A governmental expert group proposes that all households will be required to pay the NRK licence fee, whether they have a TV or not. This will bring NRK nearly 300 million more in revenue.
– The current licensing system, where the licence fee is only paid by people in possession of a TV, is not sustainable. The proportion of households with television sets is also falling, the head of Rimmereidutvalget, Tore Olaf Rimmereid, says to the newspaper Dagens Næringsliv.
Today people who watch NRK through smart phones and computer monitors, do not have to pay license.
– I don’t think that people should be able to be legal free riders and watch NRK legally – without having to pay for it, Rimmereid says.
The so-called household contribution will increase NRK income by 4 to 5 percent. In 2015 NRK collected in excess of 5.4 billion kroner in license fees, which means that the state channel would get to add around 270 million kroner to its come to – if the model is being adopted by the Parliament.
– I’m not sure that I think this arrangement is fair, Conservative media policy spokesman Kårsta Eidem Løvaas says.
The Progress Party’s cultural policy spokesman Ib Thomsen is not particularly impressed.
– I believe this is not very innovative and that it is a bad solution. It will naturally bring NRK more money, but the public is this purely negative, she says.
In October last year the Government appointed the expert committee to propose different models for the future funding of NRK. The report will be handed over to Culture Minister Linda Hofstad Helleland on Friday.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
Everybody should pay as tax from salary. Now some people pay and some others donor. It is not fair.
I would be willing to pay for programs I actually want to see, when I would like to see them, so I believe it would be best to have a pay as you go system, then it would be proportionate to how much you use NRK services. Or a daily, weekly or monthly subscription choice could be an option where you can drop and pick up the subscription as you desire. I am really not keen on paying over the odds for something yearly I would use very seldomly especially since I do not own a TV.
Are Norwegians so stupid that they would agree to such an absurd system? Why should people be forced to pay for TV that they do not watch?
The TV licence should be completely abolished and voluntary subscriptions should be used to fund NRK. Any other system is unfair and extortionate.
The panel of experts must be people who are seeking to make a living from the licence fee. Such spongers and crooks should be shaken off the backs of the Norwegian public.