Broadcasting licence fee exemption
Since the new regulation of the licence fee in 2013, every household must in principle pay a licence fee of €17.50 per month. The responsible body is called the "Beitragsservice".
Contribution exemption:
Private radio subscribers can be exempted from paying the licence fee or receive a reduction for social or personal reasons.
The following are entitled to exemption from the licence fee
- Recipients of transfer benefits (citizen's allowance, subsistence assistance or basic security in old age or basic security in the event of reduced earning capacity, benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act and recipients of child and youth welfare benefits),
- Recipients of training grants (BAB, BAföG),
- persons entitled to special care under the Federal Pension Act,
- deaf-blind people and recipients of assistance for the blind
- Recipients of care assistance and
- recipients of care allowances.
Contribution reduction
The following disabled persons with the RF mark on their severely disabled person's pass are entitled to a reduction in the licence fee:
- Blind people or people who are not only temporarily significantly visually impaired with a degree of disability of at least 60 per cent solely due to their visual impairment,
- hearing-impaired or deaf people or people who are unable to communicate sufficiently by hearing, even with hearing aids, or
- disabled persons whose degree of disability is at least 80 per cent and who are unable to participate in public events due to their condition.
Exemption and reduction of the membership fee are only granted upon application.
Application
On the basis of the "Nineteenth Interstate Broadcasting Amendment Treaty", the procedure has been simplified and is now regulated as follows:
The fully completed application for exemption from or reduction of the licence fee must be sent to the ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio contribution service, stating the subscriber number (nine digits), together with a copy of the relevant grant notice or the severely disabled person's ID card. A simple copy is sufficient.
A retroactive exemption or reduction is now possible for up to three years.
Information and forms:
