SINGAPORE: Households who do not pay television licence
fees on time are getting more attention from the
authorities.
About 77,200 households were slapped with a late payment
notice in 2008 for not paying the $110 fee, compared to 65,000 who
failed to do so in 2005.
The most common reasons for late payment include the licensee's
oversight, working overseas, financial difficulty or misplacement
of the first payment advice, said Media Development Authority of
Singapore deputy director (customer services and operations)
Dorothy Lai.
However, MDA said the annual late payment rate has remained at 8
per cent. The increase in number of late payments is due to the
rise in the number of households – about 965,000 licences were
issued in 2008, up from 812,500 in 2005.
TV licence fees are used to fund free-to-air public service
broadcasting (PSB) programmes on MediaCorp, the parent company of
this newspaper.
The programmes serve "the objectives of promoting values important
to Singaporeans", touching on identity, culture, heritage, racial
and religious harmony, for example, said MDA.
But with more cable TV channels available, some are wondering why
they should pay TV licence fees.
"There are similar programmes, like documentaries and news, on
cable channels," said service engineer John Lum, 48. "I don't mind
paying (TV licence fees), but more updated shows should be
produced."
Others want more clarity on how the fees are used. "Since the money
is given on a platter, is there any assurance there is no wasteful
expenditure?" a blogger, Roger Poh, wrote.
According to the Auditor-General's report last year, 67 per cent of
radio and TV licence fees collected are used for PSB
programmes.
The rest goes to expenses related to collection of the fees (11 per
cent), industry development (15 per cent) and reserves for future
PSB and content development funding (7 per cent).
In the 2007/08 financial year, about $80.82 million was used to
fund PSB programmes, which covered genres such as information and
current affairs, arts and culture, minority language news and
programmes, children's and locally produced sports programmes as
well as local dramas.
Over 3,000 hours of programmes are supported each year, and MDA's
Ms Lai cited some highlights on its PSB report card: PSB programmes
received 22 nominations at last year's Asian Television Awards,
with The Little Nyonya jointly clinching the Best Drama
Series.
Ms Lai added that eight in 10 of the "most appreciated" TV shows in
2007-2008 were PSB supported.
But the Auditor-General's report noted that the survey used for the
appreciation index is inadequate, as it does not assess whether or
to what extent the programmes meet the objectives identified by MDA
– a shortcoming that MDA says it has since rectified.
To get households to pay fees on time, MDA will launch a public
outreach programme this month to "educate" the public on "why the
fee should be paid, how to pay, and why it is important to pay on
time".
Collaterals will be sent to households but these should "not appear
as hard-sell, or as government propaganda", according to MDA's
tender documents for the initiative.
The MDA will send a reminder to pay the original amount plus a $25
late payment fee to households that have not paid by Jan 31. After
this, and a second late notice, a summons will be sent via
registered mail to those who still do not pay up.
- TODAY/so