The alternative is they just tax everyone the Billag fee through federal taxes. That isn't fair at all. At least the people genuinely with no TV or radio now don't have to pay.

The *other* alternative is that they act like any other business, and advertise! If they cant make money that way, sell the content on cable! If they still cant make money, they are making something that no one wants!

I wonder how I can get Swiss taxpayers to fund my well-being, like the TV content makers do.. TV companies are companies too, why dont they have to compete for your $$$ like the rest of the world?

Anyway, still, I'd love to hear more opinions on all this... It baffles me here how everyone says we should put our heads in the sand, take it up the rear and "just pay it", even if we don't actually use it.

If you do the above, why? Do you pay for church, because you could potentially go?

You rather miss the point that generally in Europe and especially in Switzerland, the audience sizes are not big enough to support a fully commercial TV.

In the UK the BBC is also funded in a similar way - including detector vans which locate TV in use in homes which are cross checked with TV licences holders.

Sky have proved it can be done - but with a UK market of 60 million with the same language, compared to the largest Swiss marker of 3.5 million people. Sky is 99% pay TV - and everyone in the UK also has to pay for a TV licence in addition - just like church tax, in case they what the BBC...

__________________

Fed up of smoking? 10 tips to quit in 10 days

In Switzerland, you have to pay Billag even if you wear a cap on your head with an antenna / receiver which could receive some signals, like this crazy man who was roaming around with a camera.

http://celebrifi.com/gossip/Man-Puts...d-4089859.html

Wierd, isn't it. 420 Posts in a thread for which the only real answer for everyone on here is "Yes".

I suppose you could be posting from an internet cafe

I just got done by the Basel 'SAMT' for not paying for 9 months when I was living with friends, I was paying them and I didn't register with Billag when at their apartment so they came looking for me 2 years later!

I paid the bill (380 chf + 150chf charges) and the matter was closed, however would I be able to claim it back if I can send a copy of my apartment contract ( I was registered with my friends letting agency) and get the money back?

Next year Billag will collect the fee for an entire year all at once. Beginning 2011, it will double the number of posts in the contact center, temporarily increasing to 140 people.

The 70 new employees are expected to cope with the many "inquiries" . The radio and television licenses will no longer be a quarterly, but charged only once a year. This affects virtually all households in Switzerland. It is the most significant change in the billing for more than ten years, as the Billag announced on Thursday.

http://www.20min.ch/finance/news/sto...unden-11538644

But it also states that you can still pay quarterly, but at an incresed (CHF 2) price).

Tom

We moved into our Apartment in october and the relocation agent said she registered us with Billag but we haven't heard anything yet. I wonder if this is why - maybe waiting til Jan to bill us for everything???

Indeed, but only if you pay by "Lastschriftverfahren, Debit Direct oder E-Rechnung". Does anyone know what the difference between "Lastschriftverfahren" and Direct Debit is?

Given their habit of sending the current invoices out about 2 months before they are due, I for one am not keen on the idea of any kind of direct debit.

And of course, you have to apply yourself to go onto the quarterly payments.

Oh, something I bookmarked at the beginning of October:

TVLicences for all (in German). This basically says that due to the widespread use of mobile phones and computers, they want even those without TV or radio equipment to pay.

I agree fully.

I don't have TV or radio because I don't have the time for that sort of thing. Life is too short for even the good stuff so why waste it on rubbish. I access the EF mostly from work and my home internet connection is the cheapest and slowest and I don't really think I can watch any TV on that and I don't know why I'd try. But despite all this people on this forum are implying I should be paying because everybody else does, and the Billag Stasi keeps sending their Jehovas Witness types to knock on my door and try to tell me I ought to have a TV because 96% of households have one. And don't tell me it's a tax either. Billag is a private company, owned by Swisscom. Jehovas Witness nannies knocking on my door telling me I ought to be watching TV is the real world equivalent of the spam mails telling me I ought to be buying Viagra or whatever. Even if it's legally OK, surely it is ethically wrong to knock on people's doors and waste their precious time, just as spam mails are wrong even if they're not going to go away. But at the end of the day this is worse that Viagra spam mails because the government is sanctioning it.

Anyway, last time they came I told them I had the swine flu, and that made them turn away pretty quickly.

Hello, i am new in the forum and in Switzerland.

And my question is:
Do I have to pay the billag if:

• I don't have any TV
  I don't have any radio
  I don't have any alarm clock (with or without radio)
  I don't have internet
  I don't have a mobile phone with radio. I have one without radio.
  I don't have an iphone
  I don't have any autos
  
  I have a ipod (it comes without radio)
  I have a laptop (without internet access as said before)

?

As I read before, I shouldn't pay for billag in my situation, and they can come home to see it.


On the other hand, i would like to have later internet with cablecom (2MB for 34CHF). Should I have to pay billag? I use Linux in my laptop, also I don't have Windows Media Player or Real Player as said in the billag-website.

What do I have to do to have internet ohne radio/TV/Billag???


Greetings

Welcome! I relatively new myself, and I asked the same question as you a long way back in this topic.

My interpretation is that you do NOT need to pay in this case! But I am biased here (see my posts above - I have something against paying something that despite not being a tax, is also something I dont use/want, and didnt order. No contract can exist in this situation in my perspective).

Thanks cchi, one question: do you have internet at home and you pay for the billag because of it?

I would pay gladly these Taxes if I were interested in the swiss channels or another TV channels, but I don't ever watch TV or listen to the radio when I was in my country. I don't have any interest in losing my time in front of a screen watching scrap... I read the news in internet and I enjoy a good film, but sorry, I DON'T WANT TO WATCH TV OR RADIO, SO I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO PAY FOR IT. It's ridiculous!

I won't have internet at home until I know that it forces me to pay for this stupid tax. I will use internet in a cafe-internet or at work.

I fully agree. I don't have anything more to say, only a question: What internet connection do you have? I have internet at work, but I would like to skype with my parents and friends and I cannot do it at work . I have seen the 2MB-connection from cablecom for 34CHF.

Did they go only once to your flat? How did they react?

I would show them all I have and don't have. I want the things clare. I cannot see swiss channels if I can with my laptop, I don't want to do it!

Is there any way to block it? I thing that uninstalling windows media player or realplayer doesn't help. There are a lot of software that can play streams: VLC PLAYER, WINAMP, QUICKTIME PLAYER, PLUGINS FROM FIREFOX..... Can't I block watching these channels directly from swisscom or cablecom???


EXACTLY. I WANT TO PAY WHAT I USE! That's the matter! Müll, Krankenkasse, Water, Eletricity, Heating, Pension, .... I pay all of these things because GLADLY because I make or would make use of them.

They are supossing that all of are addicted to TV/radio and we will do it! There are people, they live without TV/radio and they use internet, AND THEY DON'T HAVE ANY INTEREST ON TV/RADIO.

I am also not interested in TV/RADIO, do not own a TV, but my car has a radio on board. Is it possible to just pay for the radio part and not for the TV? I know this is possible in some other countries.

As the previous posters, I resent having to pay for something I do not use, and that I consider as utter crap (TV).

I'm coming from a different angle here. I do have the internet speed at home, but my computer is old and simply not fast enough to watch any TV channels.

I work in IT and quite frankly spend enough hours in front of a computer already. I don't want to do that in my leisure time.

I have both the internet speed and oomph on the computer at work, but well, when I'm at work, I'm doing work, not watching TV.

Yes, you can.

Do you have internet? That would change all...


Exactly that's my situation. I need internet because I design websites in my free time to earn some little money... But I think it would be cheaper not to do it. Sad...

Isn't enough to block the Swiss-TV and radio on my router or host-files in windows? What do i do if I have linux (ubuntu) ???

Does anybody know what are these streams??? They should start like mms:// rtsp:// or something like that...

Another idea would be to write a letter to Cablecom or Swisscom to block these streams. I have really no interest in these streams... I find ridiculous to pay for something I don't have any interest!