During a visit to Multichoice Malawi offices in Blantyre, the minister of information Gospel Kazako called on the company to revise subscription fees and bouquets .
“We would want as many people as possible to access good television but the challenge is how much they pay.” said Kazako. In response, Multichoice Malawi Managing Director, Gus Banda, agreed that implementing such would allow more Malawians to access DSTV, but he outlined that high taxes are the reason why the bouquets are priced like that. “You will find that we are one of the highest countries as far as tax brackets are concerned in terms of service provision. This makes it very difficult in terms of just keeping the cost down.” said Banda.
Earlier this year, a letter by the Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) asked Multichoice Malawi to refund its customers and reduce subscription rates for its digital satellite television (DStv) due to lack of live programs. Cama executive director John Kapito called out Multichoice Malawi, stating that the packages or bouquets that consumers pay for are no longer being provided and shown, hence there is no justification why consumers should continue to pay for such products or services.