The government is preparing fundamental change in the strategy of financing public media. The so far controversial radio-television subscription is to be completely terminated. He'll replace him. new audiovisual feewhich cannot be avoided – even without a tv or radio receiver. Changes to enter into force at the earliest 2026.
RTV subscription – ineffective and obsolete system
Current RTV subscription of PLN 327.60 per year is simply a commitment of any individual with a radio or television. However, data propose very low recovery – only approximately 32% of eligible citizens He pays him regularly. So for years there has been a public discussion on its meaning and effectiveness.
In the era of increasing popularity of streaming platforms and mobile access to media content, a classical form of charging for radio and tv becomes Less and little justified. The deficiency of effective subscription enforcement tools further deepened the problem.
New audiovisual fee – lower but unavoidable
According to current government plans, RTV subscription will be replaced by a fresh audiovisual fee of PLN 8.30 per month – means approx. PLN 100 per year. Although this amount is lower than before, it is changing method of downloading it: fresh danin is to be integrated with income tax and automatically deducted by Tax Office.
That means that Each payer will paywhether it actually uses public media or even has a receiver. For households with respective adults, fees may exceed the existing subscriptionbecause they will be charged individually from each taxable person.
Who will be released from the fresh fee?
Although a fresh form of charge is intended to cover a wide scope of citizens, Exceptions are planned. According to information from the portals Dziennik.pl and Onet.pl, the following will be exempted from the fee:
- Students and students up to 26 years of age
- Unemployed and persons without income
- Earners below minimum wage
- Persons with disabilities
- Persons low income
- Persons over 75 years of age
That means that Professional persons aged 26-75 will be subject to a compulsory fee, regardless of their actual usage of public media services.
Alternative: State budget funding
The second option under consideration, supported by, among others, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, is direct financing of public media from the state budget. In this script it would be allocated at least 0.09% of GDP per year to support the information, educational and cultural activities of public media.
Such a strategy would have respective advantages:
- Financial stability no substance the level of recovery
- No administrative collection from citizens
- Greater transparency of funding
However, opponents of this model point to risk of politicisation backing and dependence on government budget decisions.
New regulations possible since 2026
Come on. the termination of the RTV subscription seems to be bound, the final plan of the fresh public media backing strategy not yet accepted. According to current assumptions, a fresh audiovisual fee could enter into force at the earliest in 2026.
Legislative work and public consultation will proceed until then. The Government declares that the final decision will take into account both the interests of citizens and the request for unchangeable financing of independent public media.
The planned improvement is 1 of the most crucial steps towards modernising public media financing in Poland. Although the audiovisual fee appears to be lower than the erstwhile subscription, Its widespread nature is controversial. It besides forces people to pay, who from public media do not use or They don't want to use.
Ultimately, the question is not only "how much will we pay," but whether paying will make sense to the citizenwhich expects qualitative and independent content. We have a fewer months of debate and decisions ahead of us that will influence the form of public media for the next decades.
More here:
Don't you have a TV? You'll pay anyway. Government prepares mandatory audiovisual fee
