Watching TV on your PC or mobile phone? Get a licence!

Former_MSE_Archna

What's it about?

If you've just chucked away your telly and cancelled your TV licence thinking you can MoneySave by using your PC or Laptop to watch Corrie then think again - it may cost you much more than the licence fee!

Receiving or recording TV programmes as they're being broadcast on any equipment means the fee must be paid.

So what do I need a licence for?

If you have any of these and you use them to watch or record programmes you need a licence:

• TV
• Set-top box
• Video or DVD recorder
• Computer
• Mobile phones

What don't I need one for?

If you have a set top box and a stereo system or other piece of equipment that can't show TV pictures and you don't install or use any other TV receiving equipment, you don't need a licence.

How much does a licence cost?

A colour TV licence currently costs £135.50, a black and white one £45.50.
There are several ways to pay. If you've realised you do need one then see how on the TVlicensing website.

Are there any discounts?

Certain groups have concessions available to them:

• Students:
  
  Many students assume they're covered by their parent's TV licence. Wrong! You're also unlikely to be covered by your Hall of Residence's licence which usually just covers communal areas. If you live in shared accommodation and have a joint agreement then one licence covers everyone. If you've signed a single agreement though then each person with TV receiving equipment will need a licence.
  
  There is one piece of good news though. If at the end of the academic year you have a full three months left on your licence and won't be using it before it expires then you can get a refund on the remainder.

• If you're blind:
  
  If you or someone you live with is blind, you'll get 50% off the cost so your licence will cost £67.75 for a colour TV or £22.75 for a black and white one.

• 75 or over:
  
  Over-75s get a free TV licence while if you're over 74 and your licence will run out before you're 75 you're entitled to the Short Term TV Licence covering you until you reach 75.

• In Residential Care:
  
  If you watch TV in your own room or flat then you need a licence though if your residential home qualifies for an Accommodation or Residential Care (ARC) Concessionary Licence and you're retired and over 60 or are disabled then you can join the scheme and pay £7.50 per year. If you have a licence when you move in you can get a refund on any full months remaining.

• Second Home owners:
  
  You'll still need a licence for a second home. However, if it's a static caravan and the TV won't be used at the same time as ones in your main residence you won't need one (though you'll need to sign a declaration stating this). If your second home is a touring caravan or vehicle you won't need a separate licence.

System

Depending on how pedantic you want to be, mobiles and computers don't come in to it.
The Communication (Television Licencing) Regulations 2004 state

Meaning of "television receiver"
9. - (1) In Part 4 of the Act (licensing of TV reception), "television receiver" means any apparatus installed or used for the purpose of receiving (whether by means of wireless telegraphy or otherwise) any television programme service, whether or not it is installed or used for any other purpose

If it wasn't installed or used specifically for watching TV then it does not need a licence.

This is only one take on the wording. I think that it has been written in such a loose and woolly way to frighten the lay reader. Until there is a court case to set precedent there will be arguments about what does and does not need a licence.

The wording at the moment (if one assumes that a licence is needed for computers) also mean that my router needs a TV licence. Absurd or wot?

andyinyorkshire

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-6083155.html

Apparently watching Match of the Day on the internet and not through TV receiving equipment requires a TV license... probably difficult to ban the rest of the world access tho with the 'tor network' and proxy servers.

Personally it isn't worth watching MOTD on the internet as the microsoft codecs make the picture quality v.poor.

Shouldn't the license fee idea be replaced with something more sensible like free channels, paying for channel e.g. SKY, NTL, etc..?

nabster

There is already a website campaigning against this "tax". It is

https://www.bbcresistance.com

They have an online petition.

aharrisreid

Many people I have spoken to are under the misaprehension that just by having a device capable of receiving broadcast tv signals means you must have a licence. Not so if you are only using it for the playback of non-broadcast pre-recorded material.

Our family ditched the licence years ago when we stopped watching broadcast programmes, but we continued to use the tv for purchased/hired videos and DVDs (which we can now buy more of with the saved licence fee).

I have a letter from TVLC (or whatever they are called these days) confirming that a licence is NOT required if you are not using it to receive broadcast transmissions.

Happy money-saving!

Alan

AlanUdale

I had a big 6 foot satellite dish in my garden which was motorised and I was picking up english TV being broadcast from america into europe and another sat broadcasting english TV into europe I was still taken to court for not having a license although I watched no english TV as I had no aerial.

The judge was on a good day I had to pay for a licence and was fined £70.

Creosote

I read somewhere (believe it was the tv licensing website but can't find it atm) that "TV sets in boats, caravans, cars etc are exempt only if the set runs off self-contained batteries, but not if they have to be plugged into a power point" therefore a laptop running under it's own battery power with a turner card or streaming from the internet would be exempt, also a mobile phone under it's own power would also be exempt!

Edit: hmm, i also found this on the beeb site " The use of a television set, which is powered solely by its own internal batteries, will be covered for any address by the user’s main home licence."

Stephenbw

nabster wrote: »

There is already a website campaigning against this "tax".

No, the BBC is independent from government, hence a licence fee, not a tax.

I am happy to pay my licence to keep it this way and to keep it commercial free:j

nutdale

If a student living away from home with no TV watches TV on a laptop powered only by battery, is a licence needed? I understand he is then covered by the parental home licence.:beer:

t8769

>No, the BBC is independent from government, hence a licence fee, not a tax.

No, the BBC isn't independant, they get their money from the Government, and consistantly work with them.

Papers that have been released under the 25 year rule show the BBC worked with the government, putting out propaganda, to persuade people to vote to join the EC.

Its a tax.





Its a tax.

onzey

nutdale

I thought you were correct as far as I could remember after looking into this some time ago. However it looks to me as though they have added another condition that I don't recall being required when I last researched this, that being, it must not be connected to an aerial.

The licensing site now says:

Your parents' TV Licence won't cover your use of any TV receiver in student accommodation, except in the following limited circumstances:

• You only use TV receiving equipment that is powered by its internal batteries; and
• You have not installed it (e.g. connected it to an aerial or plugged it into the mains) to receive TV; and
• Your permanent address (non term-time) is your parents' home; and
• Your parents have a valid TV Licence for their home.

If you do not satisfy all of these requirements, you will need to buy your own TV Licence for your student accommodation.


I took this info from here