By TV license fee to increase from April 1
It has been announced TV licence fees will increase from £157.50 to £159 from April 1.
The cost of the licence is set by the Government, and it rises in line with inflation every April 1 however is smaller than last year’s rise of £3.
The new cost equates to 43p per day and a total of £159 a year.
Those buying or renewing a licence after April 1 will have to pay the new fee.
If you have already purchased your license on an instalment scheme which started before April 1 you will continue to make payments totalling £157.50 until you need to renew the contract.
The Government shifted the responsibility for TV licensing TV licensingover to the BBC in 2015, causing the broadcaster to remove the blanket free service.
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.
Many pensioners, who are over 75, now are resisting paying their fees in a show of protest against the BBC for not continuing free licenses for elderly people.
The free TV licence for over-75s was introduced by the government in 2000, but the BBC agreed to take on responsibility for funding the scheme in 2015.
Anyone caught not paying their TV licence could be forced to pay a maximum penalty of £1,000.
In some cases people may even face between three and six months in prison.
Although people cannot be directly imprisoned for not paying their TV licence, they can be sentenced if they fail to pay court fines.
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