TV licence:how strict they are with issuing fines?

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Bonnielass

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Ive recently moved into my new home and havent gotten round to buying a tv licence yet!Ive gotten 2 letters from An Post telling me to get one. Moneys fairly tight at the moment and it will be the summer before i can realistically afford to get it. Does anyone know how strict they are with issuing fines i.e would i have another month or 2 to save for one without incurring a fine?
 
Re: TV licence

You can pay monthly by direct debit, see http://www.rte.ie/about/licence.html.

If you can't afford the license fee, you definitely can't afford the fine! So you should pay now (you are on their database already) or get rid of the telly. Most of the programs are very missable anyway :)
 
Re: TV licence

Pretty sure you can pay over 12 monthly installments. I think it's such a waste of money, I get Irish channels through SKY and have to pay them. If the world was a fair and just place, SKY should pass on some money to the poor at RTE!
 
Re: TV licence

Failure to produce evidence of a television licence to an inspector can result in a court appearance and on conviction, you can receive a substantial fine. People who have been fined and who have breached court orders directing them to pay their television licence can be imprisoned.[broken link removed]

I think they can be very strict, as above.
If you have had two letters, I suspect the TV Licence Inspector Man may be on the way..
Don't risk this one!
Regards
Nicola
 
Re: TV licence

Looks like the licence is a lot cheaper than the Fine, take a look here
[broken link removed] you could check out the Installments !!

Not too sure what happens if you tell them you dont have a set, can they search the house etc, I doupt it but you never know.
 
jackswift said:
Sky tv and tv licence. You pay for rte1, 2, tv3 and tg4 through sky and then pay for the same with the tv licence.
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I don't think this is actually the case.
I remembering hearing a few years ago that if a provider, such as Sky, NTL, etc, provides any television signals, they are also obliged to provide access to the terrestrial channels.

Therefore, you are paying Sky for Sky One, Sky News, etc and Sky are also the conduit for RTE1 and RTE2, though you are not paying Sky for these.
 
DavyJones said:
...I think it's such a waste of money, I get Irish channels through SKY and have to pay them. If the world was a fair and just place, SKY should pass on some money to the poor at RTE!
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jackswift said:
Sky tv and tv licence. You pay for rte1, 2, tv3 and tg4 through sky and then pay for the same with the tv licence.
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You don't pay a TV (or radio) licence to get specific channels - you pay the government a licence fee to have receiving equipment on your premises - i.e. a TV set or a radio receiver (aka "wireless") - for those of us who possess such a document, please read it.

The government decided, on our behalf, to use licence fee revenue to partially fund certain TV & radio channels, but paying a licence fee does not entitle you to receive specific, or indeed any, channels.
 
if money's so tight sell your television and you won't need one.
 
mathepac said:
You don't pay a TV (or radio) licence to get specific channels - you pay the government a licence fee to have receiving equipment on your premises - i.e. a TV set or a radio receiver (aka "wireless") - for those of us who possess such a document, please read it.

The government decided, on our behalf, to use licence fee revenue to partially fund certain TV & radio channels, but paying a licence fee does not entitle you to receive specific, or indeed any, channels.
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A radio licence no such thing.
 
It's against the guidelines and principles of this website to suggest or recommend to anyone to break the law in any way.

I'm not a moderator, and I'm not "Brendan" (the website owner), but this principle of honesty is very enshrined in this website.

If you have a TV, you must have a licence, otherwise you are breaking the law. End of story. The advice would have to be, either throw your TV out the window, or buy a licence.

People like Pat Kenny get paid well over half a million a year (could even be closer to a million).
If you don't pay your licence fee, who is going to pay Pat Kenny, and Gerry Ryan, and Tubridy and other well paid RTE employees ?
 
Whiskey said:
The advice would have to be, either throw your TV out the window, or buy a licence.
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While I do agree that AAM will never facilitate people with anything bordering on the illegal etc., in this case even if people would/did consider the other options (e.g. turn off all the lights, watch the TV under a blanket so they can't see in the windows and don't answer the door to anyone) the recommendations would be the same.

The ability to pay monthly means the cost should be at a managable level (~€13 p/m) while the fine is a very significant figure. I couldn't see any scenario where the risk involved would justify not paying the licence fee.
 
slightly off topic but someone might know the answer.

recently mr truthseeker and i have noticed we are watching less and less tv and instead watching dvds and clips on youtube - the pc could be used to watch dvds if we choose.

we jokingly said last night we should ditch the telly and just watch the stuff we want to see via youtube and dvds.

are you still required to have a tv licence in this case as you are not receiving channels but watching recorded videos? just curious.
 
jackswift said:
A radio licence no such thing.
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The television license was originally introduced as a radio license under British law in 1904 and it changed to a tv license in the 60s. Radio licenses were done away with in the 70s but the €160 we pay today does fund radio programming on RTE as well as tv.
 
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truthseeker said:
slightly off topic but someone might know the answer.

recently mr truthseeker and i have noticed we are watching less and less tv and instead watching dvds and clips on youtube - the pc could be used to watch dvds if we choose.

we jokingly said last night we should ditch the telly and just watch the stuff we want to see via youtube and dvds.

are you still required to have a tv licence in this case as you are not receiving channels but watching recorded videos? just curious.
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Yes. If you have a TV capable of receiving TV broadcasts then you need a license. If you had a TV "monitor" with no tuner which you only used to watch videos/DVDs (and the player had no tuner) then you would not need a license.
 
jaybird said:
Not sure on this, open to correction, but I was told that what matters is the receiving equipment rather than the TV itself, IYSWIM? So if you don't have a sat dish or a cable hookup or and aeriel of any kind and therefore no capability for watching broadcasts, then you don't need a TV license.

On a similar note, if I don't have a TV and watch streamed programmes on my laptop eg 4OD etc, do I need a TV license?

Jay
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ClubMan said:
Yes. If you have a TV capable of receiving TV broadcasts then you need a license. If you had a TV "monitor" with no tuner which you only used to watch videos/DVDs (and the player had no tuner) then you would not need a license.
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To quote from the Broadcasting (Television) Receiving Licence (italics and underlining are mine) :
"The above-named person is hereby authorised subject to the Wireless
Telegraphy Acts, 1926 to 1986, the Broadcasting Authority Acts, 1960 to 2001, and the Broadcasting Regulations, 2005 to keep and have possession of apparatus for wireless telegraphy for receiving sound and visual images in colour and monochrome broadcast by a broadcasting station"

So reception is the key; the debate perhaps is what apparatus means in terms of the relevant acts;
a mobile phone?
a wireless broadband router?
a satellite dish?
a terrestrial aerial?
an internet-capable laptop or desktop?

What do ye think?
 
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