Thailand’s media regulator has approved draft regulations for granting licenses to audience ratings providers for TV and radio , according to The Nation.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) will make it compulsory for research houses  to apply for a license and pay an annual  fee, equivalent to two per cent of their total revenue.

In addition, they will have to pay a further two per cent of their total revenue as universal service obligation fee, which will be used by NBTC for developing the telecom and broadcasting industries.

The new rules are expected to come into force in July.

An NBTC source told The Nation that the body would also examine rating methods and the sample of respondents being rated.