How many people are prosecuted for not paying TV licence fee each week - and why some choose not to pay

• Brits need to pay the licence fee if they watch live TV - even if they don’t watch the BBC.
• It is illegal to watch live TV without paying for the fee.
• Thousands of people are prosecuted each year - but that could soon change.

Labour is planning to end TV licence fee criminal prosecutions, according to reports. Thousands of people each year face being prosecuted for watching live television without paying the fee - with women especially “unfairly” penalised by the law.

It currently costs £169.50 for the licence fee, the price having increased in April of this year. According to Birmingham Live, culture secretary Lisa Nandy and Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood “agree” that non-payment of the licence fee should be scrapped.

Under the current law, a TV licence is required to watch or record programmes on a TV, computer or other device as they're broadcast, and to watch on-demand BBC programmes on iPlayer. If you just watch shows on Netflix, a licence isn’t required but if you want to watch live television - such as sport - then you need to fork out.

But how many people are prosecuted over the licence fee in Britain? Here’s all you need to know:

Eye-watering number of licence fee prosecutions each week

The Guardian and Birmingham Live both report that nearly 1,000 people are prosecuted each week in Britain for non-payment of the licence fee. Of these prosecutions 70% are women with Tara Casey, a lawyer for the Women’s Justice Initiative, telling The Guardian “the disproportionality is getting worse”.

It means tens of thousands of people each year face prosecution for licence fee evasion.

When was it made illegal not to pay the licence fee?

The licence fee was first introduced in the 1920s and was originally for listening to the radio - after the government made the decision not to allow the fledgling BBC to be funded by commercial advertising. In June 1946 it was expanded to include televisions.

In the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s TV licence fee enforcement review in 2015, it states: “The function of collecting and enforcing the television

licence fee was carried out by the Home Office until 1991, when these responsibilities were assumed by the BBC.”

How does the TV licence fee compare to when it was first introduced?

In the UK, it currently costs £169.50 for the licence fee as of April 2024. It followed multiple years of the licence fee being frozen during the pandemic and cost of living crisis.

The first licence fee was introduced for TVs in 1946 and it cost £2 at the time. Using the Bank of England’s inflation calculator this would be £70 in today’s currency.

However the fee for colour TVs (which is included in current licence fee) was added in 1968 - taking the price at the time to £10. Once again using the Bank of England’s inflation calculator this would be the equivalent of £148 today.

Why do people not pay the licence fee?

In response to our previous article on the licence fee, we had a number of readers reach out and explain why they don’t pay it - or think it should be scrapped.

One woman told us: “I haven't paid it for years as I don't watch TV. I don't need a TV licence anyway as I can't access normal channels but even if I could I still wouldn't pay it because I refuse to fund a company when I don't even use their services.”

Another man added: “The TV licence should only be payable if you only watch BBC programmes; if not it should be scrapped as ITV have adverts. It is… very unfair to expect everyone to pay, it is a tax on one of the only pleasures some people have in life, especially pensioners.”

Share your thoughts on the BBC licence fee by emailing our tech writer:[email protected].