Public Service Media (PSM) has been ordered to pay for software developed by a Portuguese company to cover the 2018 presidential election.

The case was submitted to the Civil Court by Wisdom Tele Vision – Sistemas Informáticos para Televisão, who claimed that PSM had in 2018 signed an agreement with the company to procure the software needed to broadcast the results of the presidential elections.

The company is seeking €36,250 in unpaid fees and an additional €3,500 to cover the cost of their employees' stay in the Maldives as agreed with PSM.

In response to the case, PSM noted that they had paid half of the payment as agreed, but asserted that the balance is not a payment they need to make. PSM's legal representative revealed to the court that they refused to pay the money as the company, Wisdom Tele Vision – Sistemas Informáticos para Televisão, had fraudulently leased the software to PSM.

PSM stated that during the negotiations for their agreement, the company had informed them that this was the minimum price to pay for such software. However, PSM alleged that the price they had quoted was much higher than the market minimum, and that they had signed the agreement based on false information provided by the software company.

The Civil Court's judgement stated that PSM had gotten the opportunity to clarify matters before signing the agreement, and that it was their lapse that they had failed to do so beforehand.

The judgement further read that there was no dispute as to whether the money claimed by the company from PSM in this lawsuit was money that the two parties had agreed upon and signed off on in their agreement. In light of this, the Civil Court has ordered PSM to pay the remaining amount from the agreed price to the company, with an additional €3,500 to cover the cost of their employees' stay in the Maldives. Under the ruling, PSM is now required to pay a total of €39,750 to Wisdom Tele Vision – Sistemas Informáticos para Televisão by 14 May 2024.