The question of whether the new ORF contribution in the form of a household tax is unconstitutional has not yet been answered. An individual request for a review of the law submitted by 331 people was rejected as inadmissible by the Constitutional Court (VfGH), as announced on Thursday. Another legal process is reasonable, the Supreme Court stated.
This means that applicants, the majority of whom do not own a television, can request a notice from ORF-Beitrags-Service GmbH (OBS; formerly GIS) about the assessment of their ORF contribution when they receive a payment request, without having to provoke criminal proceedings. This notice can then be used to lodge a complaint with the Federal Administrative Court (BVwG), according to the Constitutional Court. The BVwG’s decision can then be appealed to the Constitutional Court.
15.30 euros per month
In their individual application, the applicants argued that the law regulating the ORF contribution was contrary to equality because it did not differentiate whether the individual persons liable to pay the contribution actually used the ORF’s services. It violated the right to property integrity because it did not sufficiently distinguish between participation and non-participation in the ORF’s services. It was also argued that legal recourse via the Federal Administrative Court was unreasonable due to the large amount of time and expense involved. The Constitutional Court did not share this view. The Constitutional Court did not comment on the content of the ORF contribution.
The new ORF fee of 15.30 euros per month and household – secondary residences are excluded – has been in effect since January 1st. Since then, it has not mattered whether you have a television or a radio in your own four walls. For most people who had previously paid the device-linked GIS fee, it became cheaper. However, hundreds of thousands of households had to pay for the first time.
