and old age pensioners with additional help (AHV mit zusätzliche Leistung ) are also exempt.

As already covered you have to pay if your hardware ia capable of receiving a TV programme.

Another gremlin is also around, if you are playing a radio in a restaurant or in a truck, ie. using a radio received programme in a commercial way, then you must pay the "subscription to the performing rights society"

Tis thread goes on, and on, and on.

Does anyone actually know anyone (orknow of anyone) who:

a.) Doesn't have a TV (but has computers, phones etc)
b.) Pays the Billag radio part of the fee.
c). Has been, or is in the process of being, prosecuted for not paying Billag?

1. Maybe because any new person wonders why he/she has to pay lots for some crap they're already paying in different ways (in the building charges, in digital tv connection, in subscription, etc...). Ok Ok, no debate on how this fee is different, there's still people here who dislike TV and Radio, why forcing them to pay??
2. Maybe because anyone new is not yet dumb and not questionning any taxes, as most Swiss people do?
3. Maybe because this additional fee seems weird and expansive to most of other people?

it's not because you live in Switzerland that everything is perfect and makes sense... One needs to differentiate their level of "swallowing" and what's wrong/right... Is not because some are accepting anything, that it's not unacceptable.

I appreciate all that - I was just wondering about actual, or impending prosecutions.

Oh I see...

I am not aware of such information! I just see the "propaganda" and the "attempts" to create fear comitted by the billag's people.

Leaflets, sending "generic mails" making looks like they're into you, etc...

So I suppose they have more people registering than actual "frauders".

I asked around most people say they pay it and they don't question it, on the contrary, when you ask "Why" they're getting upset.

Oh well...sheeps!

I suppose we were being dim, but we thought we were paying it because we were paying in some of our utility costs some sort of communications service..separate from cable - might have been an antenna. We would have paid it earlier had we known... I really thought that billag was part of what we were paying. But I was wrong.

So in December, some guy knocked on our door at dinner time, and my husband talked to him, and it turned out we weren't paying it after all. So I just got and paid the first quarterly bill from December 1 on. It was a lot better than it could have been, and now I expect we'll continue to get and pay quarterly bills.

We have had people from cable here, we've bought a car and a TV and it simply was never mentioned. I suppose everyone simply knows about it.

Quick one - I am paying Billag each quarter. I want to get some digital TV in the house (naxoo / cablecom/bluewin) for the HD channels.

Question - does any of the fees for digital TV replace the billag ransom or are they in addition to the Billag fees? Thank you

In addition.

Hi you have to pay for Billag evenif you have no TV.We are having only cablecom connection,but they are charging 48chf quarterly

If you do not watch TV, you can have your socket sealed, which proves to Billag that you cannot watch TV. Unfortunately they also classify computers as capable of receiving TV signals. Plus most likely you *should* still pay for Radio, if you have a car with inbuilt radio or a mobile phone that can receive those signals too..

The cablecom and billag fees have nothing in common. Billag charges you for the right to receive/watch/listen to Swiss public broadcasting.

I think you're onto something here. Unless you actually admit to not paying the fee although you ought to, the onus of proof is on Billag and there is no way they can do that short of forcing their way into your appartment and searching for equipment (and that would be illegal). So their only tactic is to scare people. If you don't want to pay, just avoid talking to them and never answer any questions, however innocent they may seem. It's your right. It also helps if all of a sudden the only language you can speak is Manx.

Billag seems to have revised its FAQ; last time I looked I recall it did not include mobile phones because it said their reception quality was limited. Now it says otherwise: http://www.billag.ch/web/fr/fragen_u...en/geraet.html

Since I am still domiciled outside of Switzerland I am waiting until my 91st day of presence before paying the fee...

I am told that if I rent out my flat at all, that counts as "commerce" and I'll have to pay Billag.

you don't pay for using the service , you pay for the possibility that you can use the service(when you got a pc /mobile with internet access, there is a possibility).
Pay the 42.25 sfr every 3 months to get not caught.........

So, I get a form from billAG in the mail whether I have a TV or a radio.

I check that I do not own one and now I get a bill from Billag that I should pay up

How does one go about rectifying this?

You can call up their info line +41 (0)844 834 834

website link ( abmeldung - deregistration )

Never saw an answer to the question "Does anyone know of any actual Billag prosecutions?"

When I lived in Germany, the "TV Tax people" had vans with little antennae sticking out all over them. They would drive around the neighborhoods in evening and could pinpoint homes with a TV turned on. Eventually, the bill would arrive in the mail.

Though it probably would've been easier simply to peek through the windows for flickering lights at addresses that hadn't paid up...

You have a computer and an internet connection in your home? Billag knows you can watch TV and listen to radio over the Internet which means they want you to pay them.

Which would mean the only purpose of the form was to find out my name (the form was addressed to the resident of my apartment, no name).

I will still get someone to call the infoline, maybe there is just a misunderstanding here.

ps : I do have an internet connection.

I doubt it. I've lived in Germany for a couple of years and never paid the GEZ tax (German billag - Gebühreneinzugszentrale). The GEZ people tried to pay me a visit a couple of time but all attempts were unsuccessful, because they were not allowed to enter my home, we practically had no confirmed contact. I received a letter every two month, asking me to declare any TV / Radio (urging letter, warning, second warning). After three letters they started it all over again: another visit attempt followed by letter, warning and second warning, an so on. I got used to it, after one year, the letters landed directly into the bin. No van, no antenna. Btw, at that time I heard such a van& antenna legend about UK...

Read the following faqs page from Billag (in German): http://www.billag.ch/web/de/fragen_u...eraet_mfg.html

The same page translated via Google: http://translate.google.ch/translate...n&hl=&ie=UTF-8