Enforcement procedure for radio and television subscription penalty forfeiture control of the Polish Post Ministry of Finance how to appeal

Poczta Polska monitors check whether residents of individual buildings and drivers have recorded radios and televisions. The organization is also obligated to check whether the owners of the receivers pay the radio and television license fee. If there are any arrears, the viewer or listener should receive a reprimand.

If the order does not work, Poczta Polska must issue an executive order and submit it to the enforcement authority, which in this case is the local head of the tax office. The fee is collected by tax collectors from a special cell with similar powers to tax collectors. For example, they can secure a bank account, stocks or bonds. If debt increases, so does real estate.

Slight decrease in the number of execution procedures

The Ministry of Finance informed the Wirtualnemedia.pl portal that in the period from January 1 to September 30, 2022, enforcement actions were initiated on the basis of 39,765 executive bonds issued in connection with unpaid subscription fees for the use of the recipient. In the same period in 2021, there were 43,917 titles, while in the whole of last year there were 55,044.

Further enforcement action began in the first quarter of this year. – From January 1 to March 31, 2022, 7,979 creditor-issued enforcement bonds were issued – Poczta Polska SA was issued to tax offices, with the legal basis for the enforced obligation “OPAB – Unpaid Subscription Fee for Recipient Use” – Wirtualnemedia.pl reported in May Ministry of Finance. Which is almost three times more than the previous year, because 2,714 of these bonds were issued at that time, and the enforcement bond is the basis for starting enforcement proceedings.

The penalty for not paying an RTV subscription is 30 times the monthly amount. Any person or company caught doing so must also pay the contributions due. Recently, in an interview with Wirtualnemedia.pl, lawyers from Kancelaria Prawna Media noted that Poczta Polska employees should not be allowed to search a house or car. For this reason, a controlled person is not at risk of any consequences. It is also impossible to punish the driver on the basis of the image of the radio tuner in the car. Therefore, the Polish Post focuses on families who previously registered a TV or radio and stopped paying for it. This is the easiest way to recover the outstanding subscription fee, which is why the number of execution procedures is still high.

How much is the subscription fee?

The fee for using the radio receiver is PLN 7.50 per month, and owners of TV or TV and radio equipment must pay PLN 24.50 per month. Due to the new regulations of the National Broadcasting Board in this regard, starting from next year, prices will increase to PLN 8.70 and PLN 27.30 per month. People who decide to pay longer in advance can count on a reduction in fees.

The KRRiT report for 2020 shows that out of 13.57 million households in Poland, up to 96.4 percent. There was a TV in the house. However, in fact RTV subscription is regulated with only 680.2 thousand. destinations. A large number of Poles did not register the recipient and did not start paying the fee.

In addition, at least 3.9 million people do not have to pay an RTV subscription. This includes people over the age of 75, citizens who have a significant degree of disability, are completely unable to work or have a first disability group. The contribution does not have to be paid by war and military disabled persons, persons repressed during the Polish People’s Republic, as well as persons receiving a pension not exceeding half the average salary. There are also layoffs among people who have never registered a receiver, but whose scope is unknown.

According to representatives of Kancelaria Prawna Media, the subscription law did not provide for televisions without access to traditional channels, and the regulations indicate that “a receiver adapted to receive the program immediately” is subject to registration. People who have televisions with a Smart TV, and without an antenna and a conventional channel decoder, do not have to register the device. The situation is similar for owners of smartphones with installed radio applications.

Revenue from RTV subscription is decreasing

in the budget for this year. Telewizja Polska saved 2.066 billion PLN from RTV subscription and subscription compensation. This is more than last year, when the public broadcaster received 1.71 billion PLN in compensation and 331.4 million PLN in subscription fees. Even in the years 2014-2016, before receiving the first compensation, the broadcaster had from 366 PLN to 444 million per year from the same subscription. However, in 2010-2013 it was less than 300 million PLN per year. Polish radio will receive 110,004 million PLN (a year ago: 125.91 million PLN). Less money will also be allocated to 17 regional stations of Polish Radio: 99 million PLN (last year – 112.66 million PLN) will be distributed.

We reported in April that the Senate had received a bill to unsubscribe from radio and television. If such regulations came into force, Poles could have up to 450 million PLN annually in their pockets. However, the idea was criticized by others, the Ministry of Culture and the National Broadcasting Council. Former president Witold Kolodzewski asserted at the time that new regulations – if they came in – would further destabilize the public media funding system, radically reducing the amounts allocated to them – without offering lasting and systematic solutions that would offset these financial declines.

The Board noted that subscribers from the private sector represented 73% of the total. All subscription proceeds, so filtering this source de facto means canceling the subscription entirely. Furthermore: it will make it impossible to award broadcasters compensation for lost subscription revenue in the future. Another negative consequence of introducing the new solution is depriving Poczta Polska of income from subscription fees.