TV licence fees will increase from £157.50 to £159 from April 1, it has been announced.

The increase is smaller than last year, when the licence went up from £154.50 to £157.50. The cost of the licence is set by the Government, and it rises in line with inflation every April 1.

This year the rise comes just as 750,000 pensioners were reported to be abstaining from paying their licence fees in protest over the BBC doing away with a free service for all over-75s.

The Government shifted the responsibility for TV licences over to the BBC in 2015, causing the broadcaster to remove the blanket free service in a bid to plug the funding hole.

BBC Chairman Sir David Clementi previously stated that it was ‘untenable’ to continue funding the free licences, as they would take up a fifth of the company’s spending on services, at £745 million a year.

Dennis Reed, of campaign group Silver Voices, claimed over the weekend that a ‘hard core’ group of pensioners are now resisting paying their fees in a show of protest against the BBC.

Anyone caught not paying their TV licence could be forced to pay a maximum penalty of £1,000 and may even face between three and six months of jail-time.

While people cannot be directly imprisoned for TV licence evasion, they can sentenced for failing to pay court fines.

Mr Reed also claimed the BBC had ‘flooded’ over-75s with reminder letters to pay their licence. He added: ‘Some had three or four letters in the last couple of weeks reminding them their licences would be cancelled. They are desperate to get people to pay.’

However, the BBC has denied that there are 750,000 pensioners refusing to pay their licences, with a spokesperson also stating that they don’t send more than two reminder letters.

They continued: ‘Around 80% of over-75 households have now transitioned to the new system, including those in receipt of Pension Credit who are eligible for a free licence funded by the BBC.

‘We continue to process applications, we’re giving people plenty of time to get set-up, the process is Covid-secure and we have a range of measures to support people, including payment plans.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected]. 

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Source: Read Full Article