Admissibility and Amount of Radio and Television Reception Fees

Facts

The appellant X. had filed a complaint against the levying of radio and television reception fees by the Swiss PTT (Post, Telephone and Telegraph) Operations. The Directorate General of the PTT Operations had dismissed the complaint, as the reception of radio and television programmes, regardless of whether domestic or foreign programmes are received, is subject to a permit and fees. X. then filed an administrative court appeal with the Federal Court.

Considerations

The Federal Court dismissed the appeal. It stated that the reception fees for radio and television are royalty fees, which are levied regardless of which programmes the recipient actually receives. The obligation to pay the fees is linked to the commissioning of a reception device and the associated use of the federal technical shelf. The legislator has consciously refrained from grading the fees according to the number or quality of the programmes received.

The currently levied reception fees of CHF 9.90 for radio and CHF 19.30 for television per month are within reasonable limits…