Nicely said

Don't hold your breath, I started the following thread in Feb. 2009

Bye Bye Billag

I thought, the were definitely going to simplify this... 100 CHF cheaper would be a great deal. Why don't they do it? People would vote yes...

Personally, I think it all works on the inertia of the aura of the Borg...er...Billag. Nobody ever questions it, nobody ever does contrary... Where's the Swiss version of Picard when you need him!

I would vote no, because I don't have a television! If it were 100 CHF cheaper per year, I'd pay almost nothing - the radio licence is, iirc, about 26 francs a quarter ...

Are you swiss? I cannot vote...

I don't have a TV either, but I have a smartphone or laptop... Everybody has the possibility to see TV... It's a nonsense to control something that everybody has... And it would be cheaper if they don't keep so many controleur...

If I understand it correctly, you would probably pay more, as the vote is to charge everyone a uniform tax instead of taxing households based upon their individual usage. So 'radio-only' and 'non' users would have to pay in more to offset the 'less' that 'radio and television' users would pay.

this also sucks for people who actually do have a TV, but use it only to watch dvds and playstation etc and not the broadcast channels...

The whole system is a load of bollocks. I have several radio receiving devices, a TV, an internet connection and have been paying my billag like a good citizen since I moved here and yet I've spent less than 6 hours of cumulative time listening to or watching a Swiss channel. So it has bugger all to do with 'usage.'

Along with punitive parking charges/ minor infringement fines/ itemised bloody usage bills for everything from a driving license to a johnny foreigner permit all helps keep the headline tax rate low only for the venus flytrap to ensnare the unsuspecting once they're committed to the place through multiple unescapable contracts for everything from compulsory health insurance to compulsory liability insurance to apartment leases. I've never known such a nation born to be actuaries and accountants and it bores me to tears.

Not very nice. I'd far rather the system just said give us 40% of your blood and we'll leave you alone. Before coming to Switzerland the only time I'd seen such mindnumbing attention to itemising every last facet of life was whilst watching a bunch of Austrian holidaymakers noisily and anally demanding a waiter split their 9 Euro drinks bill 6 ways in an otherwise idyllic Mediterranean beach bar. I need a break from the grey and miserable place.

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I agree... I, personally, am more a fan of the usage model- pay for what you use, and don't pay for what you don't. I don't think it's appropriate for households that don't watch/listen to be required to subsidize households that do, especially as some that don't might've made this choice from financial necessity.

However, I do think the current standards/definitions for/of television watcher/radio listener need to be examined, and more accurate ones put in place.

Occupy Billag HQ, anyone?

I dutifully pay the radio tax, but not the TV as I do not have a television, nor do I watch TV online.

Every few years or so I get a letter from Billag asking if I own a television, or watch TV via internet, etc. I simply write exactly that: I do not own a televison, and although I own a computer I do not subscribe to any TV services nor do I watch TV online.

Billag seems satisfied with that; they continue to bill me for radio only.

Exactly why, if I were able to vote, I would vote against it. Was just highlighting the nonsense where somebody claimed, "everyone would pay 100 chf less!".

Same. I enjoy Swiss radio, listen to an hour or two at home each day, on average. My favourite station broadcasts in Swiss-German, and have recently started daily "five-minute" Romansche lessons. 90% of the music they play is the same stuff that was on the radio when I was the age of my eldest two kids, which feels a bit strange, but I enjoy that too.

This is not 100% true. I have internet, computers and mobiles and only pay the radio tax, and I am legal

When I called Billag to set up my 'account' I was told I had to pay for the television and radio tax as I possessed the capability to watch television or listen to radio on my computers and smartphone. The person I talked to even pointed out that, as I use upc-cablecom for my ISP, I have access to television over the internet, through a upc-cablecom run site. I think, in my Swiss noob-ness, I volunteered too much information, and now I'm on the hook.

What I have gathered from others' stories on EF is that Billag seems to operate on a more-or-less 'honor system' whereby, if you say you only listen to radio, they only charge you the radio tax, etc. Occasionally, Billag employees go out and 'look around' or a Billag employee asks a few probing questions over the phone to see if people are being honest. Am I far from the mark?

It has nothing to do with volunteering too much information.

If you have internet, but you do not subscribe to a television provider, you don't have to pay the TV fee. They will probably send someone to your home to check if you really have no tv (since it's easy to check/prove if you subscribed to a tv provider or not on your internet bill), but you don't even have to let them inside your home.

I had a pretty good text in English writen by my OH, but can't find it. Here is a link for you meanwhile:

Connecting laptop to digital TV receiver? Plus "Billag"

I have no TV, no TV subscription, and haven't seen TV in years. It's awesome!

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Wrong, you do have to pay.

http://www.billag.ch/web/de/fragen_u...en/geraet.html

Ich habe einen Computer mit Internetzugang. Muss ich mich für den Radio- bzw. den Fernsehempfang anmelden?

Laut Gesetz muss man sich anmelden, sobald ein Gerät vorhanden ist, das technisch in der Lage ist, Programme zu empfangen. Darunter fallen, wenn gewisse Bedingungen erfüllt sind, auch Computer mit Internetzugang. (Ob die Programme auch genutzt werden oder nicht, ist rechtlich nicht von Belang.)

Google translation:

I have a computer with Internet access. Do I need to radio or television reception?

By law you have to register as soon as a device is present, the technology is able to receive programs. Including product, if certain conditions are met, including computers with Internet access. (Whether the programs are also used or not is legally irrelevant.)

I have several Billag people locked up in my basement and am selling their organs on Ebay. Can I have your Billag man if you don't need him?

Wrong. You have to pay radio, but you only have to pay TV if the "conditions" are met. Those conditions include having the TV package. Though some internet contracts have those packages automatically, others, such as mine, don't. If I want to receive TV over internet, I have to pay extra to Cablecom.

The condition being "Programme zu empfangen". Got a browser..? condition met, pay up.