Gebühreneinzugszentrale
Encyclopedia
The GEZ, full title Gebühreneinzugszentrale der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (fee collection center of public-law broadcasting institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany), is a joint organization of Germany
's public broadcasting
institutions ARD
, ZDF
and Deutschlandradio
that is located in Cologne
. The GEZ is responsible for the elicitation of broadcast participants' data and the collection of license fees. Mandatory license fees are set in the Rundfunkfinanzierungsstaatsvertrag (state treaty on the financing of broadcasting) for three different types of broadcast reception devices: TV sets, radios and so-called "novel broadcast reception devices", which include any device technically capable of receiving program content over the Internet
, regardless of whether it is ever connected to the Internet or not.
and has no legal capacity. It operates as a joint data center of the ARD
state broadcasting institutions, the ZDF
and Deutschlandradio
, and is entrusted to conduct administrative duties in the collection of license fees. It was created by an administrative agreement.
The GEZ is therefore not a legal entity of its own, but a part of the public broadcasting institutions. However, the GEZ is a public authority in the material sense according to the Administrative Procedures Act Of The Federal Republic Of Germany (VwVfG), because it is charged with conducting tasks of public administration
. It conducts these tasks on behalf of the state broadcasting institutions.
Locally, the responsible state broadcasting institutions employ Rundfunkgebührenbeauftragte (broadcast license fee commissioners) in order to ensure compliance with license fee regulations. These will accept notices of registration for broadcast reception devices, which they will then forward to the GEZ.
(German federal post office). The GEZ's tasks in detail are:
On December 31, 1976, 18.5 million TV sets and 20.4 million radios were registered in the Federal Republic of Germany.
's model of a flat-rate household license fee would be introduced in 2013. The model proposes to collect license fees as a lump sum per household, regardless of the number of broadcast reception devices present. This means a reorganization of the GEZ, and that broadcast license fee commissioners will no longer be employed by the state broadcasting institutions. The monthly fee per household will be at €17.98, the amount previously payable for television reception. Participants which previously only registered a radio or a "novel broadcast reception device", but no TV set, will see their license fee increase by 212% (from €5.76 to €17.98), however, households which previously had to pay multiple license fees will have to pay less. Apparently, from 2013 on, disabled people are no longer exempt from paying license fees, but will have to pay one third of the household flat-rate of €17.98. Under the previous regulations, the hard-of-hearing had been exempt from paying license fees.
2008 yearbook.
According to the 2010 annual report, the GEZ employs 1148 people.
counts 39 million private households, while the GEZ as of 2004 holds 41.2 million participant data sets. These include 2.2 million data sets of de-registered participants. The GEZ therefore maintains one of the most comprehensive databases on the population of the Federal Republic of Germany
.
Another source of data are resident registration offices. These forward new registrations and changes of registration to the GEZ. In the year 2002, German registration authorities transferred over 12 million citizen's data sets to the GEZ.
In order to trace non-registered participants, the GEZ compares their database with additionally purchased data sets from commercial address vendors. This is legitimized by the Rundfunkstaatsvertrag (state treaty on broadcasting).
If there is no reply to the first written notice, the following two letters are drafted in an increasingly caustic tone, often evoking connotations of official measures being taken shortly afterwards. Because these letters are potentially received by all residents of the address, even people who have no legal obligation to give information may be prompted to do so.
In addition to this, the GEZ - to supplement data sets gathered from the resident registration offices - will work together with the broadcast license fee commissioners of the state broadcasting institutions in order to gather new data. These commissioners are often self-employed field service workers working on commission, or employees working for the state broadcasting institutions. They have no official powers, and must identify themselves with their id card issued by the state broadcasting agency.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
's public broadcasting
Public broadcasting
Public broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing and commercial financing.Public broadcasting may be...
institutions ARD
ARD (broadcaster)
ARD is a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters...
, ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
and Deutschlandradio
Deutschlandradio
Deutschlandradio is a national German public broadcasting radio broadcaster. It operates four national networks, Deutschlandfunk, Deutschlandradio Kultur, Dokumente und Debatten and DRadio Wissen....
that is located in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. The GEZ is responsible for the elicitation of broadcast participants' data and the collection of license fees. Mandatory license fees are set in the Rundfunkfinanzierungsstaatsvertrag (state treaty on the financing of broadcasting) for three different types of broadcast reception devices: TV sets, radios and so-called "novel broadcast reception devices", which include any device technically capable of receiving program content over the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, regardless of whether it is ever connected to the Internet or not.
Organization
The GEZ is an association of administrations subject to public lawPublic law
Public law is a theory of law governing the relationship between individuals and the state. Under this theory, constitutional law, administrative law and criminal law are sub-divisions of public law...
and has no legal capacity. It operates as a joint data center of the ARD
ARD (broadcaster)
ARD is a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters...
state broadcasting institutions, the ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
and Deutschlandradio
Deutschlandradio
Deutschlandradio is a national German public broadcasting radio broadcaster. It operates four national networks, Deutschlandfunk, Deutschlandradio Kultur, Dokumente und Debatten and DRadio Wissen....
, and is entrusted to conduct administrative duties in the collection of license fees. It was created by an administrative agreement.
The GEZ is therefore not a legal entity of its own, but a part of the public broadcasting institutions. However, the GEZ is a public authority in the material sense according to the Administrative Procedures Act Of The Federal Republic Of Germany (VwVfG), because it is charged with conducting tasks of public administration
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
. It conducts these tasks on behalf of the state broadcasting institutions.
Locally, the responsible state broadcasting institutions employ Rundfunkgebührenbeauftragte (broadcast license fee commissioners) in order to ensure compliance with license fee regulations. These will accept notices of registration for broadcast reception devices, which they will then forward to the GEZ.
Tasks
Since January 1, 1976, the GEZ is charged with the collection of Rundfunkgebühren (broadcast license fees) as set in the Rundfunkfinanzierungsstaatsvertrag (state treaty on the financing of broadcasting). This had previously been the responsibility of Deutsche BundespostDeutsche Bundespost
The Deutsche Bundespost was created in 1947 as a successor to the Reichspost . Between 1947 and 1950 the enterprise was called Deutsche Post...
(German federal post office). The GEZ's tasks in detail are:
- Collection of license fees (Engaging new participants, obtaining license fees in arrears, handling of payments)
- Remission of license fees
- Planning of license fees
- Participant care
On December 31, 1976, 18.5 million TV sets and 20.4 million radios were registered in the Federal Republic of Germany.
Planning of license fees
The GEZ has overall control over the planning of license fee revenues from the supply of public-legal broadcasting in the Federal Republic of Germany. Based on preliminary work by the GEZ, license fees are planned for a period of five years in advance or the current fee period by the Arbeitsgruppe Gebührenplanung (license fee planning work group), which is a subgroup of the Finanzkommission der Rundfunkanstalten (financial commission of broadcasting institutions). The managing director of the GEZ serves as chairperson of the Arbeitsgruppe Gebührenplanung.Charging of license fees
On June 9, 2010, it was decided by state governors that Heidelberg University Professor Paul KirchhofPaul Kirchhof
Paul Kirchhof is a German jurist and tax law expert. He is also a professor of law, member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and a former judge in the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany , the highest court in Germany.Kirchhof obtained a doctorate at the early age of 25 having...
's model of a flat-rate household license fee would be introduced in 2013. The model proposes to collect license fees as a lump sum per household, regardless of the number of broadcast reception devices present. This means a reorganization of the GEZ, and that broadcast license fee commissioners will no longer be employed by the state broadcasting institutions. The monthly fee per household will be at €17.98, the amount previously payable for television reception. Participants which previously only registered a radio or a "novel broadcast reception device", but no TV set, will see their license fee increase by 212% (from €5.76 to €17.98), however, households which previously had to pay multiple license fees will have to pay less. Apparently, from 2013 on, disabled people are no longer exempt from paying license fees, but will have to pay one third of the household flat-rate of €17.98. Under the previous regulations, the hard-of-hearing had been exempt from paying license fees.
License fee revenues and administrative costs
In the year 2010, the GEZ collected €7,65 billion in license fees for the state broadcasting institutions, while generating costs of €160,5 million, which is about 2.13 % of total revenue or €3.83 per participant. Additional costs are generated in the state broadcasting institutions by the so-called Beauftragtendienste (commissioner services), those expenditures for license fee collection amounted to €184.97 million in 2007, according to the ARDARD (broadcaster)
ARD is a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters...
2008 yearbook.
According to the 2010 annual report, the GEZ employs 1148 people.
Elicitation and storage of data
The state broadcasting institutions, and the GEZ respectively, are allowed to store and administer all data of participants which is necessary to perform their tasks. The Federal Statistical Office of GermanyFederal Statistical Office of Germany
The Federal Statistical Office of Germany is a federal authority of Germany. It is a part of the Federal Ministry of the Interior of the Federal Republic of Germany....
counts 39 million private households, while the GEZ as of 2004 holds 41.2 million participant data sets. These include 2.2 million data sets of de-registered participants. The GEZ therefore maintains one of the most comprehensive databases on the population of the Federal Republic of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Another source of data are resident registration offices. These forward new registrations and changes of registration to the GEZ. In the year 2002, German registration authorities transferred over 12 million citizen's data sets to the GEZ.
In order to trace non-registered participants, the GEZ compares their database with additionally purchased data sets from commercial address vendors. This is legitimized by the Rundfunkstaatsvertrag (state treaty on broadcasting).
Investigation and Observation
The GEZ does not have its own field service. It acquires new participants exclusively through comparison of addresses, writing notices, and gathering data from other sources.If there is no reply to the first written notice, the following two letters are drafted in an increasingly caustic tone, often evoking connotations of official measures being taken shortly afterwards. Because these letters are potentially received by all residents of the address, even people who have no legal obligation to give information may be prompted to do so.
In addition to this, the GEZ - to supplement data sets gathered from the resident registration offices - will work together with the broadcast license fee commissioners of the state broadcasting institutions in order to gather new data. These commissioners are often self-employed field service workers working on commission, or employees working for the state broadcasting institutions. They have no official powers, and must identify themselves with their id card issued by the state broadcasting agency.