Radio and television fee
Phishing attacks continue to increase in Switzerland. Phishing is a form of internet fraud in which attackers pretend to be representatives of well-known institutions in order to gain access to personal or financial data or to bring about money transfers. Customers of the collection agency for the radio and television fee, SERAFE AG, may also be affected. Important to know: SERAFE AG does not send e-mails with links to websites, on which data has to be entered. It also does not issue payment requests via apps such as Twint.
Fee for private households
In principle each Swiss household pays a fee for radio and television.
Fee for collective households
Collective households, as enumerated definitively in the Register Harmonisation Ordinance, pay an annual fee of CHF 670.
Fee for businesses
Businesses liable for value-added tax in Switzerland (those with a domicile, residence or business premises in Switzerland) with a global turnover in excess of CHF 500,000 are automatically liable for the radio and television fee.
Use of the fee revenue
The revenue from the fee, approximately CHF 1.37 billion annually, will be used to fund the radio/television programme services of the SSR SRG and for licensed commercial broadcasters (local radio stations and commercial television channels). In this way, the public service will be guaranteed in all parts of the country and democracy will be strengthened; the entire country and all its inhabitants will benefit.
Process for correcting address data on radio-television fee invoices
A solution has been found so that SERAFE AG – the collection agency for the universal radio and television fee – can transmit household data containing errors or inaccuracies in the address to the residents' registers. The Federal Office of Communications, Serafe and the Association of Swiss Residential Services have jointly defined the information to be included in forms that are sent to municipalities. The residents' registers of all municipalities and the cantons were informed accordingly in October 2019 by a letter from OFCOM.
Frequently asked questions
The new universal fee system enters into force on 1 January 2019. The universal fee will then replace the current reception fee. Billag will continue to collect the reception fee until the end of 2018. From 2019, Serafe will issue invoices for the universal fee to households whereas companies will receive theirs from the Federal Tax Administration (FTA).
- Since 1 January 2021, private households have been paying CHF 335 per annum.
- Since 1 January 2021, collective households have been paying CHF 670 per annum.
- Businesses pay a fee dependent on turnover.
- The Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) is commissioned to examine the level of the fee every two years. The first examination in 2020 allowed reducing the fee for private households by CHF 30 per annum and for collective households by CHF 60 per annum.
- The fee revenue is used to support the SSR SRG, but also licensed local radio and television stations. These broadcasters must provide specific services in order to ensure a top-quality public service in Switzerland.
OFCOM
Central:
Tel. 058 460 55 11
Sector radio-television fee:
Tel. 058 460 55 32
SERAFE AG
Tel. 058 201 31 67
Contact Serafe
www.serafe.ch