Ordinance on Radio and Television (RTVO) (RTVO)
Amended by No I of the O of 25 May 2016, in force since 1 July 2016 (AS 2016 2151).
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Chapter 1 Household Fee
Art. 57 Amount of the fee
(Art. 68a RTVA) The annual fee for each household is as follows: Francs a. for a private household 335.– b. for a collective household 670.–
Art. 57 — Amended by No I of the O of 16 April 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 1461).
Art. 58 Collection of the fee
(Art. 69 RTVA) 1 The collection agency collects the household fee for a fee period of one year at a time. It shall stagger the start of the fee period. 2 Any person liable to pay the fee may request three-month invoices for the household to which they belong. 3 The collection agency sends out the invoice in the first month of each invoice period. 4 The collection agency bases its invoice on the make-up of the household notified to the collection agency at the start of the first month of the fee period in terms of Article 67 paragraph 3.
Art. 59 Due date, further demand, refund and prescription
(Art. 69 para. 3 RTVA) 1 The fee becomes due for payment 60 days after receipt of the annual invoice and 30 days after receipt of a three-month invoice. 2 If the collection agency fails to invoice the fee or if the invoice proves to be incorrect, it shall issue a further demand for the amount due or provide a refund. 3 The prescriptive period for the fee begins on the due date for payment of the fee and amounts to five years.
Art. 60 Charges for three-month invoices, reminders and debt enforcement
(Art. 68 RTVA) 1 The collection agency may bill the following charges: Francs a. for each three-month invoice, a surcharge for the sending out an invoice in paper form 2.– b. for a reminder 5.– c. for debt enforcement proceedings correctly raised 20.– 2 The collection agency shall notify the households of these charges each time it sends out an invoice.
Art. 61 Exemption from the obligation to pay
(Art. 69b RTVA) 1 The collection agency shall assess at least every three years whether the requirement for the exemption of a private household from the obligation to pay under Article 69b paragraph 1 letter a RTVA is still being met. If the requirement is no longer being met, the collection agency shall collect the fee from the month following that in which the exemption ceases to apply. 2 The members of a household are obliged to notify the collection agency immediately if the requirement for the exemption of the households from the obligation to pay under Article 69b paragraph 1 letter a RTVA is no longer being met. 3 The following persons are exempted from the obligation to pay: a. diplomatic staff, consular officials, administrative and technical staff and service staff of diplomatic missions, permanent missions or other representations to intergovernmental organisations and consular posts run by professional consular officials if they hold a legitimation card issued by the Feder
Art. 62 Contract with the collection agency
(Art. 69d para. 1 RTVA) 1 DETEC is responsible for delegating the collection of the household fee to an agency outside the federal administration. 2 If an agency of this type is used, it shall have the official title: Swiss Radio and Television Fee Collection Agency. 3 DETEC and the collection agency shall regulate the details of the performance mandate and remuneration of the collection agency in a contract.
Art. 63 Accounting and auditing
(Art. 69d para. 2 RTVA) 1 The collection agency shall keep its books and render account according to one of the recognised accounting standards in terms of Article 962a of the Code of Obligations (CO) and der Ordinance of 21 November 2012 on Recognised Accounting Standards. 2 The collection agency is required to have an ordinary audit. 3 It shall also issue an annual report in accordance with Article 958 paragraph 2 CO. The additional requirements of Article 961 CO apply. 4 Article 961d paragraph 1 CO does not apply to the collection agency.
Para. 1 — SR 220 Para. 1 — SR 221.432
Art. 64 Reporting and supervision
(Art. 69d para. 2 RTVA) 1 The collection agency provides OFCOM with an interim report within 30 days of the end of the first, second and third quarters and an activity report after the fourth quarter that contain the following information as a minimum: a. the number of private and collective households liable to pay the fee; b. the amount of fees invoiced and collected; c. number the number of invoices, reminders, debt enforcement cases and debt enforcement orders; d. exemptions from the fee in terms of Articles 69b and 109c RTVA and Article 61 paragraph 4; e. the number of persons employed by the collection agency. 2 The collection agency shall submit the annual report, the comprehensive audit report (Article 728b paragraph 1 CO) and the accounts for the fee to OFCOM by the end of April of the following year at the latest. 3 OFCOM shall approve the annual accounts for the fee. 4 The collection agency must grant OFCOM access free of charge to all files that it requires in connection wi
Para. 2 — SR 220
Art. 65 Publication of the annual accounts, audit report and activity report
(Art. 69e para. 4 RTVA) The collection agency shall publish the annual invoice (Art. 958 para. 2 CO), the audit report (Art. 728b para. 2 CO) and the activity report with the details in terms of Article 64 paragraph 1 by the end of April of the following year at the latest
SR 220
Art. 66 Transfer of the fee
(Art. 69e RTVA) The collection agency shall transfer the revenues to the beneficiaries designated by OFCOM.
Art. 67 Obtaining data on households
(Art. 69g RTVA) 1 The cantons and communes shall supply the collection agency with: a. the data under Article 6 letters a-h, j, o-s and u of the Register Harmonisation Act of 23 June 2006 (RHA); b. other data under Article 7 RHA that is required to identify the persons liable to pay the fee and send out the invoices. 2 The data is supplied in a structured and standardised form via the Federal Information and Communication Platform. OFCOM shall specify in a directive the precise data characteristics in accordance with the official catalogue (Art. 4 para. 4 RHA) and indicate the applicable standards for supplying the data and for correcting incomplete data supplies. 3 Each canton shall ensure that the data on the households of all person registered on its territory are supplied to the collection agency by a central office or via the communes. 4 The data must be supplied to the collection agency on a monthly basis within the first three working days of each month. Each supply shall includ
Para. 1 let. a — SR 431.02
Art. 67a Obtaining data from Ordipro
(Art. 69g RTVA) 1 The FDFA shall provide the collection agency with the following details from the Ordipro information system on every person that is exempt from paying the fee under Article 69b paragraph 1 letter b RTVA: a. surname and first name(s); b. home address; c. date of birth; d. legitimation card data; e. OASI number. 2 The data must be supplied to the collection agency on a monthly basis within the first three working days of each month via the Federal Information and Communication Platform. Each supply shall comprise the complete data set for each data characteristic. OFCOM shall specify in a directive the applicable standards for supplying the data and for correcting incomplete data supplies.
Para. 1 let. e — Amended by Annex No II 26 of the O of 17 Nov. 2021, in force since 1 Jan. 2022 (AS 2021 800).
Chapter 2 Corporate Fee
Art. 67b Amount of the fee
(Art. 68a para. 1 and Art. 70 RTVA) 1 An undertaking must achieve an annual minimum turnover of 500,000 francs for the obligation to pay the fee to apply. 2 The annual fee payable by an undertaking depending on the level of annual turnover is as follows: Turnover in francs Fee in francs a. Level 1 [tab] 500 000 to 749 999 [tab] 160 b. Level 2 [tab] 750 000 to 1 199 999 [tab] 235 c. Level 3 [tab] 1 200 000 to 1 699 999 [tab] 325 d. Level 4 [tab] 1 700 000 to 2 499 999 [tab] 460 e. Level 5 [tab] 2 500 000 to 3 599 999 [tab] 645 f. Level 6 [tab] 3 600 000 to 5 099 999 [tab] 905 g. Level 7 [tab] 5 100 000 to 7 299 999 [tab] 1 270 h. Level 8 [tab] 7 300 000 to 10 399 999 [tab] 1 785 i. Level 9 [tab] 10 400 000 to 14 999 999 [tab] 2 505 j. Level 10 [tab] 15 000 000 to 22 999 999 [tab] 3 315 k. Level 11 [tab] 23 000 000 to 32 999 999 [tab] 4 935 l. Level 12 [tab] 33 000 000 to 49 999 999 [tab] 6 925 m. Level 13 [tab] 50 000 000 to 89 999 999 [tab] 9 725 n. Level 14 [tab] 90 000 000 to 179 999
Art. 67b — Amended by No I of the O of 18 Oct. 2017, in force since 1 Nov. 2017 (AS 2017 5519). Para. 2 — Amended by No I of the O of 16 April 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 1461).
Art. 67c Corporate fee groups
(Art. 70 RTVA) 1 Undertakings in terms of Article 70 paragraph 2 RTVA also include undertakings that join together solely in order to pay the corporate fee (corporate fee groups). A corporate fee group must comprise at least 30 undertakings. 2 To ascertain the total turnover of a corporate fee group, all the turnovers of the group members are added together. 3 A corporate fee group is liable to pay the fee instead of its members. The joint liability of group members is governed by the Article 15 paragraph 1 letter c of the Value Added Tax Act of 12 June 2009 (VATA) and Article 22 of the Value Added Tax Ordinance of 27 November 2009 (VATO). 4 The formation, change in composition, dissolution and representation of corporate fee groups is governed mutatis mutandis by Article 13 VATA and Articles 15–17, 18 paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 letter a, 19 and 20 paragraphs 1 and 2 VATO. Applications to form a group and to join a group, and notification of leaving a group and of the dissolution of a group
Para. 3 — SR 641.20 Para. 3 — SR 641.201 Para. 4 — Amended by No I of the O of 29 Aug. 2018, in force since 1 Oct. 2018 (AS 2018 3209).
Art. 67d Combinations of autonomous agencies of public authorities
(Art. 70 RTVA) 1 A combination of autonomous agencies of a public authority that is liable to VAT also constitutes an undertaking in terms of Article 70 paragraph 2 RTVA. 2 These combinations are governed by Article 12 paragraphs 1 and 2 VATA and Article 12 paragraph 1 VATO. Article 67c paragraphs 2, 4 and 5 apply mutatis mutandis. 3 The obligation to pay is that of the public authority to which the combined units belong.
Para. 2 — SR 641.20 Para. 2 — SR 641.201
Art. 67e Invoicing
(Art. 70a RTVA) 1 The FTA shall issue annual invoices electronically to undertakings that are liable to pay the fee, beginning in February and ending in October of each year. 2 As soon as the FTA has received all the information it requires to allocate an undertaking to a tariff category, it shall invoice the undertaking electronically for the total amount of the fee in the next dispatch of invoices. 3 If the FTA has not invoiced the fee or if the invoice proves to be incorrect, the FTA shall demand the correct amount or refund any overpayment.
Art. 67f Refund
Undertakings with less than one million francs in turnover shall be refunded the fee on request provided in the financial year for which the fee is charged: a. they made a profit that is less than one tenth of the amount of the fee; or b. they made a loss.
Art. 67f — Amended by No I of the O of 16 April 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 1461).
Art. 67g Transfer of the fee
(Art. 70a RTVA) 1 The FTA shall transfer the net revenue from the corporate fee collected to OFCOM each month or submit an invoice to OFCOM in the case of surplus expenditure. 2 The net revenue comprises the fees invoiced in the accounting year plus default interest and also takes account of: a. the bad debt losses; b. the FTA’s operating costs for collecting the fee. c. the refunds in terms of Article 67f.
Art. 67g — Amended by No I of the O of 29 Aug. 2018, in force since 1 Oct. 2018 (AS 2018 3209).
Art. 67h Default interest
(Art. 70b para. 1 RTVA) Default interest shall be invoiced by the FTA when the amount of interest exceeds 100 francs. The foregoing does not apply if the debt is claimed as part of compulsory enforcement proceedings. The invoice is sent out electronically.
Art. 67i Reporting by the FTA
(Art. 70c para. 2 RTVA) The FTA shall publish a minimum of the following information by the end of April of the following year at the latest: a. the number of undertakings liable to pay the fee, according to tariff category; b. the receivables invoiced, collected and suspended, according to tariff category; c. … d. the bad debt losses; e. the default interest invoiced; f. the discretionary estimates, according to tariff category; g. the reminders and debt enforcement cases; h. the FTA’s operating costs for the collection of the fee; i. the number of combinations (Art. 67c and 67d) and refunds (Art. 67f).
let. c — Repealed by No I of the O of 29 Aug. 2018, with effect from 1 Oct. 2018 (AS 2018 3209).
Chapter 3 Publication of Key Data on the Fee
Art. 67j
1 Each year, OFCOM shall publish: a. for the household and the corporate fee and consolidated for both: 1. the total revenues from the fee, 2. the collection costs; b. details of how the revenue is used according to category of use. 2 The collection agency and the FTA shall provide OFCOM with the required details.