New regulation 2024: ORF fees affect all households in Austria!

New regulation 2024: ORF fees affect all households in Austria!

From January 1, 2024, the ORF fee in Austria will become a new financial obligation for all households. The termination of the GIS financial structure and the introduction of the “OBS – ORF contribution service” means that every household will be asked to pay, regardless of the number of televisions or radios. The fee is at least 183.60 euros per year, although in many federal states, such as Tyrol and Burgenland, higher amounts of up to 240 euros are due Cosmo reported. This is a direct result of a ruling by the Constitutional Court, which judged the old fee structure to be inadequate.

Confusion about bills

The new system is already causing problems. A 90-year-old widower from Upper Austria was incorrectly asked to pay twice. The case was investigated by the ombudsman. Karl P. had been paying the television license fees since his wife's death in 2013 and had assumed that everything was going smoothly. “The participant number was transferred to his name,” says his son Norbert P., who points out that the change was properly reported. But that doesn't seem to have worked with the new system, which is causing concern.

With the introduction of the new ORF contribution, it becomes important that everyone responsible takes action. From now on, all adults living in the household must be registered to ensure that fees are allocated correctly. However, nothing changes for households that are already exempt from GIS crown determines. Only the payment modalities and address details are taken into account in the new system, which means that non-payers could be transferred to the normal dunning procedure if they do not pay the fees.