The Copyright Society of Malawi (Cosoma) says efforts to resolve challenges have led to the delay in the disbursement of blank levy royalties to its members.
Cosoma started disbursing the royalties two weeks ago, but it has emerged that due to some challenges, some recipients are yet to receive their money.
Speaking in an interview yesterday, Cosoma senior distribution officer Shadreck Kumtengo said they have migrated from the cash and cheque payment system to mobile and electronic funds transfer, which has resulted in some teething problems.
He said: “There are varied reasons for the delay. Other recipients had issues with their bank accounts while others provided wrong information and when we initiated the payments, they bounced back. Others did their KYC [know your customer] late while the system matching was already done and our bankers had issues, especially when paying to other banks.”
Kumtengo said the ones that have not received are isolated cases as other recipients received their dues already.
He has assured the members who are yet to receive that they will have their money by Friday.
“Most of the issues have already been resolved except for a few. We have engaged our bank to make reversals so that we can process again. We are waiting to hear from the bank. This will be sorted as soon as possible,” said Kumtengo.
In a separate interview, Musicians Union of Malawi president Vita Chirwa said their random checks showed that some have received their money while others have not.
“We are yet to make a formal inquiry. Since the transactions are being handled on an individual basis, it is difficult at this stage to establish exactly who has received and who has not. We have also noted concerns that some have received lower than expected,” he said.
Another Cosoma member, Prisca Kachigunda of Sunrise Publications said: “I have not received until now. I do not even know how much I am supposed to receive. My colleague just told me that she has received very little.
“When we took up the matter with Cosoma they said their online transaction is failing to process the payment.”
In its recent distribution, Cosoma announced a K234 579 389.10 turnover to be distributed to 1 908 beneficiaries. The royalties were from the three categories of broadcasting private radios, public performance and reprography.
