76 radio stations fined over GHC1billion for various breaches

Seventy-six radio stations in Ghana are to pay in total, over a billion cedi in fines and penalties for committing what the country’s National Communications Authority (NCA) says are various infractions in their operational authorization permits.

Radio station owners who failed to pay their application fees and or renew their application fees as well as those who failed to submit renewal documents are each fined GHC10,000 each day that the infraction persists.

Those who failed to settle outstanding debts are to pay a fixed GHC100,000 each while owners who have failed to commence operations within two years of authorization have been fined a fixed GHC50,000 each.

The Authority has also revoked the operational authorization of 34 radio stations for failing to renew their expired authorization for several years and operated illegally.

While 21 of the 34 stations did not respond to a NCA notice requesting them to regularise their operations earlier this year, the rest responded and pleaded for an extension of time which the NCA declined on grounds that it was “unacceptable”.

The NCA explained in a statement issued Thursday that the decisions were taken upon the conclusion of a nationwide FM Spectrum Audit conducted this year to determine the compliance of Authorization Holders with their authorization conditions as per the Electronics Communications Act, Act 775.

It was also to determine which stations were in operation or otherwise. Click here for the full list of the affected radio stations and how much each of those fined would be paying as penalty.