The RTV subscription is undoubtedly 1 of the most controversial and disliked public tributes in Poland. The work to pay it raises immense emotions, and many citizens consider it an unjust relic of the past, especially in the days of streaming platforms and the Internet. Still, Polish Post, as designated operator, regularly conducts checks and imposes penalties on non-payment recipients. In general belief, having a tv or radio is equivalent to an inevitable work to pay. However, it turns out that in the Polish legal strategy there is simply a mechanism, or alternatively a circumstantial plan of regulations, which allows for years thousands of Poles legally avoid this fee. It is not a gap or a fraud, but a conscious usage of the fundamental rule on which the full strategy is based – a regulation concerning the registration of the receiver.
Legal basis: Act and key work to register
To realize what this "method" is, 1 needs to scope the source, or Laws of 21 April 2005 on subscription fees. It is this part of government that requires citizens to pay subscriptions. But the key is Article 5(1) The Act, which states that "radio and tv receivers, to enable their use, are registered in the Polish Post".
The bill clearly states that to registry the fresh receiver we have 14 days from the date of his possession. That's where we get to the bottom of it. The work to pay a subscription is inextricably and formally associated with the fact that the receiver is registered. At the time of registration an individual recognition number is given, and our data goes to the Polish Post Office database. From that minute on, we become a debtor for the system, which has a monthly work to pay the fee.
The method utilized by thousands – what is it in practice?
The ‘Method’ in question is in fact highly simple and based on conscious failure to registry a recently purchased tv or radio receiver.
People who usage this option presume that since the work to pay is simply a consequence of registration, no registration means no formal work in the Polish Post Office system. In specified a situation, the burden of proving that the individual has and uses an unregistered receiver rests entirely on the Polish Post. And this, in practice, is an almost impossible task, which leads us to another key aspect – control.
Control from the Polish Post Office and your fundamental right to privacy
The biggest concern of non-paying persons is the visit of controllers from the Polish Post Office. This is the second pillar of the "method", based on 1 of the most crucial civilian rights – inviolability of home miruguaranteed by Article 50 Constitution of the Republic of Poland.
To put it simply: You have no legal work to let a controller from the Polish Post Office into your home or apartment. The controllers are not police officers or another services which, under the order of the prosecutor, may conduct a search. These are civilian workers who can enter the premises only by voluntary consent of its owner.
If you refuse to let the controller in, there's no consequence. The controller cannot enter by force, nor can he call the police to aid him get inside. In practice, if you do not open the door or politely, but powerfully refuse to let the inspection, the procedure at this point ends. The controller is incapable to verify whether there is simply a tv in your house, so there is no reason to initiate administrative proceedings.
A presumption that protects a citizen. Why is it working?
The full strategy is based on the so-called. the presumption of fact. The Polish Post Office assumes that if individual erstwhile registered the receiver, they inactive own it and usage it, even if they stopped paying. That is why it is so easy to prosecute people who are already “in the system”.
The situation changes diametrically erstwhile the receiver has never been registered. Then Poland Post He can't presume we have a TV.. It has to be. prove. And the only way to get conclusive evidence is by physically stating the presence of a functioning receiver in the premises. Without going inside – which is possible only with our consent – it is impossible.
This method, although effective, is indeed a symptom of a deeper problem – a flawed and socially unacceptable bill. If RTV's subscription was seen as a fair fee for valuable public media, the desire to avoid it would be marginal. However, in the current situation, many Poles believe that it is simply a forced tribute for purposes they do not identify with.
This should be clearly highlighted: This method is effective primarily for persons who have never registered a receiver. Those who are listed in the Polish Post Office database due to the fact that in the past they registered a tv or radio are in a much more hard situation. In their case, the Polish Post Office already has a basis for enforcing the backlog.
Avoiding registration is simply a form of civilian disobedience that functions on a massive scale due to the fact that the law has been constructed in a way that makes enforcement dependent on voluntary cooperation of the citizen – both at the registration and control stage. Until these laws change, and the form of financing of public media itself will not be reformed in a way that gains social acceptance, until thousands of Poles will benefit from this only effective legal shield that gives them inviolability of their own home.
Continued here:
How can you legally not pay RTV? There is simply a method utilized by thousands of Poles
