The Tanzanian Community Agency has suspended the licences of six television stations and 21 radio stations for failing to pay regulatory fees, the BBC news agency reports.
The agency says that it issued a payment notice to 40 stations in July 2015, but only 13 have complied, hence the order for the remaining 27 stations to stop broadcasting.
The Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) has however reportedly criticized this move saying that it infringes on the public’s right to information.
The BBC reports the MCT Executive Secretary Kajubi Mukajanga as saying that stopping the stations from broadcasting is simply depriving the people of important information.
He said there could be other ways to force the stations to pay the fees.
The Sahara Media Group, which owns three of the affected stations, has denied allegations that they have not paid the fees.
