one to operate in the sector, they have to pay licence fees.
“We will just act according to the laws of this country by revoking the licences. But we are certain that, come May this year, the two will have squared their bills,” Suleman said.
Pac Vice Chairperson Ned Poya said all players in the sector must abide by laws.
He said it is unfortunate that a big institution like MTL is failing to pay licence fees.
“If the licences of these two are revoked, Macra will have acted according to the laws of this country. Organisations must learn to abide by the laws of this country,” Poya said.
Macra officials appeared before the committee to respond to audit queries.
Recently, Macra also revoked licences for media houses for failure to pay licence fees.