TAS calls in staff on Tuesday; public services to resume on Thursday

It emerges from an official statement issued by the RvC on Monday, a few hours after the judge delivered a ruling in the legal dispute with Wendy Jap-A-Joe. Through these steps, the board aims to restore administrative and operational calm within the telecommunications authority.

In the statement, the RvC says that the subdistrict court judge on Monday, 26 October, confirmed that Jap-A-Joe’s statutory term of appointment as director of TAS had ended by operation of law. According to the board, this means that since 20 October 2026 she has no longer been authorised to act as director or to take administrative decisions on behalf of the organisation.

The RvC refers in this regard to the judgment in the joined interlocutory proceedings CIVAR No. 202604246 and CIVAR No. 202604249. According to the statement, the judge prohibited Jap-A-Joe from carrying out further actions on behalf of TAS. She must also transfer the administrative, operational and financial affairs, as well as other institutional matters, to the RvC.

The judgment has been declared provisionally enforceable. This means that the court decision can be enforced immediately, even if an appeal is lodged.

RvC provisionally takes over joint administration

The Supervisory Board invokes Article 4, paragraph 2, of the Telecommunications Facilities Act. Under this provision, in the absence of a director and deputy director, the administration of TAS is provisionally carried out by the RvC.

The board stresses that this responsibility is, for the time being, exercised collectively. This makes clear that the commissioners will jointly take on the administration of the telecommunications authority until another administrative arrangement has been made.

The statement does not yet make clear when a new director will be appointed or how long the temporary administrative arrangement will last.

Staff must report on Tuesday

One of the RvC’s first measures is to convene all staff members. They are expected on Tuesday, 27 October, at 9 a.m. at the TAS office on Flustraat, corner of Naarstraat number 35.

During this meeting, the board will welcome staff and inform them about the organisational and operational arrangements needed to resume activities.

According to the statement, internal work will resume immediately afterwards.

The meeting therefore constitutes an important first step in restoring daily operations, after the administrative conflict had caused considerable tensions within the organisation in recent days.

Public services available again on Thursday

Regular services to the public, the telecommunications sector, licence holders and other stakeholders will resume from Thursday, 29 October, according to the RvC.

The board says it is making every effort to ensure administrative and operational continuity and to ensure that TAS can once again carry out its statutory duties in an orderly and professional manner.

An explicit appeal is being made for the cooperation of all staff members. The RvC thanks the public and other stakeholders for their understanding during the past period.

Court ruling follows days-long administrative struggle

The announcement follows a turbulent period in which the RvC and Jap-A-Joe were at odds over the leadership of TAS.

The conflict escalated after Jap-A-Joe’s statutory term of appointment expired on 20 October. The RvC took the position that the board had been authorised to assume the administration from that moment. Jap-A-Joe disputed this and referred, among other things, to an employment contract from 2021.

Tensions further increased when commissioners attempted to gain access to the TAS building in order to carry out the administrative handover. The handover did not take place, and confrontations arose in which, according to earlier statements by the RvC, commissioners were also allegedly assaulted.

The matter subsequently led to various legal proceedings and political discussions about the powers of the parties involved.

During the hearing of the interlocutory proceedings on Sunday, 25 October, an attempt was still made to reach a settlement, but that attempt failed.

On Monday, the judge dismissed Jap-A-Joe’s claims and granted the transfer to the RvC. According to the court decision, Jap-A-Joe must also leave the TAS building within 24 hours and hand over work-related matters.

Legal battle may not yet be over

Although the ruling provisionally gives the RvC room to take over the administration, the legal battle may not yet be fully concluded.

Jap-A-Joe has the option of lodging an appeal. Furthermore, according to reporting on the judgment, the employment contract on which she relies has provisionally been suspended, pending a ruling on its legal validity.

The immediate resumption of internal activities and the announced reopening to the public show that the RvC does not want to wait for any further legal settlement.

With the call for staff to report on Tuesday and the resumption of services on Thursday, the board is trying to shift attention within TAS from the administrative struggle to the implementation of the telecommunications authority’s statutory duties. Whether the transition will actually proceed without new obstacles remains to be seen in the coming days.