Licence fee revocation

I refer to the letter entitled "Satellite dish refunds" by Charles Sammut (December 10).

The decision that with effect from May 1, 2004 the Lm25 yearly licence on satellite dishes be repealed was taken by the government in view of national discussions and the developments undertaken by the new EU member states vis-à-vis satellite dish licences. At no instance was the licence fee revoked on the grounds that it was "deemed illegal by the European Union", as stated by the correspondent.

Also, I am informed that the ministry has finalised the dispatch of full refunds.

With regard to the calculation of pro-rata refunds, since they total to over 13,500, it must be realised by the correspondent that this is quite a complex task.

However, the whole process, and which involves various entities, is nearing its completion on schedule and payments will be issued in the near future.

Mr Sammut further states that "(the) government forced him to pay a penalty for Lm25 for being a few weeks late in paying the fee". The correspondent therefore admits that his payment had been submitted late and it was no question of the government forcing him to pay a penalty but a fine stipulated by law, which I am confident Mr Sammut knew very well about.

When one considers that 15,700 families are being refunded with Lm400,000, which amount would have been usually retained within government coffers, I view the statement that the government is "trying to pull wool over the electorate's eyes" as totally incorrect and unfair.