TV licence - Why people hate to pay

Although it costs as little as ?3,000 for a whole year, most people would rather use that money on something else than pay their TV licence fee… except, of course when they are threatened by the law, writes Graphic Showbiz.

To these people, it is not the mere payment of TV licence fee that bothers them, but the fact that they are expected to pay the fee to GBC, the state-owned Broadcasting Company.

A Showbiz survey in Accra occasioned by a regular stream of readers' letters received from dissatisfied viewers indicate that many viewers would not pay licence fees because GBC "chops it for nothing."

"TV licence? Oh, what do they show us on TV for me to pay?" …"What if I do not tune my TV to GTV?"…"For me, I believe TV licence has outlived its usefulness," were some of the regular responses people gave to Showbiz.

The Head of the TV licence fee collection office at GBC however, debunks this line of argument and considers anybody who holds this view as na?ve and ignorant about the law that empowers GBC to collect the fee on behalf of the government.

"First and foremost it must be made clear that licence fees are taxes and not levies", the GBC official explained, "and for that matter nobody else has the power to collect taxes apart from the government through the law it establishes for the imposition of a particular tax.

"The administration of TV licensing takes its power from the Television Licensing Decree 1966 (NLCD. 89), as well as Television Licensing Regulation, Legislative Instrument 1250 (1991). This makes it clear that there is a legal obligation on people who own TV sets to pay fees on them".