While regulators continue to press TrueVisions to improve compensation to subscribers after cancelling six popular pay-TV channels, some customers have taken to an online "crowd-suing" platform in hopes of pursuing a class-action lawsuit.
As of 5pm Saturday, more than 1,000 people had signed up to initiate the litigation against the pay-TV operator at Fongdi.com, which promises free service for class-action consumers.
On its sign-up page, the law consultant startup said it was seeking to demand two things: fee cuts for subscribers who do not cancel and compensation for those who do.
"TrueVisions cancelled the channels without informing the subscribers in writing 30 days before the change. This is in violation of the 2013 National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) regulation on pay-TV service standards," it said.
"TrueVisions told its subscribers about the cancellations on Dec 29, 2016 while the channels were removed on Jan 1, 2017. The move took advantage of viewers. Besides, the notification was made through the media, not in writing to each customer."
Most customers only learned of the change when an NBTC commissioner revealed it to the media. After reportedly failing to reach an agreement on higher fees sought by HBO, home to Game of Thrones and other popular fare, TrueVisions cancelled HBO and five affiliated channels: HBO Hits, HBO Signature, HBO Family, Red by HBO, and Cinemax.
The cancellation notice took the form of a screen crawler, in the same format the company uses to inform viewers of routine maintenance outages.
The cancelled channels were replaced with seven channels. Warner TV, Sony Channel, Paramount, Fox Action Movies, Celestial Classic Movies and Food Network HD went on the air on Jan 1 while True Films HD 2 will go live in March.
To date, TrueVisions has offered an upgrade of the packages of 300,000 affected subscribers by one step for a month, and 1,000 True Reward bonus points to the most affected group, those on the Platinum package.
Fongdi.com said the remedial measures offered by the operator were inadequate and unfair.
"The seven substitute channels are of lower in quality than the six cancelled ones, which TrueVision had used to promote sales," it said.
"The proposal to upgrade the package by one step for 30 days is also unfair because the operator has not reduced the service quality for just 30 days but until the remaining contract terms expire.
"An offer of 1,000 True reward points to its Platinum package viewers is not what they want. If the service quality is lower, so should the fee."
The website plans to demand fee reductions for subscribers in proportion to the value of lost channels, possibly 200 to 500 baht a month for the Platinum package.
It will also seek to demand that TrueVisions pay a fine in the form of payments to subscribers who cancel, possibly the equivalent of one month's fees.
Fongdi.com founder Peerapat Foithong told VoiceTV on Friday that the website was not set up for this case alone.
"It was online before this case but this is the first one that affects many people, including me," he said.
The NBTC, meanwhile, plans to meet with TrueVisions executives and customers on Tuesday in hopes of reaching a multally acceptable solution.