Radio service to refund TV licence fees

After denying on Friday that it would pay back any wrongful fees, Radiotjänst announced Monday that all TV license payments for computers will indeed be refunded.

"Everything happned very quickly on Friday," Radiotjänst CEO Carl-Gustav Johansson told news agency TT. "We have now analyzed the court ruling thoroughly. There is no doubt that we are obliged to do this reimbursement."

The Supreme Admiministrative Court of Sweden (Högsta förvaltningsdomstolen) determined on Friday that a computer with an internet connection should not be classified as a television transmitting device, and should thus not be subject to TV license fees.

Radiotjänst, a division of Swedish public service broadcasting, had been collecting fees on computers since February 2013 and continued to do so during court proceedings. The agency will now refund all payments.

All 100,000 people who paid the TV license since the computer fees were added will be contacted, and Radiotjänst suspects the majority are computer owners. Those who own only a computer will be refunded the entire sum, while those who also have a TV, or bought a TV since paying the license, will receive only a portion of the fee back. The process is likely to take several months.

"Our goal is to do this as smoothly as possible, and that's going to take time. It will take all summer and certainly part of autumn as well, but all those who have the right to a refund will get it," Johansson said.

TT/sr