The TV license fee, which dates back to the 1920s, has long been controversial. Introduced with the establishment of the Polish Radio, it was initially regulated by the Post and Telegraph Act of 1933. Each owner of a radio receiver had to obtain a special “registration card”, which was also a permit to use the device. In the 1930s, the radio license fee was PLN 3 per month, although discounts were introduced for owners of less efficient Detefon receivers and for rural residents.
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In the interwar period, exemptions from fees were available to, among others: war invalids, blind people and radio scientists. Failure to pay the subscription fee resulted in fines, and compensation for arrears was the equivalent of six months' fee.
During World War II, there was no license fee because the German authorities banned Poles from owning radios, and breaking this ban resulted in severe penalties. After the war, fees were reinstated and in 1957 they were extended to television. The system also operated after the political changes in 1989, and its amount began to be regulated by the National Broadcasting Council..
In recent years, the TV license fee has been the subject of numerous debates. In 2008, Prime Minister Donald Tusk described it as an “archaic way of financing public media” and “a tribute collected from people”, announcing actions to abolish it. The project of abolishing the subscription fee as a civic initiative appeared in 2021, when the Civic Platform started collecting signatures for the appropriate act. During their election campaigns, Szymon Hołownia and Rafał Trzaskowski also promised to eliminate fees.
The current subscription rates are PLN 8.70 for a radio receiver and PLN 27.30 for a TV set or radio + TV set. Fee exemptions include, among others: people over 75 years of age, war invalids, disabled people and the unemployed. The inspections carried out by Poczta Polska are aimed at verifying the registration of receivers, and failure to do so may result in financial penalties..
Read also: From 2026, the RTV subscription fee is increasing. Poles will pay more
The draft amendment to the Media Act assumes the complete abolition of the license fee and the allocation of PLN 2.5 billion from the state budget to finance public media. Does Marta Cienkowska's announcement mean the final end of the almost 100-year history of the RTV subscription? Time will tell.
