Already 813,000 new registrations in the first six months. The proportion of SEPA customers is now 70.8 percent. Another wave of the information campaign started in June.
Vienna (OTS) – The ORF contribution law came into force on January 1st. Instead of the GIS fees, which were tied to the ownership of a radio or television, all Austrian households were now required to pay the ORF fee. At 15.30 euros, this is significantly cheaper than the previous GIS fee of 22.45 euros, which corresponds to a reduction of more than 30 percent.
The management of the new ORF contribution is the responsibility of the ORF Contribution Service (OBS), which also collects the state tax for the federal states of Burgenland, Carinthia, Styria and Tyrol.
At the beginning of the year, all existing GIS payers had to be converted to the new system and all those households that were not yet liable to pay contributions had to be included. For the OBS, this was a challenging task given the short period of time between the ratification of the ORF Contribution Act 2024 on September 8, 2023 and its entry into force on January 1, 2024. For comparison:
In Germany, two and a half years were scheduled for the transition to the broadcasting fee. OBS Managing Director Alexander Hirschbeck:
“The requirements of switching to the new system were large and very complex, and the pressure was very high. But we also expected a high level of information needed and prepared ourselves as best we could.”
New wave of information campaign
The OBS service and information offerings have been used very well so far, but there is still a need for information. That’s why another information campaign with TV and radio spots was launched in mid-June, which explains why the ORF contribution has to be paid and what services it enables. The placements are accompanied by activities on social media in order to reach younger audiences and create additional space for interaction.
The option to set up a SEPA direct debit when registering online was very well received, which has the advantage that you can split the payment over an interval of two or six months. Since then, more than two thirds of all households have made use of this, and the trend continues to rise sharply.
Focus on business
Companies are currently also receiving requests to pay the ORF contribution, namely all those who were subject to local tax in 2023. The companies do not have to take action on their own; the OBS collects the number of ORF contributions to be paid and submits the regulations. Detailed information can be found on the OBS website orf.teil.at/unternehmen. Alexander Hirschbeck concludes: “It is our job to offer Austrians the best possible service and information about the ORF contribution. Our employees do very good work. I would like to thank the entire team for their commitment.”
Further information about the ORF contribution can be found at orf.teil.at
Questions & Contact:
presse@orf.beitrag.at