Poland to replace RTV license fee with a universal audiovisual charge covering nearly all citizens

In brief

• The government has proposed replacing the RTV subscription with a mandatory audiovisual fee.
• The fee would apply to nearly all adults, whether or not they own a TV or radio.
• Critics call it a new compulsory levy, while others say it only makes existing public broadcasting funding visible.
• No start date, amount or legislative timetable has been given yet.

What the proposal would change

The government has proposed scrapping the current RTV subscription and replacing it entirely with a new charge called the audiovisual fee (Nie oglądasz telewizji? I tak zapłacisz za abonament RTV – Wykop) (Nie oglądasz telewizji? I tak zapłacisz za Abonament RTV 8.11.2026 – gk24.pl).

Who would pay

The key shift is that the obligation would no longer depend on owning a receiver. Some commenters argue that the change only alters the form of an existing payment, because public broadcasting is already funded in part from the state budget.

Public reaction

Discussion online has been sharply divided. Opponents say the arrangement would fund public broadcasters that they consider politically biased. Others argue that the money is already being paid through taxes and that the reform simply makes it visible. Several users also doubt that a fee announced as a cut would lower what people pay in practice.

Open questions

The reports do not give a start date, the exact amount of the new fee, or the schedule for the legislative process. They also do not describe exemptions or how collection would work. Until the draft law is published, the scope of the change remains unclear.