Good News for Businesses: No Reception, No More Television License Fee

“The judgment opens the door for many businesses to claim refunds of license-fee payments from the Broadcasting Authority.”
Adv. Eddie Weinstein, head of commercial and economic law at A. Shiloh & Co., expects the recent landmark ruling by the Tel Aviv Magistrates’ Court to prompt numerous claims nationwide against the Broadcasting Authority for refunds of television license fees and declarations that no future fee is payable. Judge Fliner held that, since the Broadcasting Authority switched to digital broadcasting, owning a television receiver no longer justifies charging the fee unless it actually receives a digital broadcast through an external device, whether a cable or satellite company’s decoder or an “Idan+” receiver. For many businesses whose screens serve only advertising and marketing purposes, this means lower costs: they can now obtain exemption from a fee they were unjustifiably required to pay for years.
Until now, the Broadcasting Authority relied on a provision dating from 1965 requiring anyone possessing a television receiver to pay a fee. In some cases, it “agreed” to be flexible and charged only owners of receivers containing a “tuner,” which enables reception of analog broadcasts. According to Adv. Eddie Weinstein of A. Shiloh & Co., the Broadcasting Authority Law has plainly failed to keep pace with technological advances in television broadcasting, and the court now appears to have recognized this for the first time. The judgment held that since the transition to “Idan Plus” broadcasts in March 2011, the presence of a tuner in a receiver is no longer meaningful. Unless the Broadcasting Authority proves that the television is connected to an external device receiving digital broadcasts, exemption may therefore be obtained.

Adv. Weinstein explains that although this Magistrates’ Court judgment is guidance rather than binding precedent, the court has helped narrow the large gap between law and technology, limiting the fee to televisions actually receiving broadcasts through an external device. The legislature has also noticed the issue: a proposed amendment to the Broadcasting Authority Law is currently before the Knesset and, if adopted, should exempt all owners of televisions not connected to any digital decoder.

Adv. Weinstein expressed the hope that these recent changes to the television-fee obligation are the first sign of a comprehensive efficiency process at the Broadcasting Authority and in fee collection. Such improvements are expected to save ordinary citizens money, reduce litigation over fee payments and streamline the Authority’s organization, also reducing citizens’ expenses.