RTV subscription - how is it in Europe?
The RTV subscription is not only in Poland, the benefit paid by citizens and entrepreneurs. Depending on the country, there are various models of public media financing in Europe. The involvement of individual postal operators in the control of subscription fees is a common phenomenon.
We present several ways of charging public media fees and methods of financing them in selected countries.
The czech republic
In our southern neighbor, as in Poland, citizens are obliged to pay a RTV subscription by law. In Poland, the RTV subscription is paid after registration of the receiver, and in the Czechs, the subscription obligation was associated with access to electricity. It was assumed that everyone who has access to electricity has an RTV receiver. If he uses electricity, he must pay to state media. Energy companies, however, do not deal with the collection of an RTV subscription or overdue receivables in this respect. They only provide state media list of electricity recipients, i.e. potential RTV subscription payers. The collection of subscription fees in the Czech Republic, the same as the mail is with us.
The obligation to provide information on energy recipients is regulated by Czech law. On the basis of lists, state broadcasters issuing energy recipients calls for payment of the RTV subscription. As in Poland, blind and deaf people are exempt from subscription fees in the Czech Republic. In addition, low -income people do not pay a subscription for our southern neighbor. Subscription fees in the Czech Republic are paid by nearly 90% of the citizens of this country.
Germany
Germany is a country that finances public media from funds from the obligatory radio and television fee.
The institution designated for the collection of subscription fees is the BeitragSSERVICE agency cooperating with offices - tax and registration. Her tasks are similar to the tasks of Poczta Polska as an operator, in our legal system. After completing the obligation to check in by the citizen, the registration office notifies the relevant tax office about this fact. A letter is sent to the registered persons notifying the obligation to regulate the RTV fee for a given residential premises.
Finland
Yleisradio Oy - in short, YLE is a state public translation company operating in Finland since 1926. The company in 99.98% belongs to the Finnish state. It is managed by the Parliamentary Management Council and serves 3 nationwide television channels, 13 radio channels and services and 25 regional radio stations.
Until 2012, the public sender in Finland was financed from the RTV subscription. It was paid by owners of radio and television receivers and private television broadcasters. In this form, the Finnish RTV subscription resembled the currently functioning in Poland, with the difference that its amount depended on the amount of income. The collection of RTV fees was dealt with by the Finnish Communication Regulation Office, in short Ficora, which is the equivalent of the Polish National Broadcasting Council.
In 2013, i.e. after 85 years, the RTV subscription in this form was liquidated. However, the Finns were not released from the obligation to pay the fee to state television. The subscription was replaced by a tax covering all citizens - the universal YLE tax. It ranges from 50 to 140 euros, depending on the earnings. This tax is paid by every adult fin earning over 15,000. euro per year. Minors are exempt from fees.
Italy
In 2016, the RTV subscription was included in the electricity account, which resulted in greater effectiveness of recovering due payments
There are two types of subscription in Italy:
- ordinary, paid from devices possessed by private individuals
- special, paid from devices in possession of companies and institutions.
The amount of the subscription is 90 EUR. Currently, the RTV subscription fee is charged only from people with television receivers. Each person pays only one RTV subscription for all devices they have. If you have more than one property, the fee is charged only at the place of registration. The fee is also charged from Italian citizens living abroad (if they still have a house in Italy, in it there is a TV/radio/computer).
The mechanism of charging fees together with an electricity bill assumes that institutions such as the Tax Office and Tax Agency and energy suppliers can exchange all information about electricity recipients. The subscription fee is added to the invoice automatically.
Portugal
Since September 2003, television and public radio (RTP) have been financed from subscription fees. The financing model changed after the economic crisis in 2014.
From July 2016, the subscription fee is at EUR 3.02 per month, which is an amount of EUR 36.24 per year. It is a fixed, mandatory and calculated fee on each apartment and house. Electricity suppliers are obliged to place this fee on their accounts.
Great Britain
Great Britain is the first country in the world to introduce a compulsory television license. The British - both natural persons and economic entities, to legally watch or record TV channels regardless of the signal - ground, satellite, cable or internet, must pay for it.
On the islands, a television license finances the activities of the main public operator, i.e. the BBC. It includes not only televisions, but also desktop computers, laptops, mobile phones, tablets, game consoles and digital decoders. You also have to pay it to have legal access to BBC programs on streaming services.
Similarly to in Poland, the setting of subscription fees is dealt with by the designated operator - in England it is the Capital Business Service, a company selected in public tender procedure. Fees can be paid at post offices, at sales outlets, or via the Internet.
The list of exemptions from fees is much shorter than in Poland. People over 75 are released, while blind people can apply for a 50% discount.