SANTIAGO – Chile’s Supreme Court has confirmed a fine of around CLP 1.3 billion (USD 2 million) imposed on the Chilean unit of AT&T’s DirecTV subsidiary for distributing irregular set-top boxes, putting an end to a three-year case.
The apex court upheld the fine imposed by the Superintendencia de Electricidad y Combustibles (SEC), which revealed after an investigation that one of DirecTV’s decoders had allegedly overheated and caused a fire in the port city of Talcahuano in the Biobio region back in 2015.
Back then, the authority discovered that over one million boxes distributed by AT&T’s satellite operator and Liberty Global didn’t comply with Chilean regulations.
According to the SEC, DIRECTV didn’t replace the irregular boxes after the initial investigation, which has increased the final amount of the fine.
Chilean court slaps DirecTV with $1m fine for ‘irregular’ STBs
“The Supreme Court’s decision highlights the company’s obligation to deliver safe products for the users, taking all the necessary measures, which are defined by our regulations, in order to guarantee safety,” pointed out Luis Ávila Bravo, head of SEC.
For last six years, DirecTV Chile has been receiving the national prize of Customer Satisfaction ProCalidad 7 as the best paid television service.
