Interstate broadcast license agreement
The State Treaty on Broadcasting Fees (RGebStV) was a state treaty of all German federal states and, until January 1, 2013, the legal basis for the broadcasting fees levied by all broadcasters to finance public broadcasting . It is to be distinguished from the Interstate Broadcasting Agreement (RStV) on which it is based and the Interstate Broadcasting Agreement in which u. a. the amount of the fees is determined. The State Treaty on Broadcasting Fees was repealed on January 1, 2013 in accordance with Article 2 of the 15th State Treaty on Broadcasting . It was replaced by the new State Treaty on Broadcasting Fees (Art. 1 of the 15th RÄStV).
Overview of contract content
The State Treaty defined radio receivers and stipulated that whoever kept them ready for reception - the radio subscriber - had to pay fees for radio and television sets in different amounts. It stipulated the obligation to provide information and notification of radio participants as well as the beginning and end of the obligation to pay fees. He defined exceptions to the obligation to pay fees as well as possibilities to be exempted from the obligation to pay fees. It also contained regulations on data processing by the state broadcasters and agencies commissioned by them.
Since the State Treaty only worked in the Federal Republic of Germany, broadcasters abroad were not affected by the obligation to provide information, notify and pay fees.
Definitions of contract terms
Radio receivers
Radio receivers in the sense of the RGebStV were all devices that are "suitable for wireless or wired, non-time-shifted audio or visualization or recording of radio performances (radio and television)." (§ 1 (1)). Devices that were primarily used for other purposes (computers, mobile phones, playback devices for product or instructional videos) counted as receiving devices that required registration and fees if they had a receiver (tuner).
The receivers subject to registration also included devices that were not in operation - simply having a corresponding device ready to receive required registration or payment of the broadcasting fees. This also applied to devices that could be made ready to receive with little effort . In court rulings, connection to suitable antenna systems and small repairs to defective devices were regarded as such low effort .
The definition of the receiver also encompassed new types of radio receivers that can only receive radio programs as a stream via the Internet . The obligation to pay fees for this was suspended until the end of 2006. For these, however, the second device exemption (see below) was also extended to the commercial sector, so that they did not trigger additional broadcasting fees if they were kept available in addition to "conventional" devices.
Broadcasters
A radio participant was someone who had a radio receiver ready for reception. In the case of the receiving device in the motor vehicle, the participant to whom the motor vehicle was registered was deemed to be the participant;
License fee
The radio license fee was made up of the basic fee and the television fee, with the first television receiver unit having to pay the basic fee and television fee even without owning a radio. The amount was set by the State Treaty on Broadcasting and was most recently EUR 5.76 / month (radio fee) and EUR 17.98 (television and radio fee).
In principle, the corresponding fee had to be paid for each individual radio receiver, but for private households there was an exemption for so-called second devices. This second device exemption was extended to the commercial sector from 2007 for reception via the Internet.
Fee debtor
The fee debtor was always the radio subscriber who kept the radio equipment ready for reception.
Beginning and end of the fee obligation
The obligation to pay fees began at the beginning of the month in which the standby began and only ended at the end of the month in which the standby ended and the written cancellation was received by the responsible state broadcaster or the GEZ. In case of doubt, the radio participant had to prove receipt of the cancellation (e.g. a registered receipt from the post office). This meant that without deregistration the obligation to pay fees continued regardless of receiving devices.
Notification requirement
With a few exceptions, every person who had a radio receiver ready for reception was obliged to register it with the responsible state broadcaster or the GEZ and to pay radio fees.
The end of keeping a radio receiver ready or a change of residence was also subject to notification.
The radio participant was obliged to provide the state broadcaster with the following data when reporting:
- First and last name and previous name under which a radio receiver was registered,
- Date of birth,
- Name and address of the legal representative,
- Current address and last address at which a radio receiver was registered,
- Belonging to a certain industry,
- Beginning and end of the provision of radio receivers,
- Type, number, type of use and location of the radio receivers,
- Broadcast subscriber number
- the reason for unsubscribing.
Right to information and obligation to provide information
In addition to the obligation to notify, which the radio participant has to fulfill even without a request, the state broadcasting corporations had a right to information from the radio participant. In individual cases, the state broadcasting corporation was able to collect additional data beyond the data listed above for the obligation to notify, if this was necessary for the fulfillment of its tasks.
The state broadcasting corporations were entitled to information not only from radio subscribers, but also from their household members, and also from people for whom there were actual indications that they had radio receivers ready and did not indicate this. Whether z. B. an antenna system assigned to an apartment was sufficient as a guide, but it was controversial.
The responsible state broadcaster was able to enforce its right to information in administrative compulsory proceedings (imposition of fines and compulsory detention).
With regard to the obligation to provide information if the circumstances remained unchanged, the Hessian data protection officer was of the opinion that there would then be no obligation to cooperate.
Exceptions to the obligation to pay fees and information
Second device exemption in private households
In private households, with registration and payment of fees for a receiving device, all other devices of the same type that are kept ready for reception by the radio subscriber, his or her spouse or partner were exempt from the registration and fee obligation. In the case of people who lived with a broadcaster and were not married / partnered with him (e.g. in the case of unmarried partnerships, children in their parents' household or shared apartments), the second device exemption only applies if these people did not have their own, had an income in excess of the basic social assistance standard rate. For example, children living in the household whose own monthly income was above the basic social welfare standard rate had to register the receiving devices in their own rooms independently of their parents' household and pay fees for them; if your own income was lower, there was neither a fee nor a notification obligation.
A second household, for example a holiday home, was considered a separate household. The devices held there for reception had to be registered separately, regardless of whether devices were registered with the first household.
With regard to the exact calculation of the "income", reference is made to a judgment of the OVG Lower Saxony of August 28, 2009. The guiding principle for this judgment was as follows: Guiding principle / principles:
Income within the meaning of Section 5 (1) sentence 2 RGebStV is all income in money or monetary value, reduced by the deduction amounts according to Section 76 (2) BSHG old version (or for periods from January 1, 2005 according to Section 82 (2) SGB XII).
Second device exemption in the non-private area
The second device exemption also applied to new types of radio receivers such as Internet PCs in the non-private, i.e. commercial, area. PCs, mobile phones, game consoles, etc. with Internet access have only been subject to charges since January 1, 2007 if no other receiving device was available on the respective company property. Branch companies therefore had to have a registered radio receiver for each branch in order to be exempted from the second device.
A freelance or self-employed person with a work space separate from the living area also had to pay a radio fee for the company PC to the GEZ, if a radio receiver (also as a car radio) assigned to the same property was not already registered.
Car radios as toll-free secondary devices
Car radios in exclusively privately used cars of a radio participant, his spouse or partner or a household member with no income above the social welfare rate were fee-free second devices. The second device exemption did not apply to all other car radios (e.g. those in partially commercially used cars or household members with income above the social welfare rate), so they had to be registered additionally.
This regulation probably did not apply to public service employees, because according to information from the Bavarian State Chancellery and according to the legal commission of ARD and ZDF , the new version of Section 5 (2) sentence 1 RGebStV did not result in a separate fee obligation for radio equipment in official work private vehicles used by public employees.
Fee waivers
Upon request, natural persons had to be exempted from the fees if one of the above conditions applies (Section 6 RGebStV). This was u. a. the receipt of ALG II , social assistance , BAFöG for people living away from home, the blind , the hearing impaired , the disabled from 80% with an RF mark in the severely handicapped ID , who were constantly unable to attend public events due to their suffering - recipients of basic security in old age, etc. The list of Exemptions were final. If none of them applied, the broadcaster could only exempt from the fee "in cases of particular hardship". The exemption regulation for people with “low incomes” no longer applies in 2004. The exemption always applied from the month following the application. Retroactive exemption was excluded. The evidence on which an exemption was based, such as notices of performance or assessment, had to be submitted in a certified copy or with a simple confirmation note to an authority or advice center of the welfare associations for the application, and the sending of original notices or IDs had to be avoided. Since September 1, 2008, it has also been possible to present an original confirmation from the service provider that was issued with the performance notices instead.
Exemption from the license fee obligation was the request for hospitals , health facilities , facilities for disabled persons, sheltered workshops , institutions of youth , Suchtkranken- and the elderly , homeless shelters given inter alia if the legal entity , business or the establishment of non-profit or charitable purposes in the meaning of §§ 51 to 68 of the tax code used or these devices according to § 3 Nr. 20 Gewerbesteuergesetz of the business tax were liberated.
Constitutional objections to the obligation to pay fees for new types of radio receivers
On March 31, 2006 three self-employed persons filed a constitutional complaint against the inclusion of new types of radio receivers (internet-enabled devices such as computers and cell phones) in the fee obligation from January 1, 2007. This was rejected in accordance with Section 90 (2 ) sentence 1 BVerfGG because the simple legal process was not exhausted, and reference was made to this same legal process. In October 2010 the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig ruled that owners of an internet-enabled PC are subject to a fee.
Web links
- Interstate Broadcasting Agreement (PDF, 165 kB)
- Wieland Bosman: Paradigm Shift in Broadcasting Financing: From Broadcasting Fee to Broadcasting Fee (PDF, 111 kB), in: Kommunikation & Recht 1/2012
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Weg-frei-fuer-Rundfunk-Haushaltsabgabe-1397473.html
- ↑ The hess. Data protection officer on the obligation to provide information ( Memento of the original dated December 6, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Point 24
- ↑ BVerwG: Second device privilege for spouses can also be transferred to civil partnerships
- ↑ Lower Saxony Higher Administrative Court - 4 LC 460/07
- ^ Enforcement of the Bavarian Travel Expenses Act (BayRKG); Broadcasting license fee for private vehicles used for business purposes according to § 5 Abs. 2 RGebStV FMS of January 20, 2006 No. 24 - P 1704 - 018 - 50612/05 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (pdf, p. 4, point E1; 37 kB)
